San Antonio Spurs: 3 Things that stood out in thrilling OT win over Wizards

The San Antonio Spurs pulled out the win of the season in Washington

Honestly, all I have to say is holy cow. What a game, what a frickin game. This was one that the San Antonio Spurs absolutely needed to win and they did it. It was tough, it looked doubtful at times, but this group fought until the very end and they’re leaving Washington DC victorious.

This victory didn’t come without a price though. Derrick White hurt his ankle midway through the third quarter and had to be helped off the court. It’s just a brutal injury for a player who was finally finding his stride after hitting seemingly every speedbump in the road this season.

There wasn’t a whole lot of defense played in this one. The Spurs and Wizards combined for 289 points (thoughts and prayers to anyone who bet the under) with an astounding 146 of those coming in the paint. The Spurs and Wizards both prefer to get their points close to the hoop but that’s just an absurd number.

If every one of the Spurs’ remaining games is going to be this exciting and this stressful it’s going to be a heck of a finish to the season. Let’s hope they can put a few of their remaining opponents away with greater ease than they did against the Wizards tonight. Here are the three things that stood out most in the Spurs’ thrilling overtime win.

DeMar DeRozan continues to flex playmaking muscles for San Antonio Spurs

I’m old enough to remember when a certain worldwide leader in LeBron James coverage ranked DeMar DeRozan as the 82nd best player in the NBA. In hindsight, not a great ranking. But it certainly added a bit more fuel to the fire for DeRozan and for that I am thankful.

Call it a transformation or an unlocking, call it whatever you want, the growth that we’ve seen from DeRozan since arriving in San Antonio is nothing short of outstanding. He’s become one of the best playmakers in the league today and if you disagree I’m pretty sure you’re just not paying attention.

DeRozan has now racked up 13 games of 10+ assists this season alone. He had three of those kinds of games during his entire time in Toronto and had only recorded 10 in his first two seasons in the Silver and Black.

He’s done all of this while continuing to be one of the most clutch players in the NBA and scoring at a rate that is pretty much in line with what we’ve seen from him over the course of his career. And honestly, I don’t know how many of us can say that we saw this coming.

DeRozan has been a different beast in San Antonio. He’s always been a great player but you can make a strong argument that he’s never been better than he is right now. He’s impacting every facet of the game and has been there night after night for San Antonio. His teammates love him, his coaches rave about him, and Spurs fans better appreciate him while we can.

Next: Dejounte Murray has a career night on the boards