Mitch Johnson quietly revealed biggest weapon yet toward winning title No. 6

With less than 20 games left in the regular season, San Antonio Spurs coach Mitch Johnson may have just revealed a devastating playoff strategy. Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama has had his playing time monitored all season.

Even when not on a minute restriction. However, Johnson recently opted to unleash Wembanyama on the Detroit Pistons, and the results were devastating. Wembanyama dropped 38 points, 16 rebounds, and five blocks in 40 minutes.

Playing Wemby big playoff minutes is a cheat code for Spurs

It's simple: play your best player big minutes, though the Spurs have managed without it this season. After all, Luke Kornet's strong play has minimized the need for Wembanyama to play big minutes while mitigating injury risk.

Even so, per 36 minutes, Wembanyama's averaging an eye-popping 29.2 points, 13.8 rebounds, and 3.7 blocks. Wembanyama going from averaging 29.4 minutes in the regular season to playing around 36 minutes in the playoffs would be a huge competitive advantage.

San Antonio is already on pace to win 59 games and boasts a top-10 offense and a top-3 defense. Now, imagine Wembanyama playing big minutes in the playoffs. This Spurs team could be far better and virtually unstoppable as a result.

The playoffs could see Mitch Johnson unleash Victor Wembanyama

The great thing about the NBA playoffs is that there are days in between games. Particularly during the first round and even during the Conference Finals.

The Spurs don't have to worry about saving Wembanyama for later if they were to get that far. Therefore, when Johnson needs to increase his workload, he has that option.

The most obvious situation where that could come into play is against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Hopefully, San Antonio wouldn't see them until the West Finals. But, if those two teams meet, having Wemby play 36 minutes per game could wreck OKC's repeat hopes.

They already struggled to score against him, even when he was on a minutes restriction. If the Thunder can't score in the paint for the majority of the game against Wembanyama, it's hard to imagine them, or any team, beating a healthy Spurs team.