Multiple Spurs starters in danger of missing highly anticipated Knicks rematch

The injury bug is floating around the gray skies of San Antonio once again and claimed Devin Vassell as the latest victim. The official injury report for tomorrow night's rematch against the Knicks dropped, and Dev is out with a left adductor strain. Stephon Castle has been listed as "questionable" with a left thumb sprain. The Spurs have been here before, but I'm sure they're tired of making the trip.

The Spurs' injury issues are tiresome

Vassell's absence will mean that every member of the starting lineup has missed time this season except for Ironman himself, Harrison Barnes. Victor Wembanyama and De'Aaron Fox missed their fair share, and whether Castle is out or not, he's also sat on the sidelines in street clothes. Luke Kornet, Jeremy Sochan, and Kelly Olynyk have dealt with ailments that cost them time on the court.

That's nearly the whole damn team. It's been a pain in the rump to watch as a fan, but I'm sure it's worse as a coach. Mitch Johnson is continuously forced to roll out new lineups, which would be fine if he were just experimenting during a long season and not doing it by necessity.

The reality is that this is an issue throughout the league. Players are missing more time than ever. Nobody knows why that is, but the NBA announced their intention to look deeper into it. That's also why they need to change the 65-game rule, but we'll get into that later.

Right now, the focus is on the Spurs trying to get back into the winning column and trying to do it against a team they've had trouble corralling over the past few seasons.

The Spurs have yet to figure the Knicks out

The Silver and Black have split the season series with New York each of the last three years. I don't know what it is about those darn orange and blue jerseys, but the Spurs just can't sweep them. They've already lost that chance after taking that L in the Emirates NBA Cup Final, albeit not counting in the standings.

That tournament game has also afforded SA the rare chance to win a season series against an Eastern Conference opponent after losing the first matchup. Call me petty, but I want them to win as many series as possible. Who wouldn't love to have bragging rights over the majority of the league's teams? New York is making that very difficult.

Last year, Tom Thibodeau coached their team, and Mike Brown leads them now. It doesn't seem to matter who their head coach is; they find a way to get a game off the Spurs. They can't do anything about that now, but they can even the score. Containing Jalen Brunson will be more difficult if Castle can't go, but they'll figure that out. I think.