Spurs just regained a crucial component that fueled their early-season success

After weathering a month-long rough patch in which the San Antonio Spurs went just 10-9, they have finally found their footing. They've won five straight games, and they've gone back to playing how they were early in the season when they were shocking the NBA.

They weathered the storm by getting healthy, and the Spurs are finally at full strength ahead of the All-Star break. Not only that, but they are grinding out tough wins.

This team doesn't always win pretty, and we've seen them respond well when they have been metaphically punched in the face. Against the Houston Rockets, the Spurs were battered and bruised, especially Victor Wembanyama.

However, instead of caving, the Spurs got tough, shutting the Rockets down in the fourth quarter, giving up just 14 points, with Wembanyama flexing his toughness. He embarrassed Amen Thompson, daring him to shoot, and throwing a wrench into Houston's offense.

He also killed them at the free throw line and from mid-range. That come-from-behind win was a game the Spurs would have lost weeks before.

Since then, they have continued to win ugly games. They have beaten teams by relying on their defense and by scoring at the rim and at the free throw line when their 3-point shooting falls flat.

The Spurs are learning how to grind out tough wins

Winning those kinds of games is a great learning experience for a young Spurs team. That should also prep them for the playoffs, when games slow down and teams can be more physical.

That is doubly important because most players on this roster lack playoff experience. Harrison Barnes leads all rotation players with 71 playoff games, while Luke Kornet has played 43.

Both have a championship to show for it, while De'Aaron Fox has only played seven postseason games in his eight-season career. As for the other seven Spurs rotation players, none of them have played a single minute in the postseason.

To their credit, they did play in the NBA Cup Playoffs. It's not the same thing, but the single-elimination style added a big game element that served as a great test.

San Antonio might have come up short, but they proved that they can survive tough games. Against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Cup semi-finals, they were down by 17 at one point only to storm back and win in the second half.

That was even with Wembanyama on a minutes restriction, showing this team can gut it out and win tough games even when not at full strength. For such a young team, that is incredibly rare and something that will help the Silver and Black come playoff time.