MILWAUKEE — The gift and curse that comes with national exposure — as it unfolded for the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday — is one of perception versus reality.
The average NBA consumer who doesn’t tune into League Pass regularly to watch the Spurs (18-19) might have assumed they were a poor, inexperienced defensive team — especially after giving up 121 points to a Milwaukee Bucks team that struggled to score in the new calendar year.
But that’s the perception. In reality, what this team has displayed defensively, from the tail end of last season until now, is that they are more than just Victor Wembanyama’s gifts. Over the final 22 games of the 2023-24 season, San Antonio’s defense was ranked fourth in the NBA. And through the first two weeks of 2025, the Spurs find themselves in familiar top-five territory (11th in defensive rating, per Cleaning the Glass).
In a season when adversity hit from the outset, San Antonio has rallied around interim head coach Mitch Johnson and reveled in an efficient, collective defensive product that is greater than the sum of its parts. But that didn’t happen against the Bucks.
“I think this was just a deviation from what we’ve been doing,” veteran forward Harrison Barnes said. “I don’t think it’s something that discredits what we’ve been doing, but we’ve shown we can be better defensively. You have to give them credit, they played a great game, but we could have had a better showing.”
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The Spurs’ offensive issues are well-documented and can be traced back to several factors — Devin Vassell’s lack of rhythm and scoring consistency since returning from injury, rookie Stephon Castle’s development, Jeremy Sochan’s availability, etc. The list goes on.
The biggest reason for San Antonio’s rise? Its commitment to the other end of the court.
Through San Antonio’s roster building, a central theme has emerged, whether it’s the players who are drafted or free agents added to the puzzle: defensive toughness and versatility. Chris Paul and Barnes, with years of toggling on-court matchups, have brought much-needed experience. Castle, who arrived in June, has an overflow of potential. Names such as Sochan, Vassell and Keldon Johnson don’t jump off the page, but each brings his own gifts that mesh well.
So when blips happen, as they did against Milwaukee, there’s unity in the reasons why. And between the players and coaches, San Antonio’s defense always performs better when the offense runs smoothly. The Spurs scored a meager 83.8 points per 100 plays according to Cleaning the Glass. That’s a lower rate than the dismal New Orleans Pelicans or Charlotte Hornets.
It’s not like the Spurs played sloppily against the Bucks; there were only 20 combined turnovers, and the Spurs committed just nine of them. But there’s a certain juice that can carry over from possession to possession that wasn’t there.
“We’re better when we take care of the ball,” Barnes said. “When we limit our turnovers and make teams play in front of a set defense, we’re able to communicate. I think we’re versatile, and tonight we had too many breakdowns.”
Regardless of the result of any given Spurs defensive possession — there’s no perfect scheme that exists — pay attention to their shape, or shell in basketball terminology. The term “defensive shell” refers to the invisible area between the ball and the basket, dependent on where all five players are positioned. Think about drawing an outline around a defense and calculating the inside area of the space formed. Most advanced analytical sites break NBA defenses down into three main shell types — compact, middle and extended.
The Oklahoma City Thunder, who are notorious for having all defenders keep one foot in the restricted area (or close enough to it), fall heavily in the “compact” category.
But the Spurs’ adaptability is the driving force behind their surprising Play-In Tournament bid. Wembanyama is the centripetal force, and Mitch Johnson is comfortable leaving the Frenchman to fend for himself. But San Antonio also doesn’t switch a ton, trusting its non-Wembanyama defenders to hold their own. According to Synergy tracking data, San Antonio allows 1.041 points per possession on compact shell possessions (fifth best in the NBA) and 0.908 points per possession on extended ones (third best).
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A team that can switch between defensive approaches at the drop of a dime shouldn’t run into a lot of problems. There is a bit of luck involved, however. The basketball gods have been particularly favorable to the Spurs — they’re essentially a bottom-five team in generating deflections, 25th in turnover rate and perhaps most importantly, surrender a plethora of wide-open 3s. Fifth-most, to be exact, but the Spurs rank first in opponent shooting on such shots. Quite the risky approach against a Bucks team that came into Wednesday’s game sixth in made 3s and second in 3-point percentage.
“When we can keep the shell tight and we’re all connected, that’s when we’re at our best,” Barnes said. “Depending on our pick-up points, depending on our communication in pick-and-rolls, that’s where our breakdowns happen. Tonight, we had too many times where we were letting breakdowns happen, they created an advantage and they shot the ball well from 3 tonight — which really got their team going.”
Any scouting report on Milwaukee over the last decade starts with Giannis Antetokounmpo and the importance of forming a wall or some level of resistance. The last time Antetokounmpo faced the Spurs was a little over a year ago when the former MVP demolished San Antonio’s defense, scoring 44 points on 19-of-28 shooting.
So the Spurs made it a point from tipoff to attempt keeping a compact shell around Antetokounmpo — this is Milwaukee’s very first possession of the game which resulted in a turnover after forcing the ball into a crowd and a wild pass (stolen by Vassell).
Not even less than a minute later, the Spurs once again found themselves in a compact shell once Antetokounmpo positioned himself just outside the restricted area. Wembanyama, arguably the most devastating help defender in the NBA, comes over to block the layup attempt.
Compared to last season’s 44-point showing, San Antonio did a decent job defending Antetokounmpo — he finished with 25 points, requiring 21 shots to get there.
But the Bucks have evolved offensively and have myriad floor spacers, notably Brook Lopez, which forces defenses to concede a sector within their scheme. San Antonio prefers to keep Wembanyama as close as possible to the rim for obvious purposes, trusting that the other four members can do their part. That’s hard to do with Lopez on the floor trodding around from 28 feet onwards (Lopez scored 22 points along with five made 3s.)
According to Synergy tracking data, the Spurs rank 28th in instances when an opposing big sets a screen and pops out to the 3-point line. They are also 19th in points per chance, allowing 0.993 points. Veteran teams like Milwaukee know how to exploit this hole in the Spurs’ defense, forcing them to abandon their compact shell and essentially pick a poison. Even in instances when Lopez wasn’t involved in a screen and simply spaced the floor, the Spurs were forced to choose the lesser of two evils.
“Brook had a great game,” Mitch Johnson said. “He spaces the floor well, and with Victor being our rim protector, matchups are tough. You want to show a crowd on Giannis, but you have to give up something and unfortunately, they were able to make shots tonight.
“They’ve been doing that for years. The gravity that Brook takes where he spaces — it’s not even really where he picks-and-pops as much as just (keeping) him high, and he can make shots. You have to make a choice if you’re going to show a crowd to Giannis or take that away.”
On a wider scope, the Spurs are ahead of schedule. They weren’t expected to be jostling for playoff positioning (10th in the Western Conference) at this stage of their rebuild. And this is still a good defensive unit that has proven that it can compete weekly. But these are necessary learning lessons on the path to success. An off game isn’t a cause for concern, but it still needs to be addressed.
“A lot of it is just poise in the moment,” Barnes said. “Understanding that when Giannis gets a couple dunks or Dame (Lillard) hits a couple 3s, we have to make these guys score in ways that aren’t comfortable. For us, it’s just about staying poised and going through those moments.”
(Photo of Giannis Antetokounmpo dribbling the ball against Harrison Barnes: Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
