MINNEAPOLIS — Like the rest of his teammates, Devin Vassell was all smiles at shootaround inside Target Center Friday morning. Like his teammates, he had good reason.
“We don’t want to put too much pressure on us,” Vassell said ahead of a pivotal Game 3 on the road in the Western Conference Semifinals against the Minnesota Timberwolves. “We already know what these games hold, but we like to keep it light.”
Vassell laughed several times speaking with reporters. A playful jab about not wanting to fight Bismack Biyombo threatened to derail the conversation as the center cried “fake news” before learning the reason he’d been named. After that, Vassell was reminded — perhaps for the 100th time — about his shot heard ’round the NBA.
“The amount of stuff I’ve been tagged in,” he said, smiling, “and the amount of craziness on social media over the past 48 hours has been crazy.”
The shot in question came with 10:03 to play in the third quarter of Game 2. Julian Champagnie lost control of the ball near the rim before corralling it enough time to pawn off a dying possession to Vassell. With under two seconds to shoot, Vassell fired.
He had already begun his shooting motion before the ball reached his hands.
“I’ve never seen that before,” Stephon Castle said. “It was crazy. I don’t even know how he saw the clock from the corner. Maybe he looked down to the other basket.”
If Vassell had used a cheat sheet, he didn’t let on. Beyond the obvious benefit of giving his team some momentum, he had one objective on his mind:
“I just wanted to get the ball to the rim,” he said. “It was going to be a shot clock violation.”
Vassell finished the evening with 10 points, five rebounds and four assists to help the Spurs secure a 133-95 victory. The Spurs evened the series 1-1 heading north.
Before Victor Wembanyama’s arrival, Vassell frequently carried the burden of being San Antonio’s primary perimeter scorer. Now, surrounded by Castle, Dylan Harper, De’Aaron Fox and Julian Champagnie, Vassell has transformed into a player capable of toggling between complementary shooter and featured scorer rather quickly.
“He’s the one guy on our team who can float back and forth between shooter and scorer,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “That’s very valuable, especially as we expect defenses to tighten up and game plans to become more thorough.”
The numbers reflect that shift. Vassell averaged 13.9 points this season — his fewest since before Wembanyama arrived — while attempting just 11.3 shots per game, the second-lowest mark of his career. Despite the drop in volume, his efficiency remained level.
The 25-year-old shot 44 percent from the field and posted the best 3-point efficiency of his career at 38 percent, despite operating in a less ball-dominant role. To teammates, the sacrifice he’s made without the ball in his hands hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“Devin can average 20, easily,” rookie Carter Bryant said. “He can be a 25-point-per-game guy. He scores the ball so effortlessly. He sacrifices his role for the greater good of this team.”
Through seven playoff games, Vassell has hovered close to his regular season averages and attempts; a bigger stage simply means more pressure. To that end, he’s managed the added fanfare well. He called his a week before the first round.
“I feel like my game translates a lot for big moments,” Vassell told Spurs On SI.
Vassell, like several other weapons the Spurs have leaned on this season, is capable of scoring 30 points on any given night. That’s part of what makes San Antonio difficult to prepare for, even with two playoff games worth of film to wade through.
“It’s tough for anybody to scout against us,” Vassell said. “Anybody, any day. As long as we’re playing unselfish and we’re all moving the ball, everybody eats.”
In a film session of its own, San Antonio managed to pinpoint several minor improvements it could make, even in a 30-plus-point blowout. Allowing a 9-0 run in the second half sat atop that list. Indecisiveness, especially from Vassell and Keldon Johnson, became a close second. The Spurs checked their egos at the doors.
“There’s definitely still stuff we can be better (at),” Vassell admitted on Friday. “We’re ready for the challenge … ready to get this game going.”
Vassell stepped into an analytical zone Friday morning, prepared to break the Spurs’ seven-game skid at Target Center. If his smile was proof of anything, it was confidence. He’d hit the shot of his life not two days prior, after all. But more pressing matters concerning him.
For one, he had to find a way to continue to impact winning in Games 3 and 4 on the road. Secondly, a hungry Timberwolves squad was less than 9 hours away from taking the court.
“We know it’s going to be super loud in here,” Vassell said.
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