Sunday night, the San Antonio Spurs faced off against the New Orleans Pelicans. It was the return of Victor Wembanyama, who missed the previous two games due to an injury. Early into the game, you could see him start to grimace a little. Then, with 9:34 left in the first, he fell to the ground after knocking an alley-oop attempt to Yves Missi away. After the next Spurs possession, he looked to the bench, raised his hand, and left the game. As he walked into the tunnel, the story of the game became his health. The injury plot would thicken as the Spurs mounted more and more injuries. Zach Collins left the game after falling hard on his back, Stephon Castle left for a while after he collided with a player chasing a loose ball, and Keldon Johnson hobbled off the court while pointing at his calf.

The story being centered on the Spurs’ injuries lasted briefly, as both Wembanyama and Castle would return to the game (the injuries to Collins and Keldon are still a story to follow). With Wembanyama back on the court, the actual basketball was back in focus. After a couple of minutes of back-and-forth play, Wembanyama would make his first three-pointer of the game, coming off an assist from Chris Paul. Once again, the storyline changed. This last assist was number 12,092 of Paul’s career, which vaulted him past Jason Kidd for second all time in NBA history. The Spurs would call a timeout following the next play to announce the accomplishment. Spurs fans rose to their feet to give the Point God a standing ovation, while the Spurs played a short tribute video on the video board. It was a heartwarming moment that was perhaps just what the Spurs needed.

The moment was merely a flash in the pan as far as the in-game story went. Once the ball was back in play, the focal point was on if the Spurs could turn things around as they found themselves down seven, 52-45. The team was 5/19 from three to the Pelicans’ 7/14, and the only player with a positive plus/minus was Charles Bassey’s +2. Should the game keep up that way, the Spurs would’ve lost their fourth straight and fifth of six. Fortunately, they eventually flipped the script for the remainder of the half.

The game script now centered on the two vets the Spurs brought in during the offseason sharing the court with their three best returning players (Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan, and Wembanyama). In 3:55 of gameplay, the lineup of Paul, Wembanyama, Vassell, Sochan, and Harrison Barnes would go on a 19-4 run, giving the Spurs a 64-56 lead. For me, this became a storyline of the game because it was possibly a glimpse at what the starting lineup should be if they ever get the main rotation at full go. The current starting five with Julian Champagnie and Stephon Castle in place for Vassell and Sochan is a respectable +4.1 per game over 14 games, but Vassell gives them a more versatile scorer and Sochan a more versatile defender.

That thought comes and goes just like halftime. Sure enough, a new plot to track comes into view. Even after a 43-28 second quarter and seemingly taking the momentum of the game, the patchwork Pelicans kept scratching and clawing to keep it close. It showed a bit of how this team is still a work in progress. The third quarter should’ve been the time when the Spurs put the pedal to the metal and pushed their lead to double digits heading into the fourth. An 0/7 quarter from three prevented that from happening and turns the team’s three-point shooting into a story. Entering the night, the Spurs ranked 20^th in three-point percentage. Only Vassell and Barnes shoot better than league average (36%) who also play at least 15 minutes per game, 45.8% and 41.9% respectively.

The thought of three-point shooting wanes as the fourth quarter goes on. The Spurs, specifically Castle, played a strong first seven minutes. The rookie scored 12 of the Spurs’ 22 points on 5/7 shooting, 2/3 from three, and the lead ballooned to 11, 114-103. Everything that had happened up to that point felt like a thing of the past as you watched the future playing before your eyes. It was certainly a story given the fact that the starting point guard for the Pelicans is former Spur Dejounte Murray – Castle even wears the same number as Murray.

The final five minutes of the game would change the story yet again. During a four-minute stretch from the moment Castle made a layup with 5:02 on the clock to a CJ McCollum layup at 1:00, the Pelicans went on a 13-0 run to take a 116-114 lead. The lineup of Wembanyama, Paul, Vassell, Castle, and Champagnie played the entirety of that run and combined to shoot 0/5, 0/2 from three, and committed two turnovers. At one point during the run, it felt inevitable coach Mitch Johnson would call a timeout, but it never came. Well, it did after the aforementioned McCollum layup. It was the kind of late game run that made you think about Johnson’s experience as the acting head coach in place of Gregg Popovich. How do coaches balance letting the team play through adversity and calling a timeout to calm everything down? What does a young coach feel in those moments?

These questions fade away the instant Wembanyama drains a 30-footer to put the Spurs back on top. He’d then grab two rebounds on Pelicans misses and make all four of his free throws to end the game on a personal 7-0 run. The game ends with the story having circled all the way back to being on Wembanyama, his excellence, and how much he means to the Spurs.

That circle kept turning after the game and the team got into the locker room. Those of us in the media room waiting for Coach Johnson and the few selected players could hear the excitement through the walls. Everyone knew the story was back on the moment Paul passed Kidd, and rightfully so. Coach Johnson started his response when asked about the record by stating, “I was waiting to be asked about that.” If you were counting, from the time the game started to when the team was gifting Paul a game ball and poster, there were at least nine storylines you could track.

Some games might have more, and some less, but this is how the game goes in the NBA nowadays. Ever-changing plots throughout the days and nights of the season. There’s always something to follow and keep tabs on. As a fan, it’s exciting to watch all the twists and turns every team takes. As a writer, it’s exciting knowing there’s always a thread to pull on a story. No matter what, there will be something to discuss regarding the Spurs and the rest of the league.