Derrick White and Dejounte Murray carry the Spurs in win against the Wizards

The Spurs loved winning against the Boston Celtics so much that they did it again last night against the Washington Wizards. Derrick White was the high scorer for the game with 24 points. Dejounte Murray flirted with another triple-double by scoring 22 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, and dishing out 8 assists. Another night, another solid contribution from Jakob Poeltl, which translated to the big man notching a double-double with 14 points and 11 boards.

A wise man once said, “If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.” The same nonsensical spirit applies for the Spurs in that if they can learn from a loss, they can learn from a win. It seems like they learned from their win against the Celtics by staying composed down the stretch of this game as well. White played great for the second game in a row, and it’s no coincidence that the good guys found their second win in a row.

Spurs fans waiting for the Murray breakout season can rejoice seeing him take the next step right before our eyes. If a few of those close losses bounced the other way for the Spurs, Murray could have been in more early MVP discussions, but if nothing else he should still be in the MIP race.

Murray has been the team’s MVP all season, but White is the not-so-secret sauce. The more that White can aggressively find his shot, stay in the game offensively, and still play his usual stellar defense, the more wins this back court duo can lead the Spurs to.

This smooth floater by White reminds us of the many ways that White can score. Hopefully his career-high 18 points in the third quarter will be the boost he needs to stay consistent on the offensive end this season.

Thaddeus Young with the beautiful bounce pass to a cutting White. Former Spur Davis Bertans gave White a light love tap on the head as he was passing by — just to say hello.

In Dave Chappell as Prince voice: “Palm the ball. Palm it. Block. Game Blouses.” White with the timely block in the paint; the anticipation in mid-air to adjust his arm to smother Bradley Beal’s shot is just a thing of beauty.

Murray has found many different ways to score this year, but in the last two games he has been especially assertive in driving the ball to the hoop. Here, he puts on the spin cycle and finessed his way to the bucket with svelte tear drop for the score.

The Spurs did it all last night, generating easy points with defense to offense. Here, Blockob Poeltl smacked the ball off the glass for White, who pushed it up the floor toMurray, who paid it forward by kicking it back to a trailing White for the open three.

Poeltl Jam’s greatest hits include, but not limited to: “Better Man,” “Last Kiss,” “Even Flow,” and “Yellow Ledbetter.”

OK, so at 18, Josh Primo can confidently shoot spot-up threes in the NBA. Is it overly optimistic of me to declare that by 19, he’s gonna score 30+ ppg, return the Spurs to the promised land like the late, great John Candy returned Kevin’s mom back home in Home Alone? Maybe. But this is the Internet, you can certainly disagree with me, and you can definitely post your disagreement online, but you cannot break my irrational exuberance.

Keldon Johnson was that kid in school who was so hyper-energetic in dodgeball that he took everyone out with a bruising head shot and forced the P.E. teacher to talk him down after every match with Capri Sun and Fruit Roll Ups because you see, Johnson’s built differently than any of us. Sugar calms him down, and yoga gives him his rage. That’s two references to dodgeball, which is two more than I originally intended to make before tonight’s game.

None of what nonsense I just wrote is true (or makes sense), but you almost believed me because Johnson’s energy makes anything believable, and you really don’t want to be in his way when he is intent on unleashing his rage on the rim like that.

And then he did it again!

Welcome to the 2,000 rebound club, Jakob!

Welcome to the Spurs, Devontae Cacok!

If you missed last night’s win over the Wizards, here are the full-game highlights:

Next up, the Spurs head out to Portland to take on the Trail Blazers on Thursday, December 2, 2021.