Spurs just dismantled the NBA’s preferred strategy to halt a historic streak in the Pistons’ victory.

For months, analysts around the league have insisted there’s a clear formula to slowing down the Spurs: get physical. Bump them, crowd them, make every cut and drive uncomfortable. But after what San Antonio accomplished in Detroit, that narrative should be reconsidered. The Spurs secured their ninth consecutive victory, handling arguably the league’s most physical squad without much trouble.

On this night, Devin Vassell was the primary offensive spark. Still, the bigger takeaway isn’t about one standout performance. It’s about the identity this team has built all season. It truly doesn’t matter which player erupts on a given night. San Antonio identifies the hot hand, leans into it, and surrounds that production with disciplined defense and opportunistic scoring from everyone else.

Detroit’s defensive approach centered on disrupting Victor Wembanyama and limiting the effectiveness of the Spurs’ guards in the paint. To their credit, the Pistons executed that plan reasonably well. They made things difficult in key areas and forced San Antonio to adjust. But even with that effort, it ultimately didn’t matter. The Spurs still walked away with an 11-point win on the road. If that doesn’t send a message to the rest of the NBA, it should.

San Antonio continues to thrive through contact

There are similarities between Detroit’s approach and that of the Houston Rockets. Both teams aim to dictate games through sheer physicality, trying to impose their will and wear opponents down. San Antonio holds a 2-1 edge in the season series against Houston, and even in the lone loss, it required an extraordinary second-half shooting display from Reed Sheppard that resembled something out of Stephen Curry’s highlight reel. Meanwhile, the Rockets sit six games behind the Spurs in the standings.

What stands out most is that brute force hasn’t really been the primary cause of San Antonio’s defeats this season. More often, their losses stem from cold shooting stretches or lapses in focus. Rarely have they looked overwhelmed by contact or intimidated by physical play.

In fact, labeling this group as soft never made much sense. Teams that dominate the glass are not soft. Teams that consistently protect the rim with shot-blocking presence are not soft. Teams that attack the basket and draw frequent trips to the free-throw line are not soft. The Spurs excel in all three of those areas.

It often felt as though opponents leaned on the “just be more physical” mantra because San Antonio features so many young players. Conventional wisdom suggests that youthful teams struggle to adapt to the intensity and physical demands of meaningful basketball. But that assumption doesn’t apply here. This group has matured quickly. They’re tougher than critics anticipated and have accelerated their development at a pace few predicted.

If anything, the more realistic path to beating the Spurs is hoping they beat themselves — careless turnovers, poor shot selection, or defensive breakdowns. Yet even that is a risky gamble. Under interim leadership from Mitch Johnson, the team is operating with cohesion and confidence. When opponents disrupt their rhythm, they don’t unravel. They recalibrate. They shift tempo, adjust strategy, and still find ways to close the show.

Nine straight wins aren’t a fluke. Brushing aside the league’s most physical team on its own floor reinforces that this surge is sustainable. The Spurs have demonstrated they can win in multiple ways — through star power, through depth, through defense, and now definitively through contact.

At this point, the conversation needs to evolve. Physicality alone won’t derail San Antonio’s rise. The rest of the league may need a new blueprint, because the old one just got exposed. And with the way this team is trending, the idea of contending for a championship this season no longer feels far-fetched. It feels possible — maybe even probable.