While Vassell is finally playing the basketball his teammates have known he's capable of, the timing is less than ideal. With a loaded draft class on the way, Vassell could keep them out of a top-five pick but won't do enough to get them into the postseason.

With the Spurs clinging to a 113-111 lead with 1:30 remaining, Johnson won a battle for the rebound of Castle’s missed 3-pointer. Johnson passed it to Vassell, who drained a 3 from 26 feet to extend San Antonio’s lead to 116-111 with 1:03 remaining.