San Antonio fell behind 3-2 in the Western Conference finals after a 127-114 loss in Game 5 on Tuesday, and 39-year-old head coach Mitch Johnson now leads the Spurs into their first win-or-go-home playoff game of the postseason tonight.
Johnson, who became the 19th head coach in Spurs history after meeting with general manager Brian Wright, Peter J. Holt, R.C. Buford and Gregg Popovich in late April of last year, has already overseen a dramatic turnaround: a 62-20 regular-season record and the franchise’s first trip back to the Western Conference finals since 2017. The roster he manages — led by Victor Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper — flipped the script on a club that missed the NBA playoffs from 2019 through 2025 after a run of 22 consecutive postseason appearances beginning in 1998.
The weight of that turnaround is unmistakable. Johnson was a finalist for 2026 NBA Coach of the Year after guiding the Spurs to a 62-20 mark in his first season, and San Antonio reaching the Western Conference finals marked the end of a six-season drought. Yet the immediate question is stark: after dropping Game 5, San Antonio must win tonight to force a deciding Game 7.
That tension is personal. Wright recalled the moment he told Johnson he would take over, saying, "We sat in the room with him and gave him the good news." Wright said the gathering — which included Popovich — was both celebratory and raw: "And it was an emotional celebratory time for everyone because he had a really strong bond and relationship with ‘Pop,’ being there with him on his staff and obviously the relationship we had built over the last eight or nine years." Wright added, "And then just that transition is emotional for everyone involved. So, it was a happy emotional. It was a celebratory emotional. But it was emotional on all parts."
That backstory matters because Popovich remains the benchmark: he coached the Spurs to five NBA championships and is the only coach in San Antonio history to lead the franchise to the NBA Finals. Johnson’s rise out of Popovich’s shadow into a job that made him the 19th head coach in franchise history is both an inheritance and a test — one turned immediate by the 127-114 loss that put the Spurs behind 3-2 in the series.
Johnson did not sugarcoat the challenge. "To beat a team of this caliber in their building with the stakes, we’ll need to be a lot better to give yourself a chance," he said after Game 5, putting the responsibility squarely on his team and his adjustments. Wright, meanwhile, has publicly defended his coach’s temperament and approach: "He’s incredibly poised," Wright said, and added that Johnson has been "blessed with an understanding of people, understanding of the moment that we’re in, an understanding of what to say and how to deliver a message."
Wright went further in describing the culture Johnson has helped foster: "[He knows] how to motivate, how to push guys, but also how to give guys a level of respect, a level of love and a level of confidence to where they go out every night and they play hard for each other, and they play hard for themselves; they play hard for their teammates." Those traits explain why chatter around mitch johnson spurs shifted from cautious optimism to national conversation after a 62-win season and a deep playoff run.
Tonight crystallizes what Johnson’s first year will ultimately be judged on. The Spurs host their first win-or-go-home game of the postseason, and a victory forces Game 7; a loss ends a season that restored the franchise’s relevance but leaves unanswered whether Johnson can take San Antonio all the way. The most consequential question now is simple and unavoidable: will the poise and people skills Wright praises translate into the adjustments and execution the Spurs need to survive one more night?
