Sometimes it just comes down to who's got the most f*** you.

The Spurs didn't get out-schemed or outcoached Sunday... they just got manhandled.

Screenshot courtesy of Bally Sports, SS&E

There’s a gauntlet young teams go through on a game-to-game basis. One night, adjustments click nicely into place, and the bigger picture makes sense; the next, that same general approach simply doesn’t work because you’re dealing with completely different personnel ready to punch you in the mouth.

It was the latter that happened to the Spurs on Sunday in their 123-116 overtime loss. The same stuff that worked down the stretch against the Phoenix Suns last week malfunctioned against the Toronto Raptors, who were ready to get physical using all the pterodactyls on that roster that so perfectly represent the inspiration of that team’s nickname.

Down the stretch of San Antonio’s most recent win against the Suns, Gregg Popovich dialed up the same play over and over again, by his own admission. Phoenix went with a small lineup, that basically featured some combination of Drew Eubanks, Kevin Durant and Keita Bates-Diop in the frontcourt. So the Spurs went at it, cross-screening on the block repeatedly and letting their guys just read and react.

First you might get a Zach Collins post-up, but then you’ll get a Victor Wembanyama post-up, then a Wemby flash to the free-throw line for a shot you can’t block, then Wemby dragging the big all the way out to the 3-point line left alone on an island. If you want to go small, that situation is hell when dealing with a player who can just flatly beat you one-on-one in any of those situations, not to mention pass it back to Collins down low once the defense commits.

In that game, San Antonio’s old friends KBD and Eubanks were sitting ducks. They were left guessing where in the hell to cut Wemby off considering there are about four different possible answers — five if you include Collins, a center, making his move and then passing BACK to the big man filling space.

But Toronto blew all of that to pieces on Sunday, and they didn’t do anything special. Sometimes sports come down to who’s bigger and badder.