Of Spurs and Titles

It seems that every year writers and analysts forget to mention the Spurs in title conversations and every year the Spurs find a way to reestablish themselves into the conversation. The Spurs have quietly taken over the 2^nd best record in the West, which is not surprising. They have a great coach as well as players that complement each other very well. What is surprising though is that they have a 23-10 record with Duncan on limited minutes, and Ginobili, arguably their best offensive player, on limited minutes and only playing in 9 games due to injury. If they get to the playoffs healthy, they will be a scary team for anyone to face. Similar to last year, Popovich is playing Duncan around 28 minutes a game during the season, and will probably push him, along with Ginobili and Parker, to 35 minutes during the playoffs. With those three fresh for the playoffs the Spurs might just be the team to beat in the West.

In my last post I talked about how the Spurs have a great offensive set up, with their main 3 players surrounded by players who can work well as complements. Defensively the Spurs have always been great. While they have lost some of their great defensive players from their championship years, they still have a good defense. They are currently ranked 16^th in defensive efficiency, which is unlike them. A bit part of this can be attributed to Duncan’s minutes being limited. He is such a big part of their defense that with him playing only 28 minutes a game, their defense would suffer a bit. Once his minutes are back up in the playoffs, they should be a very solid team defensively. Their recently ended 11 game win streak had a lot to do with defensive play. They held opponents to 91.5 points per game while scoring 99.5 points per game.  What’s even more impressive is that 8 of those 11 games came on the road. They beat Memphis twice, Philadelphia, the Clippers and the Jazz, all on the road. These teams have a combined home record of 49-21, so these were not pushover games. Their home wins came against OKC, who hold the best record in the West, and Houston, who currently hold the 6^th seed.  Amazingly, only 4 of their 11 wins during the streak came against non-playoff teams. Playing the way they are right now, this Spurs team is going to be very difficult to beat in a seven game series. If they get to the playoffs healthy, they will be a huge force in the playoffs and can make a push to the finals. But in this shortened season, with an aging core, the question is can they get to the playoffs healthy?