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Tuesday NBA Roundup: Why Isn’t Anyone Talking About the San Antonio Spurs?
- Updated: December 21, 2016
Every year, like clockwork, a large sector of NBA fans and pundits come to doubt the San Antonio Spurs.
And every year, without fail, San Antonio proves them wrong.
Let’s all agree to skip that dance this year and just accept the Spurs as overlords, shall we?
If it helps, you needn’t act like this epiphany comes out of nowhere. Use the Spurs’ 102-100 victory over the Houston Rockets as your trigger.
This was, after all, a win worthy of pivoting perception. The Spurs trailed by as many as 13 points inside five minutes to play but rattled off a 19-4 run to close the game…on the road…against the third-best team in the Western Conference…that was riding a 10-game winning streak.
That’s a significant feat, as ESPN Stats & Info illustrated:
Spurs won after trailing by 13 w/under 4:30 to go. Into today, tms trailing by 13+ w/under 4:30 to go were 1-1,388 (0.001) in last 3 seasons
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 21, 2016
San Antonio pulled off this comeback without a trademark effort from Kawhi Leonard. He finished with 21 points, reached the charity stripe at will (13 free throws) and was a general nuisance on the defensive end (five steals!). But he shot just 5-of-13 from the field, committed seven turnovers and was consistently overwhelmed by Eric Gordon (not a typo).
LaMarcus Aldridge wasn’t especially fantastic, either. He chipped in 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists while going 6-of-15 from the floor. Danny Green drained four three-pointers, and Patty Mills capped his 13-point performance with a game-winning three:
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The Spurs don’t leave Houston victorious without Manu Ginobili. The 39-year-old exploded in the final frame, packing an entire game into seven-and-a-half minutes of spin.
He tallied nine points, three assists and two steals and spearheaded the most important defense-to-offense sequence of the night:
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We have to stop ourselves here. You see what we’re doing, don’t you? We’re treating this like an upset, when it’s not.
Yes, the Spurs fell behind. And sure, the odds were stacked against them entering the fourth quarter. But as Project Spurs’ Paul Garcia reminded us, San Antonio is no underdog:
The Spurs improve to 23-5 on the season and 15-1 on the road.SA takes the 2-1 edge vs HOU in their series.SA is on pace for 67 wins.
— Paul Garcia (@PaulGarciaNBA) December 21, 2016
There is no universe in which a team on track to win 67 games for the second consecutive year should be flying under the radar—not even when said squad has seemed almost human at times.
Has the Spurs’ pick-and-roll defense been bad? Without question. But they are still fourth in points allowed per 100 possessions.
Are they shooting way too many mid-range jumpers and not hitting enough of their field-goal attempts inside the paint? Yes, and yes. But they also lead the league in three-point efficiency.
Do they have a better record on the road than at home? Yes, and that’s uncomfortable. But they have the best enemy-territory net rating in the NBA—not to mention a top-six home differential since their Nov. 9 loss to the Rockets.
Should Pau Gasol be ceding minutes to Dewayne Dedmon? Is Tony Parker unfit for full-time point guard duty? Are the Spurs simultaneously too reliant on graying vets (David Lee, Gasol, Ginobili, Parker) and relatively inexperienced contributors (Dedmon, Jonathon Simmons)? Does it feel like they’re another high-end three-and-D playmaker away from making the Warriors take notice?
There are no doubt concerns when it comes to San Antonio’s championship candidacy. Some of them, like the pick-and-roll defense, are more major than others.
But for all the Spurs’ flaws, they still have a top-six offense and top-four defense. They have the fourth-best net rating after playing through a relatively average schedule.
They have a better record than every team other than the Warriors.
James Harden—who went for 31 points and seven assists in Tuesday’s loss—will garner more headlines for his MVP detonations. Russell Westbrook’s daily triple-double alerts will do the same. The Rockets will be lauded for their surprise climb up the Western Conference ranks. The Cleveland Cavaliers and Warriors will be revered, through both love and hate, for their persisting NBA Finals collision course.
The Spurs, though?
They’ll quietly go about their business, as a bona fide championship contender, away from rampant optimism and effusive praise—just like always.
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