Spurs rebound for key road win ahead of tough stretch

March 19, 2:14 pm — by

The San Antonio Spurs got back on track after an embarrassing loss to New York Knicks Tuesday night, beating the Milwaukee Bucks 114-103. While beating the Bucks doesn’t have a ton of significance in a vacuum, under the current circumstances it was a big win for a couple of different reasons.

First there’s the fact that they couldn’t have stunk up Madison Square Garden any worse Tuesday night if they ate asparagus for dinner. If they didn’t respond well it would’ve been worrisome. Playing down to your competition happens, but how you react matters. Things didn’t look awesome to start, but they dominated the second quarter and didn’t even let the third quarter swoon happen. All of this on the second night of a back-to-back against a young Bucks team that likes to get out and run. Milwaukee isn’t a great team, but this was more about how the Spurs responded after that dreadful Knicks team.

Second, the schedule is about to get much tougher, so every win against mediocre to bad teams is important and that’s the real reason the Knicks loss felt like a stomach shot. Next, the Spurs host a scrappy Boston Celtics (almost certainly without Isaiah Thomas) and then it gets real. Starting Sunday, they play at Atlanta, at Dallas, home for Oklahoma City, Dallas and Memphis all in one week.Then they have two days off before doing the Florida back-to-back, which isn’t particularly tough except that it’s games six and seven in a 10 day stretch. That’s not December brutal, but it’s about as tough a stretch as the post All-Star break portion of the Rodeo Road trip.

At 42-25, the Spurs are eight games away from another 50 win season with 15 games to go. Right now, ESPN’s playoff odds has them getting to 51 wins, tied with Dallas for seventh in the West, two games back of the Clippers and three games back of the Rockets. They have four games left against Dallas and Houston. Go 3-1 in those games and they set themselves up well to steal the four seed. But they also have win games like Boston, Miami and Orlando. April also has games against Golden State, Oklahoma City and New Orleans. That’s 11 games against playoff teams (12 depending on where New Orleans sits) before the season ends. Basically, games like the Knicks game from Monday can’t happen for the rest of the season. If they do, the Spurs will be opening up the playoffs in Memphis. If we see the Spurs that we’ve seen for most of March, home court advantage in the first round is still in play.

  • thedrwolff

    A team getting above the 6 seed is on a 10-0 run. Not 8-2 with the two free throws missed and THE KNICKS???!!! we havent lost in regulation in 10 games…true. But they should never have went to OT in EITHER game. We go 8-7 because thats the team we’ve seen. Orlando the only bottom feeder from here on out. We can just as easily go 7-8 in this stretch and don’t be surprised dropping the Atlanta, Golden State games, splitting the houston, Dallas, and OKC Doubles and splitting the Memphis/ NO games. that’s 6 losses in 10 games. We face leading MVP candidates in 6 of those games. Guys playing All World and we arent running away and hiding by 20 on any of them. 50 wins is going to be VERY tough and that’s where we finish to barely keep the streak alive in the 7 seed. Hello 2 seed.

  • brunostrange

    I think the likeliest scenario is that SA stays at the 7. Mostly due to the law of averages - there’s lots of tough games coming up to end the season, SA is bound to lose some of them.

    SA has been playing well of late, though, and if they continue in that trajectory (and granted, that’s a big if, given the team’s inconsistent nature this season), and if the Grizzlies remain the 2-seed, I think a match-up against MEM is favorable. We’ve always matched up well against that team, and though they were on a tear for much of the season, they’ve been struggling a bit of late. Makes one wonder if they may have peaked too soon.

    If HOU takes over the 2-seed, I think it’s a different story. As much as it pains me to say it (because I find them to be a very annoying team), I think they’re getting better as the season goes on. I’d put money on SA winning that series if the Spurs were firing on all cylinders, but given the inconsistent nature of this year’s squad, I’m not sure which team would show up.

  • Tyler

    I think you’d rather stay in the 2-7/3-6 side of the bracket away from GS/OKC.

    Considering we have a better point differential than either Memphis or Houston (4.4 vs 3.4), neither team really scares me. I’d bet Vegas would have either series as a toss up despite SA not having home court.

  • KawaiianIsland420

    I hate analyzing future playoff spots this far away from the playoffs, pretty sure spurs are only 4.5 games out of 2nd, I still have faith

  • Tyler

    Forget about OKC now

  • DorieStreet

    News Flash: HOU has been playing most of 2014-15. Oct.-Nov 13-4 / Dec. 8-5 / Jan. 11-6 /
    Feb. 7-3. Had a 2-4 stretch the latter part of December and 2-4 in early March. The Rockets have not lost 3 games in a row all season ( five 2-game losing streaks). Many disrespect Coach McHale, and despise Harden and Howard, but those three and the rest of the team have compiled the 4th best record in the association so far.

  • DorieStreet

    Have faith for reaching the 2nd spot, but the team will have to pull off an 11-4 / 12-3 finish in the last 15 games to do that.

  • sanchez

    OKC is again on the “willis reed out of the tunnel” mode. They did it with Ibaka in last years playoffs and now want Durant to come back with a well of emotion to get a victory off of it. I expect both Durant AND Ibaka to be there for game one round one. Are they hurt? Sure. Are they coming back for the playoffs. Absolutely. Do they want the distraction of constantly fending off the question of when. Certainly….plus the added emotional boost of the injured warrior returns unexpectedly. Ibaka will make another “AMAZING” return while Durant has 3 weeks instead of 1 to heal enough for playoff basketball.

  • thedrwolff

    Pretty sure that expecting to make up 3 in the loss column (4 for memphis) on 3 different teams with just 15 games remaining ain’t happening. Houston’s schedule outside of us twice is really cake and they WILL be no lower then the 3 seed

  • Tyler

    OKC has to make the playoffs first.

    GS has put up an historically good point differential so far this season. It will probably end up as one of only eight teams in NBA history to post a 10+ differential. That’s INSANE (not coincidentally, 6 of the 7 went on to win the title). It’s almost double the next closest NBA team! IMO, I have a hard time seeing a hobbled OKC team has beating GS 4x in 7, Durant and Ibaka return or not.

  • thedrwolff

    Dude,
    You have got to be young….very young. It is the psychological gift of the young to see in new ways and have hope for the amazing to happen. History of the NBA takes precedence over short Abberations. History says that only 3 teams have come out of nowhere to win the title in 35 years. The ’99 spurs, the 04 Pistons and the 2008 celtics. Thats it….the entire list. The ’99 spurs had Duncan and Robinson who WERE existing Transcendent stars. Not todays media fabricated commercial stars mind you but REAL transcendence. ’08 Boston had 2 transcendent stars and a third who is borderline in pierce. Detroit had Larry Brown Who lost the conf finals and the title with indiana and an incredibly weak eastern conference. EVERYONE ELSE WHO WON THE TITLE EITHER HAD WON IT BEFORE or LOST IT BEFORE WINNING IT or had their face slapped in the conf finals very recently.
    The list Kobe/Duncan/Lebron/Shaq/Jordan/Olijawon accounts for EVERY TITLE for the past 23 years except DIRK (who lost in 06 and won with KIDD who had also lost in ’05) The detroit aberration and the Stern approved Boston Coup of 2007 who had THREE transcendent stars two of whom were traded to boston after YEARS of getting their head slammed in the west by Duncan and Kobe (don’t even get me going on that money driven solution to getting the Spurs out of the title TV market). So my question to all of your accurate and incredibly brilliant statistics is…EXACTLY WHO on the GS warriors has ever WON a title before, lost a title or even lost a conference championship….WHO is the player who has BEEN THERE BEFORE and KNOWS the heartbreak so that when the test of iron willed 27-30 year old MEN are ready to rip your heart out you stand fast and rip theirs out instead….who are those guys on the warriors…exactly. This isn’t the NCAA tourney where a group of believing wide eyed boys can for one game play ludicrous and win over a better team. Durant and Westbrook have paid there dues and you are putting your money on Curry, Thompson, Green to stare down Westbrook and Durant or Lebron for that matter? My stats are for the NBA title yours are for what again? and of those other 6 teams to win the title with GS point differential ….how many of them had won/lost the title the season before putting up those stats? I ask again…Golden State has WHO exactly with Championship experience? Even Conf Champ exp? You keep going on about point differential John Hollinger Junior. When it comes time for the title its won by men who have either won the title before or had their heart broken in the title before….32 out of 35 times and NEVER by a team out of nowhere with less then 2 Transcendent HOF stars except Detroit’04. You are a good NBA fan Tyler and Vegas LOVES people like you…but stop drinking the kool aid.

  • thedrwolff

    35 seasons of modern titles

    GOAT 6 titles
    Magic 5
    Kobe 5
    Duncan 5
    Wade 3
    Bird 3
    Olijuwon 2
    Isaiah 2

    Everyone on this list Wins AFTER losing to someone else on this list or by winning with someone else who had previous title experience.

    Exceptions

    1. The GOAT who after age 26 decided he would never lose again….ever…in any sport except to women or Father time, of which, by age 40 one had completely kicked his azz and the other was beginning to push him around

    Phil Jackson had coached 6 title teams and he PLAYED for another to account for the kobe shaq ’00 lakers

    Those 8 players account for 31 of the 35 titles.
    32 Dr J wins one AFTER losing to Magic
    33 The Detroit aberration
    34 The Boston Mafia title puts three future hall guys together
    35 Dirk and J Kidd win the Dr J memorial title for Lifetime achievement but not until AFTER they have lost to Wade, Duncan, and Kobe

    Note: yes players like Shaq have 4 titles but Kobe covers three and wade the other so no need to mention him

    Unless you can point out the THREE future hall guys on GS….and Lebron with titles will be playing for the east….I gots to go with the trend of 33 out of 35 seasons.

    Exception:
    IF you think Curry is the new GOAT and Kerr has previous title experience as coach then the Jordan/Jackson rule goes into effect….but I’m gonna need some convincing on that one

  • Tyler

    You read waaaay to into my post.

    Simply put, OKC won’t beat GS in the first round - that was my point. The point about GS’s point differential shows just how dominant they’ve been this season. Unequivocally, they’ve been the best team this season. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to win the title. There’s a lot that can happen between now and then.

    And if you’re insinuating I’d pick GS over the over the field, again you’re reading waaaaaay to into my post. I wouldn’t pick anyone over the field for sure.

    And yes, I think Curry is a transcendent player. He’s probably the favorite win the MVP at this point, which IMO, would vault him into that category. But regardless, he’s on track for the HOF.

    And tbh, I don’t really understand your point. By your definition, there’s really only two teams that would possibly qualify to win the title this year - Cleveland and SA are the only two teams with three pretty strong locks for the HOF. Either way, I think you’d absolutely be crazy to dismiss GS after the season they’ve put together.