The San Antonio Spurs are going to be just fine.
An outing against the (previously) struggling Oklahoma City Thunder could’ve been an opportunity for them to further close the gap on the Western Conference-leading Golden State Warriors. But head coach Gregg Popovich made it clear during the team’s 102-92 loss that rest takes precedence over eking out one additional victory.
Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili didn’t suit up Thursday night. Kawhi Leonard retreated to the locker room after an impressive 26 minutes, and he wasn’t seen from again. Seriously, he never emerged from the tunnel after taking a blow to the face, per ESPN.com’s Royce Young, as the trainer thought he should sit down the stretch.
Beyond that, Popovich used some fairly nontraditional rotations against the Thunder, deploying Bryn Forbes for lengthy stretches and mixing it up with some new lineups. He was testing things out, not treating this like a playoff contest.
And it’s exactly what he should be doing.
Some, like The Vertical’s Michael Lee, may disagree:
But despite this loss, the Spurs don’t need to fear a first-round matchup with Oklahoma City.
When they’re operating at full strength, they’re even deadlier than this limited version. The Thunder also can’t rely on a stellar triple-double from Russell Westbrook coinciding with the new additions (Doug McDermott and Taj Gibson) making positive contributions every time they take to the court. And lest we forget, the Spurs were the victorious outfit in the teams’ first meeting this season.
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San Antonio simply doesn’t need to worry about the remainder of this campaign’s first 82 games. It doesn’t have to pursue Golden State for the No. 1 seed, even if this weekend’s marquee matchup between the two juggernauts could trim the margin between them. It doesn’t have to avoid any of the possible first-round opponents. It doesn’t even need to concern itself with earning home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
This might seem strange to say in the wake of a double-digit loss, but the Spurs are legitimate contenders who have flown under the radar all season. While Westbrook and James Harden rack up triple-doubles, while the Cleveland Cavaliers and Warriors draw headlines with every ebb and flow, while breakout sensations such as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic draw hype, they’ve steadily plodded along, establishing themselves as a team without any discernible weaknesses.
Think that’s hyperbolic? It’s not.
San Antonio has posted an above-average score in each of the Four Factors on offense—a claim only it and the Toronto Raptors can make. It also has positive marks in each of the corresponding defensive factors, which it has in common with just…well, no one.
Since 1974, when we can first start looking at the Four Factors (representing shooting, turnovers, free throws and rebounding with singular numbers, as explained here), only two teams have finished a season with above-average marks in all eight categories, per my databases: the 1979-80 Boston Celtics (61-21) and 1998-99 Portland Trail Blazers (35-15 during the lockout-shortened season).
But the full-strength Spurs’ impervious nature isn’t just due to all-around excellence.
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The construction of the roster makes them potent against any opponent, with a bona fide superstar (Leonard) leading the charge, while a veritable horde of bench contributors swarms every other second unit. Not only do the San Antonio starters rank No. 2 in net rating (7.8), but the bench sits at No. 1 (10.8). Even more impressively, its net rating is almost double that of the No. 2 Golden State Warriors’ reserves (5.8).
And though Thursday night’s loss to the Thunder came on the road, that stands out as an aberration. The Spurs’ net rating at home (10.0) is only marginally better than their work away from the AT&T Center (9.6).
When you’re perfectly comfortable operating in front of hostile crowds, losing out on home-court advantage takes on less importance than health and improved chemistry between rarely used contributors.
So would San Antonio prefer to play at home in the seemingly inevitable Western Conference Finals showdown with the Dubs? Sure. Would it like to avoid the possibility of a Russell Westbrook explosion coming at its expense in the opening round? Probably. Would it enjoy the prestige of finishing with the NBA’s best record? Of course.
But those desires aren’t all-consuming, and they won’t sway Popovich. The NBA’s best coach still knows what he’s doing, and he’ll never ask his troops to chase anything that doesn’t have the best chances of improving their title odds.
Source: BleacherReport