Are 2015 San Antonio Spurs Becoming Better Than 2014 Title-Winning Version?
The San Antonio Spurs won last season's NBA Finals in historic fashion.
There shouldn't have been a higher level to reach, but they may have found exactly that. As absurd as that may sound, the numbers actually give the sentiment some credence.
As a whole, this season won't look as impressive as the last. The Spurs won 31 of their first 40 games in 2013-14. This time around, they managed just 24 victories over the same stretch.
But the injury bug that relentlessly attacked them to start the season—Tony Parker's nagging hamstring ailment, Kawhi Leonard's lengthy battle with a torn ligament in his shooting hand—has since vacated the Alamo City.
And as San Antonio's health returned, so did its ability to define the term "playing the right way."
Even more clearly than before.
Since March 1, the Spurs have racked up 13 wins against just three losses. Only the front-running Golden State Warriors have a higher winning percentage during this stretch (.895 to San Antonio's .813).
As the table below shows, the Spurs have used this period to post even better numbers than last year's banner-raising group managed:
The sample size isn't massive, but San Antonio's track record helps support what we're seeing.
A net efficiency rating of plus-13.5 points per 100 possessions is astronomical. The Warriors currently lead the league with a plus-12.0 mark, a number that hasn't been seen at the NBA level since the Chicago Bulls posted the same in 1996-97. That group, for the record, won 69 games and suffered only four playoff defeats en route to a world title.
In other words, the Spurs are back to doing historic things inside the lines.
And despite their injury-riddled, "rocky" beginning—below their standards, but still well above league average—they aren't the least bit surprised by where they're at.
"We knew eventually we'd get healthy. We knew what the goal was. We knew we'd get to that point," sharpshooter Danny Green said, per ESPN.com's Michael Wallace. "Everybody remembers from last year, and we're basically the same team from last year."
If not a better one.
Leonard, the reigning Finals MVP, has somehow skyrocketed his stock. Virtual ballers would have trouble keeping pace with the video game numbers he's posted since the All-Star break. He's averaged 17.1 points on 50.5 percent shooting, 7.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.5 steals per game.
Guess how many players have ever put up a 17/7/2.5/2.5 line and shot better than 50 percent from the field. Two: Michael Jordan (once) and Magic Johnson (twice). That's it.
And Leonard's round-ball wizardry doesn't stop there.
His plus-4.78 defensive real plus-minus ranks fourth overall and second among wings. He guards the game's best players and holds them nearly two percentage points below their field-goal shooting average. The Spurs are 10.3 points per 100 possessions better when their jack of all trades, master of several takes the floor.
"He plays like a big man but has three-point range," Bleacher Report's Stephen Babb wrote. "He's good at slashing and finishing against contact. He's an exceptional defender and rebounder. The list of perks goes on."
TNT's Inside the NBA crew discussed Leonard's impact in the video below:
For all the deserved praise San Antonio's collective has received, the individual parts have always been the reason the whole is so special.
Leonard has elevated his game to new heights. Ditto for Green and Cory Joseph, though not to the same extent.
This team's talent base is expanding—and it's doing so while Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili continue threatening Father Time's unblemished record.
Last season, the trio averaged a combined 44.1 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists. This season, those numbers are 39.5, 14.2 and 12.1, respectively. They've been trending in the right direction the further Parker moves from that hamstring problem. Just like the team he leads, he's looked like a different player since the beginning of March.
| Oct-Feb | 13.8 | 45.6 | 4.8 | 100 | 108 |
| March-April | 17.5 | 54.6 | 5.2 | 117 | 107 |
There's a slight bit of regression in certain areas—Boris Diaw and Patty Mills have struggled to replicate last season's production—but Leonard's gains have mostly offset those losses.
Even with so many of the same parts, this is a different team than last year's bunch. It isn't crazy to think this could be an improved one, though that won't be the focus moving forward.
Whether it's at or near the same level as last season, one thing is abundantly clear: The defending champs should be feared by all.
"Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker: They've been around the block a few times," Bleacher Report's Howard Beck said. "They know how to win at home and on the road. I don't think there's anybody in the West—when the Spurs are healthy and fully in rhythm—that they can't beat wherever those games may be."
In the overcrowded Western Conference, playoff positions are still being sorted out. The Spurs are currently slotted sixth, but they sit just 2.5 games back of the second-seeded Houston Rockets.
It's entirely possible that San Antonio could wind up hosting multiple postseason series.
The Warriors have done enough to enter the second season as favorites in the West, but the Spurs are nipping at their heels and pulling away from the rest of the pack.
If San Antonio and Golden State collide in the Western Conference Finals, it's anyone's guess as to what might happen. Just keep some popcorn at the ready, because it would be an instant-classic type of series.
What's even more interesting is what the Spurs' annual rise means for the future of this franchise. Coach Gregg Popovich has already opened the door for Duncan's return.
"No matter how (the season) ends, I think Timmy is going to look at (retirement) again," Popovich told USA Today's Sam Amick in February. "And if you ask me, my guess is that he'll go for another one because he has been so consistent this season."
If Duncan comes back, it seems a near-certainty Ginobili would follow his lead. Regardless of what happens with those two, there is no way San Antonio lets Leonard walk as a restricted free agent this summer.
Like they have been for the better part of two decades, the Spurs will most likely still be the Spurs again next season—ageless contenders and a consistent source of brilliant basketball.
Unless otherwise noted, statistics used courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com, NBA.com and ESPN.com.
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