San Antonio Spurs Happy to Fly Under Radar as Title Defense Gears Up
To nobody’s surprise, Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs are on a roll heading into the postseason. The team has won nine games in a row and 13 of its last 16. In that stretch, the Spurs have beaten Houston, Okahoma City (twice), Golden State, Dallas, Memphis and Atlanta—nearly all of whom appear headed for playoff berths.
Tony Parker, of course, has rounded into form. Tim Duncan remains Tim Duncan. And, because Gregg Popovich treats the regular season the way baseball teams treat spring training, the entire roster is healthy and well-rested. But for the umpteenth season in a row, the real story is San Antonio’s defense.
Consider the following tidbits:
1. In their last 12 games, the Spurs have allowed an average of 90.3 points per game. That would rank No. 1 in the league (right now, Utah leads the league in points allowed at 94.6 PPG).
2. NBA teams this season have averaged 99.9 PPG. In their last 10 games, the Spurs have not allowed a single team to score more than 95 points.
3. The Spurs’ past three wins have come against Houston, Oklahoma City and Golden State. In those games, the trio of James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Stephen Curry combined to average 21 points, 3.3 rebounds and four assists. (Compare that to their season averages of 26 points, six rebounds and 7.7 assists per game).
4. Kawhi Leonard has 14 steals in his last three games, including a career-high seven against Golden State.
Leonard has been a terror. Bleacher Report’s Alec Nathan covered this earlier in the week, and Grantland’s Kirk Goldsberry discussed Leonard’s impact last month, but the succinct version is this: Kawhi Leonard can guard pretty much anyone.
Leonard has been a stalwart defender for a number of years, but he stepped into the spotlight last summer. He earned Most Valuable Player honors in the NBA Finals—largely for his work guarding LeBron James—and has since demonstrated a consistent ability to defend the league’s top players.
Plus, while Leonard remains a defensive and rebounding monster, he is hardly the only Spur making an impact on D.
The Spurs count Leonard, Green and Tim Duncan—one of the four or five greatest defensive players of all time—among their starting five. In terms of defensive rating, all three rank among the league’s 14 best defenders.
Add in the crafty Boris Diaw and the underrated Patty Mills, and the Spurs—yet again—are a defensive juggernaut. San Antonio is well-coached, rested and experienced. The Western Conference is a bloodbath, and every team can beat every other team. But if the Spurs’ defense continues and Leonard maintains his recent offensive fireworks (19.4 PPG over his last 10 games), San Antonio appears well-positioned for a repeat.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats courtesy of ESPN.com and Basketball-Reference.com.
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