Point Diff - There's hope for dem Spurs.

[Agloco]

Updated thru Feb 26th:

Diff / Record

Cleveland Cavaliers 9.7 44-12
Boston Celtics 9.5 46-13
Los Angeles Lakers 8.6 48-10
Orlando Magic 7.2 42-15
San Antonio Spurs 4.1 39-17
Houston Rockets 4.0 37-21
Portland Trail Blazers 3.6 35-22
Utah Jazz 3.6 35-23
Denver Nuggets 2.6 38-20
New Orleans Hornets 2.4 34-22
Phoenix Suns 1.7 32-25
Dallas Mavericks 1.6 34-23
Atlanta Hawks 1.0 32-25

Anyone out there notice a strange pattern between the two columns? The Spurs have steadily been climbing up the point diff rankings. While there's a gap between them and the top four, it's actually quite respectable now. Perhaps not as good as we've seen in recent years, but good enough to make me begin wondering if the team has finally hit their stride.

In SPAM we trust........:flag::flag::flag:

[Killakobe81]

Means nothing Orlando has a good one so do the Cavs and they both are overrated ...

[SpursDynasty]

We are also 3rd in fewest PPG allowed although FG% defense is still bothering me..only 12th best in the league.

[Killakobe81]

We are also 3rd in fewest PPG allowed although FG% defense is still bothering me..only 12th best in the league.

Who cares?! they just beat Portland without duncan and Manu ...with Parker and a GREAT defense the stats dont mean shiznit watch the games Pop is a genius ...Spurs will be there (WCF) and depending on bynum and manu's health they may have a chance at a title ...

[YoMamaIsCallin]

Spurs point differential for:

January: 3.8
February: 6.8

[sananspursfan21]

haha, almost feels like old times. they found their stride alright, they can beat a good team even without timmy and manu, but timmy better be there tonight against the cavs, cuz i'm not that confident in them being without.

[Spursmania]

That's good news Spurs fans and bad news for everyone else. Let's keep improving!

[Agloco]

Means nothing Orlando has a good one so do the Cavs and they both are overrated ...

So you don't see any relationship between the point diff and record?

I'm not quite sure how a team becomes overrated. You must mean that their records aren't reflective of how good they really are?

[mudyez]

don't overvalue the point diff!

I can remember chicago beein really good and getting kicked out early some years ago...

you get a good point diff by playing games until the end and by opponents that dont want to show you every trick.

e.g.: pop is pretty bothered if the second unit skrews it up, even if we are in front by 30 points....some other teams (with a lesser bench) dont care that much about that

e.g.2.: if we are playing teams that could be playoff oponents, they dont care about beating us by 30 or loosing by 30 opposite to lossing/winning by 10...its nore about showing your best tricks

I just want to say, that its nice to see us up there, but its a statistic, that has to be read carefully...one blowout game against the clippers can push it by +1 but it only gives one "W"...I rather win 10 games by an average of 1 points than 2 by 30 and loose 8 by 1!

...and we are pretty good in close games (something that matters so much more)!

[mystargtr34]

Who cares?! they just beat Portland without duncan and Manu ...with Parker and a GREAT defense the stats dont mean shiznit watch the games Pop is a genius ...Spurs will be there (WCF) and depending on bynum and manu's health they may have a chance at a title ...

History has shown that PD, is a better indicator of playoff success than W/L record. Im not sure of the exact stat, but for the last 5 years, the team that won the Championship has had the highest Point Differential in 4 of those years, and not necessarilly the best W/L record. At the expense of sounding like Hollinger, the Celtics have blown alot of teams out, while the Lakers have gone down to the wire against teams like Minesotta, Golden State and other bottom feeders.

Like every stat, you take it with a grain of salt, but its a stat i certaintly look at. The Spurs PD stat will be a little skewed since Manu and Tony missed a good chunk of games early in the season. Manu and Tony both came back into the lineup at 8-6 with the PD at +1.1, if i remember correctly.. So in the 42 games since then the PD has been roughly +5.2.

I may aswell look it up. The last 5 Champs.

Celtics --- Point Differential (1st) - W/L (1st)
Spurs --- Point Differential (1st) - W/L (3rd)
Heat --- Point Differential (5th) - W/L (5th)
Spurs --- Point Differential (1st) - W/L (T-2nd)
Pistons --- Point Differential (2nd) - W/L (6th)

[BigDaddyCool]

Our D still has some horrible numbers... If we are relying on Point Diff to win a championship then we are in trouble.

[Agloco]

Our D still has some horrible numbers... If we are relying on Point Diff to win a championship then we are in trouble.

I hardly advocate relying on any one indicator. It's simply the most accurate measuring stick there is for success. Lots of other factors come into play obviously. Opponenets FG% comes to mind for example.

But for correlating with win % and championships, this barometer is one of the best, if not the best.