Seventyniner
01-08-2021, 10:32 PM
Stuck in a pack of teams at 4-4 and with legitimate hopes of making the postseason, even if it's likely as part of the 7-10 play-in group, the Spurs hit an easy patch in the schedule with road games against the two worst teams in the league by SRS: at Minnesota tomorrow and Sunday night, then at the Thunder on Tuesday. Every game counts here, especially considering the shorter season; I have found myself watching other middle-of-the-pack West teams hoping they lose; games like Charlotte beating New Orleans tonight help the Spurs' postseason chances.
The Wolves won their first two games, including an impressive win over the Jazz. Since then, though, they have dropped six straight and the numbers are ugly. Disclaimer: I didn't watch any of the six games other than a few minutes of the 4th in the road loss to Denver, though I did watch a decent amount of their win over Utah. Blowout road losses to the Lakers and Clippers are understandable, even though the Spurs just swept that same set, and two losses to Denver are also not surprising. Being utterly uncompetitive against the Blazers (MIN was down 31 at the end of the 3rd) is pretty bad, and getting blown out at home by Washington is just plain turrbl. It's probably not realistic to expect theSpurs to win both matchups this weekend, but these are the kinds of games the Spurs need to win if they are going to make a serious push for a playoff spot.
The same is true of the Thunder, albeit to a lesser extent. They are also 4-4 and will play at Brooklyn between now and their date with the Spurs on Tuesday. OC's SRS is -8.6, which is only ahead of the Wolves' -12.8 out of all NBA teams. Their 4 wins have all come on the road: by 2 at CHA, 9 at ORL, 1 at NO, and 12 at NY. At home they are 0-3, with a 1-point loss to UTA, 11 points to ORL, and 33 points to NO; a road blowout against MIA accounts for their other loss. The Thunder will likely suffer many blowout losses as their young players grow and they work their way towards the top of the ping-pong ball chart; this is another game in which the Spurs will be favored.
Of course, no team will win every game. Obviously 3-0 over this stretch is ideal, and 2-1 is probably good enough. Anything worse would be very disappointing. With homecourt being less of a factor than in most seasons, and with all three games in the Spurs' normal timezone, the fact that these are road games shouldn't be much of an issue. The Spurs have played better on the road than at home in this young season anyway.
The Wolves won their first two games, including an impressive win over the Jazz. Since then, though, they have dropped six straight and the numbers are ugly. Disclaimer: I didn't watch any of the six games other than a few minutes of the 4th in the road loss to Denver, though I did watch a decent amount of their win over Utah. Blowout road losses to the Lakers and Clippers are understandable, even though the Spurs just swept that same set, and two losses to Denver are also not surprising. Being utterly uncompetitive against the Blazers (MIN was down 31 at the end of the 3rd) is pretty bad, and getting blown out at home by Washington is just plain turrbl. It's probably not realistic to expect theSpurs to win both matchups this weekend, but these are the kinds of games the Spurs need to win if they are going to make a serious push for a playoff spot.
The same is true of the Thunder, albeit to a lesser extent. They are also 4-4 and will play at Brooklyn between now and their date with the Spurs on Tuesday. OC's SRS is -8.6, which is only ahead of the Wolves' -12.8 out of all NBA teams. Their 4 wins have all come on the road: by 2 at CHA, 9 at ORL, 1 at NO, and 12 at NY. At home they are 0-3, with a 1-point loss to UTA, 11 points to ORL, and 33 points to NO; a road blowout against MIA accounts for their other loss. The Thunder will likely suffer many blowout losses as their young players grow and they work their way towards the top of the ping-pong ball chart; this is another game in which the Spurs will be favored.
Of course, no team will win every game. Obviously 3-0 over this stretch is ideal, and 2-1 is probably good enough. Anything worse would be very disappointing. With homecourt being less of a factor than in most seasons, and with all three games in the Spurs' normal timezone, the fact that these are road games shouldn't be much of an issue. The Spurs have played better on the road than at home in this young season anyway.