Debunking a myth: "The Spurs have only won against teams at less than full strength"

[Dejounte]

This is not a debate about whether the Spurs are a good team or a bad team.

This is a thread to address the myth that most of the wins the Spurs have had have been against teams at less than full strength.

Let's bust that myth.

I believe an NBA team is only as good as their top three players. I think the undisputed current top three players on the Spurs are Murray, White, and Poeltl. Using this as a baseline, I looked at the top three players the opposing team had available in each of the Spurs' wins, and compared them to the losses the Spurs had when they didn't have any of their top three available.

This is what I came away with:

In the team's 22 losses,
The opposing team had their top three players available and they took advantage of the Spurs when they were without their second best player, Poeltl, three times:



Sun Nov 7 2021
Oklahoma City Thunder
SGA, Giddey, Dort


Fri Nov 12 2021
Dallas Mavericks
Doncic, Porzingis, Brunson




Thu Nov 18 2021
Minnesota Timberwolves
Towns, Edwards, Russell



*Note: I didn't count the other three games Poeltl was out because the opposing team had one of their top three players out too.

Next,
The opposing team had their top three players available and they took advantage of the Spurs when they were without their best player, Murray, twice:



Fri Dec 31 2021
Memphis Grizzlies
Ja, Bane, JJJ




Tue Jan 4 2022
Toronto Raptors
VanVleet, Siakam, Trent Jr.



In summary, opposing teams took advantage of the Spurs not having a top three player a total of five times.


In the team's 15 wins,
The Spurs had their top three players available and they took advantage of the opposing team when they were without their top three players below:



Sat Oct 30 2021
Milwaukee Bucks
Giannis, Jrue, Middleton




Thu Dec 2 2021
Portland Trail Blazers
Lillard, McCollum, Powell




Mon Dec 20 2021
Los Angeles Clippers
George, Jackson, Morris


Thu Dec 23 2021
Los Angeles Lakers
LeBron, Davis, Westbrook


Sun Dec 26 2021
Detroit Pistons
Grant, Bey, Cade



*Note: The names in bold font are the players who were out.

In summary, the Spurs took advantage of the opposing team not having a top three player a total of five times.

The end.

[heyheymymy]

Excellent analysis. Morris seems a stretch in one of those Spurs wins, that game was won handedly and Morris would've not been much of a factor imo. So even more argument in spurs favor possibly there.