Spurs are now officially the 2 seed

The loss tonight ended any chance of catching the Warriors for the top seed, unless Curry and Klay both break legs. That at least clears up the way the rest of the season will get handled.

The Spurs knew they pretty much had to go undefeated to end the season anyway, to have a reasonable chance of passing Golden State. Now the pressure for that is off, and they can afford to rest some guys. Could turn out to be for the best. No loss is ever a good loss, but this one probably relieved the Spurs from trying to do something that couldn't be done anyway.

The good news from tonight is that Timmy had his best game in quite a while. The bad news is that Kawhi, Danny, and Boris were a combined 6-26 - and a good part of that was the Charlotte defense. The Spurs need to use it as an opportunity to start tuning up for the playoffs, rather than worrying about catching the Dubs.

The other thread with almost the same title wasn't sufficient enough?

Without home court, Spurs have no chance for 6.

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Originally Posted by Spur|n|Austin

The other thread with almost the same title wasn't sufficient enough?

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Took a phone call while I was typing. It wasn't there when I started. But fuck you very much.

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Originally Posted by mexicanjunior

Without home court, Spurs have no chance for 6.

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Not impossible but very difficult. Probably the most difficult they have faced.

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Originally Posted by mexicanjunior

Without home court, Spurs have no chance for 6.

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Originally Posted by peacemaker885

Not impossible but very difficult. Probably the most difficult they have faced.

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The Spurs were likely going to have to win a game at Golden State, even if they somehow managed the 1 seed. If they go out and steal Game 1, the whole thing flip-flops. Bottom line, nothing much changed tonight except for the clarity of knowing how the regular season comes out.

Warriors have to beat Minnesota still. It's a drag we blew this game. I don't think we've done this all year. my god, that was hard to watch

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Originally Posted by mexicanjunior

Without home court, Spurs have no chance for 6.

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To have home court, the Spurs needed to win out. The Spurs still have a game at Oakland this season. Meaning to have home court, they had to win in Oakland. If they can win in Oakland, they don't need home court. If they can't win in Oakland they weren't going to have home court anyway. /logic

Yep... I know technically it's not over, but more than likely as far as catching the Warriors. Bad thing for fans and the NBA networks, with really nothing to win, it basically kills all the end of season big games against the Thunder/Warriors.

when did anyone think SA was getting the one seed lol

It's not over. Warriors can lose against Utah and clippers. Man, as soon as we lose, pinche cliff jumping.

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Originally Posted by Old School 44

Yep... I know technically it's not over, but more than likely as far as catching the Warriors. Bad thing for fans and the NBA networks, with really nothing to win, it basically kills all the end of season big games against the Thunder/Warriors.

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Which brings up an interesting point. The NBA in the Silver era has started backloading key games between powerhouse teams to the very last few weeks of the schedule. I read somewhere this is by design because they can get the best ratings coverage when the NFL is done for the year, and there's no March Madness to compete with. The thinking also is you'll effectively get free "playoff" games as these teams clash late in the year to decide the seeding. The problem is more often than not, the top seeds are already decided, and you'll get meaningless games. As this year's final OKC and two final Dub games with the Spurs will be. I'd like to see marquee matchups spread more evening through the season rather than this deliberate backload.

You can tell when the Spurs lose a definitive game -- Pop is nice in the post-game interview.

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Originally Posted by Kikoluna

It's not over. Warriors can lose against Utah and clippers. Man, as soon as we lose, pinche cliff jumping.

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9 of last 12 GS games are at home

OP, learn math.

OP makes some very good points:tu

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Originally Posted by BillMc

Which brings up an interesting point. The NBA in the Silver era has started backloading key games between powerhouse teams to the very last few weeks of the schedule. I read somewhere this is by design because they can get the best ratings coverage when the NFL is done for the year, and there's no March Madness to compete with. The thinking also is you'll effectively get free "playoff" games as these teams clash late in the year to decide the seeding. The problem is more often than not, the top seeds are already decided, and you'll get meaningless games. As this year's final OKC and two final Dub games with the Spurs will be. I'd like to see marquee matchups spread more evening through the season rather than this deliberate backload.

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yes...I like the idea of spreading them out too. It's going to be sad to attend the late season Spurs/Warriors and see Speights/Rush/Barbosa go against Boban/Miller/Anderson.

[QUOTE=mexicanjunior;8491869]Without home court, Spurs have no chance for 6.[/QUOTE. WTF? Get a life!:blah

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Originally Posted by mexicanjunior

Without home court, Spurs have no chance for 6.

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lol faggot

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Originally Posted by Proxy

when did anyone think SA was getting the one seed lol

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Not gonna lie I thought this team had turned a corner after the GSW game. SPAM and all that.

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Originally Posted by TrainOfThought5

Not gonna lie I thought this team had turned a corner after the GSW game. SPAM and all that.

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Spurs have been SPAM all season. Time to rest players and get ready for the playoffs. We all know that, barring the most unlikely of circumstances, the WCF is going to be Spurs vs. Warriors for the chance to beat LeBron again in the Finals.

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Originally Posted by GSH

The Spurs were likely going to have to win a game at Golden State, even if they somehow managed the 1 seed. If they go out and steal Game 1, the whole thing flip-flops. Bottom line, nothing much changed tonight except for the clarity of knowing how the regular season comes out.

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Beating GSW on the road is very difficult, but possible. I remember when we won against Miami on the road in Game 1 of the NBA Finals in 2013. Spurs never trailed in that series until that infamous Game 6 happened.

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Originally Posted by Proxy

when did anyone think SA was getting the one seed lol

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This.

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Originally Posted by BillMc

Which brings up an interesting point. The NBA in the Silver era has started backloading key games between powerhouse teams to the very last few weeks of the schedule. I read somewhere this is by design because they can get the best ratings coverage when the NFL is done for the year, and there's no March Madness to compete with. The thinking also is you'll effectively get free "playoff" games as these teams clash late in the year to decide the seeding. The problem is more often than not, the top seeds are already decided, and you'll get meaningless games. As this year's final OKC and two final Dub games with the Spurs will be. I'd like to see marquee matchups spread more evening through the season rather than this deliberate backload.

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That's really shitty if true.

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Originally Posted by GSH

The loss tonight ended any chance of catching the Warriors for the top seed, unless Curry and Klay both break legs. That at least clears up the way the rest of the season will get handled.

The Spurs knew they pretty much had to go undefeated to end the season anyway, to have a reasonable chance of passing Golden State. Now the pressure for that is off, and they can afford to rest some guys. Could turn out to be for the best. No loss is ever a good loss, but this one probably relieved the Spurs from trying to do something that couldn't be done anyway.

The good news from tonight is that Timmy had his best game in quite a while. The bad news is that Kawhi, Danny, and Boris were a combined 6-26 - and a good part of that was the Charlotte defense. The Spurs need to use it as an opportunity to start tuning up for the playoffs, rather than worrying about catching the Dubs.

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Wait they went 6-26'....??? But I thought this loss was Kyle's fault!!! :madrun

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Originally Posted by Keepin' it real

OP, learn math.

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Originally Posted by Kikoluna

It's not over. Warriors can lose against Utah and clippers. Man, as soon as we lose, pinche cliff jumping.

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http://img.pandawhale.com/50246-sooo...eres-P7Ga.jpeg

I actually prefer the Spurs not to have HCA. They just need to take one game against GS in Oakland. And the early games will be the easiest as Pop rolls out his game plan. It's like Miami in 2013. Obviously would have been nice to have a Game Seven in Texas, but I thought the Spurs stealing Game One was a great way to keep Miami on their heels for pretty much the whole series.

The Spurs taking Game One in Oakland would shake the Warriors. And the response game would be at GS, so the Spurs losing that (while seeing Kerr's adjustments) wouldn't really mean anything.

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Originally Posted by BillMc

Which brings up an interesting point. The NBA in the Silver era has started backloading key games between powerhouse teams to the very last few weeks of the schedule. I read somewhere this is by design because they can get the best ratings coverage when the NFL is done for the year, and there's no March Madness to compete with. The thinking also is you'll effectively get free "playoff" games as these teams clash late in the year to decide the seeding. The problem is more often than not, the top seeds are already decided, and you'll get meaningless games. As this year's final OKC and two final Dub games with the Spurs will be. I'd like to see marquee matchups spread more evening through the season rather than this deliberate backload.

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Disclaimer: Apophenia is the human tendency to see patterns where they don't really exist. I try and watch out for it, but we all go there sometimes.

That being said, I think you're probably right about back-loading marquee matchups. But as hard as it is to put together a schedule matrix - especially with things like the Rodeo Road Trip and March Madness in the way? I think there's only so much room for manipulation at the level we're talking about.

I think they do a pretty good job of giving teams West Coast and East Coast swings, so they don't have to fly from coast to coast between games (at least not often). You notice how often two rival teams play in one arena, and within a few nights in the other team's arena. I think that's pretty cool, actually, and probably makes for better rivalries. So, yeah, I think they manipulate the schedules somewhat. I just don't think they could go too far with that, and still make everything work.

Don't worry - I'll join some other Anti-Silver tirades more enthusiastically, if you bring them up. :lol

Spurs will need to find themselves at a 3-2 lead going to a closeout game 6 in SA ..i don't think there is any other conceivable scenario i see us winning the series..In this instance, Game 1 and Game 5 are the ones to steal..

W-L-W-W-L-W
OR
W-L-W-L-W-W

No team is going 3-0 on the other..

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Originally Posted by Chinook

The Spurs taking Game One in Oakland would shake the Warriors.

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That right there is the hope I'm holding onto. If the Spurs come out and take Game 1, it turns the Dubs' whole historic season upside-down. If flips HCA. It sends a message that, "It's the playoffs now, baby."

The Warriors have been playing very loose and confident all season. Honestly, I've been surprised at several points that they didn't seem to feel some pressure like I thought they would. If the Spurs had won last night, and the Warriors lost in back to back games to close the gap to 2, I thought they might have puckered a bit. But that didn't happen. Losing Game 1 to the Spurs would put that to the test.

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Originally Posted by GSH

That being said, I think you're probably right about back-loading marquee matchups.

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It's more than probably right, just check the remaining schedule of all the contenders. Potential playoffs team play almost only between themselves from now on. However (and I agree with you) I wouldn't call it manipulation as all the top teams basically have a tough schedule to end the season. It just shows that the NBA is pretty good at predicting which teams are going to be in the playoffs. Actually looking at the schedule it's quite clear than in the West they thought Denver and Phoenix would be better than they are.

Re: BillMc point, it's true the top 2 seeds in the West (and in the NBA) are decided, but there's still quite a few important games to be played, including some that actually affect us through seeding to know our 1st round and potentially 2nd round opponent. Also Utah can still get into the playoffs, same for Washington and Detroit in the East. And of course every team in the West wants to avoid the dreaded #7 and #8 seeds, etc.

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Originally Posted by will_spurs

It's more than probably right, just check the remaining schedule of all the contenders.

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Dude... slow down. Take a deep breath.

There's a difference between saying that the best teams play each other at the end of the season, and saying that it is all part of a plot by Adam Silver. Some of it, without question, is just because teams gotta play each other sometime.

Did you take any time to look at the schedules of the shitty teams, to see if their games appear to be backloaded? I bet it looks that way. What kind of ratings do you think Sixers vs. Lakers gets?

It's tough to create a schedule for 30 teams, 2,460 games, with conference and division considerations thrown in. Cram it all into a calendar, and there are going to be places where it will look like patterns exist. My point is that, for the most part, I think they have a hard enough times just coming up with something that works. Yeah, they plan some marquee matchups, I'm sure. But too much of that would fuck up the whole thing.

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Originally Posted by GSH

Yeah, they plan some marquee matchups, I'm sure. But too much of that would fuck up the whole thing.

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I wonder what you're calling a marquee matchup.

The Clippers play 9 games out of their remaining 12 against potential playoff teams. Spurs pretty much the same IIRC. The Warriors last 4 games are: SA, @MEM, @SA, MEM. That kind of stuff doesn't happen by accident.

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Originally Posted by GSH

Dude... slow down. Take a deep breath.

There's a difference between saying that the best teams play each other at the end of the season, and saying that it is all part of a plot by Adam Silver. Some of it, without question, is just because teams gotta play each other sometime.

Did you take any time to look at the schedules of the shitty teams, to see if their games appear to be backloaded? I bet it looks that way. What kind of ratings do you think Sixers vs. Lakers gets?

It's tough to create a schedule for 30 teams, 2,460 games, with conference and division considerations thrown in. Cram it all into a calendar, and there are going to be places where it will look like patterns exist. My point is that, for the most part, I think they have a hard enough times just coming up with something that works. Yeah, they plan some marquee matchups, I'm sure. But too much of that would fuck up the whole thing.

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1230 games

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Originally Posted by Chinook

1230 games

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LOL.. maybe the guy who said I should learn math is right. :toast


Still a lot of fucking games and travel.

The seeding we should all be looking at is who gets the 3rd and 4th seed between OKC-LAC

Will the Lakers sneak into the 8th spot?

It doesn't matter unless the dubs and spurs meet in the WCF. Its not a lock for either team to get there, they still have to play the first few rounds first. OKC/Clippers are still around to upset someone.

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Originally Posted by will_spurs

I wonder what you're calling a marquee matchup.

The Clippers play 9 games out of their remaining 12 against potential playoff teams. Spurs pretty much the same IIRC. The Warriors last 4 games are: SA, @MEM, @SA, MEM. That kind of stuff doesn't happen by accident.

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You know I am kind of curious, it is obvious the NBA backloaded the schedule until after it was clear of football but how did the Dubs end up with so many scrubs on their tale end, while other peoples schedules look like a murderers row? Philly, the bullets, the TWolves. I know you can't predict how things are going to turn out ahead of time but it is curious. Side note I think next year they will need to have the better games near the end of the year but not at the end because at the end, if seeds are set people will coast. So I am thinking put the best games in March, that last week of the season might be important for some but not for others.

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Originally Posted by spursistan

Spurs will need to find themselves at a 3-2 lead going to a closeout game 6 in SA ..i don't think there is any other conceivable scenario i see us winning the series..In this instance, Game 1 and Game 5 are the ones to steal..

W-L-W-W-L-W
OR
W-L-W-L-W-W

No team is going 3-0 on the other..

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Agreed.

Game one will likely decide the series. If the Spurs can't steal it, then to hold serve at home and avoid a game 7, they'd have to win three in a row, at some point in between and that's obviously not happening.

That's the biggest problem with not having home court against an elite team. It's not having to win at least once on the road; it's the fact that you can't afford to lose a home game, which means having to win back to back games and likely win the series up in six.

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Originally Posted by $pursDynasty

how did the Dubs end up with so many scrubs on their tale end, while other peoples schedules look like a murderers row? Philly, the bullets, the TWolves.

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I'm not sure what you're talking about. In the next 12 games the Warriors are playing the Clippers, Dallas, Washington, Utah, Boston, Portland, the Spurs x2 and Memphis x2.

Out of 12 games that's 8 playoff teams and 2 teams fighting to be in the playoffs. The only thing they have for them is that they're playing 9 games out of 12 at home.

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Originally Posted by Chinook

I actually prefer the Spurs not to have HCA. They just need to take one game against GS in Oakland. And the early games will be the easiest as Pop rolls out his gameplan. It's like Miami in 2013. Obviously would have been nice to have a Game Seven in Texas, but I thought the Spurs stealing Game One was a great way to keep Miami on their heels for pretty much the whole series.

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Game 6 in Texas and Timmy's undefeated in The Finals.