The Next Ten Games: 11/26 thru 12/23

[Light]

The Spurs have a real opportunity to be several games above .500 and be firmly in the playoff hunt 1/3 of the season in. Over the next ten games, only the Lakers and Suns have winning records (currently), and I don't see any guaranteed L's:

11/26 @ Utah (4-12)
11/27 Lakers (10-6)
12/1 @ Kings (8-9)
12/3 @ Suns (9-7)
12/5 Bulls (7-11)
12/6 Kings (8-9)
12/8 Pelicans (4-13)
12/19 Hawks (7-10)
12/21 Blazers (7-10)
12/23 @ Sixers (3-13)


If the Spurs go 7-3, they'll be 16-11 with a .593 win percentage. For perspective, Denver is currently 6th in the West with .600

If the Spurs go 8-2, they'll be 17-10 with a .630 win percentage. Lakers are currently 4th with .625


A few things to note:
- The Spurs will have played 23 of their 50 scheduled games against the West up to this point, and only 4 of their 30 eastern conf games
- Vassell and Sochan should both be back during this stretch, giving us our first look at what the team can be at full strength
- Historically, the Spurs play and look better as the season progresses. If that trend continues, stacking up wins early would bode well for their playoff outlook

[100%duncan]

Here's my unbiased prediction

@ Utah (4-12) - W
Lakers (10-6) - W
@ Kings (8-9) - L (seems like a trap game, and we play horrible on the road)
@ Suns (9-7) - L
Bulls (7-11) - W
Kings (8-9) - W
Pelicans (4-13) - W
Hawks (7-10) - W
Blazers (7-10) - W
@ Sixers (3-13) - W


"unbiased" but yeah, it's hard to not look forward to Ws on these games as there are truly no guaranteed Ls based on just the strength of schedule. On the other hand, it's hard imagining the modern Spurs go on a 6 game winning streak

[lefty20]

@ Utah (4-12) - W
Lakers (10-6) - W
@ Kings (8-9) - L
@ Suns (9-7) - L
Bulls (7-11) - W
Kings (8-9) - W
Pelicans (4-13) - W
Hawks (7-10) - W
Blazers (7-10) - L
@ Sixers (3-13) - L

[Mugen]

Without knowing which of those are b2bs, I'd say 5-5.

[scott]

I'll go bold and say we START this stretch by going 1-3, and then railing 6 in a row to finish 7-3.

[Light]

Without knowing which of those are b2bs, I'd say 5-5.

I added dates, but there are two b2bs:

at Utah, then home for the Lakers
at home for Bulls and Kings

[Light]

I'll go bold and say we START this stretch by going 1-3, and then railing 6 in a row to finish 7-3.

Dropping two to the Jazz would be bad, but I think I'd want that one win to be against the Lakers.

[scott]

Dropping two to the Jazz would be bad, but I think I'd want that one win to be against the Lakers.

Beating the Lakers would be ideal, but I see us beating Utah, losing 3, then winning 6.

[RC_Drunkford]

7-3 seems realistic

[jesterbobman]

The Suns (Durant back) and Sixers (Embiid back / not being a corpse) should be better. Sixers game should be fun regardless, for the Big: Big and the rookie guard matchup.

6 home games, not the strongest schedule, I'd guess 7-3 based on how we've being incredibly average this year (I mean this positively - it's a big step up from the doldrums of the last few years).

If that happens, and we get more of a sense of teams, rather than just a jumbled mess from 5 - 13 in the East and 3 - 12 in the West, we'll have a better idea of possible moves to increase our chances going towards the play-in.

[Fireball]

with our team we will probably lay some eggs but I still go wth 6-4

[Brazil]

This board going from Spurs suck, next 10 game gonna 3-7 to we rock we go 7-3

[Splits]

2-8

[stnick2261]

If Atlanta can implode some more, I'd be a lot happier.

Everyone healthy, I'd say 8-2

[Mugen]

This board going from Spurs suck, next 10 game gonna 3-7 to we rock we go 7-3

This. My 5-5 prediction was the most optimistic I've been on them in years

[SpursBills]

Not getting my hopes up too high yet, this is still a very young team in spite of Barnes' and Paul's ability to stabilize the lineup. I expect 1-2 wtf type losses especially on the road in the next 10. Sochan and Vassell coming back probably disrupts the chemistry somewhat and will be more detrimental in the short term even though I expect them to make the team better in the long term.

5-5

[ambchang]

The Spurs are a younger team and as such is wildly inconsistent. Paul and Barnes alleviated this somewhat but the team is still youth oriented. I would say they will pull a bunch of upsets but then drop a few gimmes. Hope they go 6-4.

[exstatic]

7-3

[TekXX]

I'll say 5-5, there will be games where we just can't come back from the early 20 point deficit

[Brazil]

This. My 5-5 prediction was the most optimistic I've been on them in years

7-3 is a 57 games win pace, now this stretch of games is not the most difficult tbh... only 2 teams are above .5 and only 4 games are on the road. We may win 1 on the road (utah for instance, sixers may wake up at some point, suns are always tricky and kings are better than their record imho) and let slip 1 at home (Lakers are sans Lebron but that Donald is on fire and AD is a tough match up still for Victor)... I believe 6-4 is reachable.

5-5 is safety (hopefully)
6-4 target
7-3 and above reach

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

7-3 is a 57 games win pace, now this stretch of games is not the most difficult tbh... only 2 teams are above .5 and only 4 games are on the road. We may win 1 on the road (utah for instance, sixers may wake up at some point, suns are always tricky and kings are better than their record imho) and let slip 1 at home (Lakers are sans Lebron but that Donald is on fire and AD is a tough match up still for Victor)... I believe 6-4 is reachable.

5-5 is safety (hopefully)
6-4 target
7-3 and above reach

Good post. I agree that 6-4 should be considered the goal. Less would be a little disappointing and 7-3 seems possible.

It would be nice to notch our second and hopefully third road wins somewhere in these next ten games. You can definitely spot the youth of this squad with road vs home performance so far this year.

[Light]

Spurs currently sitting at 2-2

Games vs the Blazers and Timberwolves have been inserted into the schedule, so the remaining six games are now:

12/5 Bulls (9-13)
12/6 Kings (10-12)
12/8 Pelicans (4-18)
12/13 @ Blazers (8-14)
12/15 Timberwolves (10-10)
12/19 Hawks (11-11)

I still think 4 to 5 more wins is doable. Wins against the Kings and Timberwolves would be huge for staying ahead of them in the standings.

[Mr. Body]

It feels like we're constantly playing the Kings.

[CGD]

It feels like we're constantly playing the Kings.

Or jazz

[exstatic]

It feels like we're constantly playing the Kings.

The Kings and Pels games were added to the scheduled 80 games because we didn’t go to Vegas for the cup.