Several factors triggering spectacular start by Spurs
Improved play, solid bench, lucky breaks boost squad to top of the league
By MIKE MONROE
STAFF WRITER
Jan. 28, 2011, 11:11PM
SAN ANTONIO — To begin to understand how the San Antonio Spurs have reached tonight's game against the Rockets at AT&T Center with the best 46-game record in the history of a franchise that has won four NBA les, you must flashback to the team's practice gym in the stifling South Texas heat in late July.
Then, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich worked with small forward Richard Jefferson, freshly re-signed to a contract his friends told him he had been a fool to accept.
Professor Popovich taught Basketball 101, from defensive slides to layups, a course a veteran player once voted to an All-Star starting lineup might have found demeaning.
Instead, Jefferson sopped up Popovich's teaching like a grade schooler with hoop dreams.
Now, his team so successful that he is guaranteed a spot as coach for the Western All-Stars in the Feb. 20 All-Star Game in Los Angeles, Popovich cites Jefferson's improved play as one of several factors in a Spurs run to the top of the standings that ranks as the greatest surprise of the NBA season.
"Who knows totally why things happen," Popovich says, "but Richard is a factor. He did a great job this summer re-tooling his game.
"He's become a lot more efficient. He's not the sloppy player he was last year. He pays more attention to defense. He rebounds better. He gets rid of the ball quicker and makes decisions quicker."
Jefferson has made a career-best 40 percent of his 3-point shots. He averages 12.2 points, one of five Spurs in double figures for a team averaging 104.3 points per game, fifth in scoring in the NBA.
Contributing factors
Many factors have contributed to the Spurs' remarkable run. Some are easily identifiable:
Good health. The only team that has started the same lineup all season, the Spurs haven't had a major injury to a key contributor. Only rookie guard James Anderson has missed more than six games. Reserve forward-center Matt Bonner, the team's best 3-point shooter, hasn't played since Jan. 14 because of a deep bone bruise in his right knee and has been ruled out of tonight's game, as well.
Mostly, though, the Spurs have been remarkably injury-free.
A home-heavy schedule - 26 at home, 19 on the road - the Spurs have optimized by winning their last 17 at AT&T Center.
Good timing that afforded them one game against Denver when Carmelo Anthony was out; a second game against the Nuggets when Chauncey Billups was missing; two games against the Mavericks when Dirk Nowitzki was out; one game against the Hawks without Joe Johnson.
A bench that is one of the NBA's more productive units, with a scoring average of 34.6 points per game.
Six times this season, a Spurs reserve has been the leading scorer.
Undrafted rookie Gary Neal has been the top scorer four times.
Uncanny 3-point shooting - 39 percent - that ranks second in the league and has the dual effect of stretching defenses while putting points on the board.
Balanced attack
Popovich has groused about slippage in his team's defensive execution, warning that to "play with the big boys" its defensive field goal percentage must drop well below its current level of 45.1 percent, which ranks 12th.
Thus far, though, the Spurs' scoring has compensated for the defensive slippage, and the balanced offense has allowed Popovich to limit two-time MVP Tim Duncan's minutes to a career-low 29.4 per game.
"If you don't have to ask one guy to do it, night in and night out, not only does it keep us healthier, it reflects in our record," said Duncan, once asked to shoulder the bulk of the offensive load.
At no time since Duncan joined the team in 1997-98 has the team been less dependant on a "Big Three," whether the Duncan-David Robinson-Sean Elliott version or the Duncan-Tony Parker-Manu Ginobili edition that this season has a combined average of 49.8 points per game.
"Nobody cares about the stats," says Parker, whose average of 22 points per game led the Spurs in 2008-09. "Nobody cares who is taking the shots. If we're taking good shots, that's all we're looking for."
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Every game the Spurs play against sub 500 teams can be a trap game.
