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.