San Antonio takes over top spot in the NBA
Another week and another top team in the NBA, as the revolving door continues between the top three teams in the league. This week the top prize goes to the San Antonio Spurs.
The veteran Spurs have a record of 35-11, have won their last eight games and 9 of their past 10. They now top the league by a full game over the Oklahoma City Thunder and two and a half games over the third place Los Angeles Clippers. The Spurs are 21-8 in conference play, 15-3 in inter-conference play and an impressive 11-2 in their own division.
Tony Parker the Spurs’ point guard has come on strong over the last 15 games after starting out slower this season that seasons’ past. Last week the Spurs were 4-0 even without the services of Tim Duncan who rested a sore knee and head coach Gregg Popovich who was recovering from an illness.
Both Parker and Duncan were chosen to play in this weekend’s All Star game. Duncan sat out last week after banging his knee in a game against Philadelphia over a week ago. Playing in his 16th season, Duncan needs a bit more time to recover than some of the younger players in the league.
Popovich was put in quarantine in hopes he did not spread whatever sickness he had to his players. San Antonio is playing so well at this juncture of the season they could probably be coached by just about anyone.
Parker was named the Western Conference’s Player of the Week for his great play last week when he averaged over 24 points and close to 10 assists per game.
On Wednesday, the Spurs take on Charlotte with Popovich back on the bench after missing three games. Duncan is questionable for the game as his knee is still bothering him. He practiced on Tuesday but will not decide until game time if he can play.
San Antonio has been able to reach the top even though Duncan sat out last week and Manu Ginobili was injured for eight games before returning late last week to the lineup.
The Spurs currently are in the top ten in the league in three key statistics. San Antonio is number one in the league in assists per game with over 25, third in the league in points scored per game with an average of 104.4 and ninth in the league in points allowed with an average of 96.3 per game. That gives the Spurs over an 8-point margin of victory on average per game.
Currently Parker is leading the team in scoring and assists. He scores an average of 20 points per game and dishes out 7.5 assists per game. The rebounding is Duncan’s as he is averaging 9.8 per game. The overall team scoring is very balanced as five players are scoring in double figures, while two others average more than 9 points per game.
Heading toward the All Star break, the Spurs own a 5 ½ game lead in the Southwest division over the Memphis Grizzlies and 11 games over the third place Houston Rockets.
If San Antonio can continue winning this week without Duncan and he can get rest over the long All-Star weekend, the Spurs should continue their run at the top of the league next week.
