Spurs Own NBA Best Record, Houston in Running for Anthony
The San Antonio Spurs are red-hot winning their 11th straight game on Wednesday night. The Spurs defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 125-109 to move six games in front of the Houston Rockets in the Southwest division. San Antonio is now 11 games in front of both the Memphis Grizzlies and Dallas Mavericks.
The Spurs are also the top team in the Western Conference with a record of 51-16, which is two games better than the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Spurs now own the best record in the NBA.
Tony Parker who scored 25 points, while Kawhi Leonard scored 22 and grabbed 10 boards led San Antonio on the night.
Danny Green scored 16 points, while Tim Duncan scored 12 points and pulled down 16 rebounds. The Spurs have not lost a game since February 21, while going 14-1 in their past 15 games overall.
San Antonio was able to win despite what their coach Gregg Popovich said was porous defense. However, Popovich gave credit to the aggressiveness of the Lakers as they went into what he called attack mode and his Spurs players did not react to that.
The game was the first of three on the road for San Antonio in California and the win matched their longest winning streak this season.
The win was San Antonio’s seventh consecutive over the Lakers dating to the playoffs of last season. The win moved San Antonio to a 1 ½ game lead over the Indiana Pacers for the best record in the NBA.
The Houston Rockets trailing the Spurs by 6 games in the Southwest are rumored to be one of two teams with the potential to land Carmelo Anthony the perennial All-Star and sharpshooter.
Houston is reportedly vying for Anthony with the Chicago Bulls. Both teams are No. 4 seeds in their conferences, and see Anthony as being the possible missing piece to them becoming legitimate contenders for the NBA Title.
Chicago can clear room under the salary cap easier to sign the soon to be free agent, but Houston also believes it can shed certain contracts to offer Anthony a deal that would put him in a lineup that includes the likes of James Harden and Dwight Howard.
Technically Anthony is not an official member of the free agent class of 2014. His contract has another year remaining and he would have to opt out of its first.
However, Melo has said he wants to become a free agent, but some believe he might want to stay in New York and attempt to win a title under new president Phil Jackson.
All three teams could have top superstars in the game in the lineup with Anthony, but New York likely could not do that until 2015 when high priced salaries of players like Amar’e Stoudemire, Andrea Bargnani and Tyson Chandler all expire during 2015.
Chicago and Houston however could offer Anthony a top lineup of superstars much sooner. The Rockets have Harden and Howard and the Bulls Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose.
