Season 50, Game 56
San Antonio 107, Orlando 79
43-13, 2nd in the West

The Spurs were owed one, and they called in their chit against the Magic Wednesday night.

I don’t have much to say about this game. After dealing the Spurs one of their worst losses of the season at home way back in November, I had no doubt that the Spurs would come out and take this one. Add in the fact that it was the last game before the All-Star Break (an easy game for the road team to steal, and an easy game to steal from a bad team) and that the Magic had lost Ibaka in a trade the day before, and the table was set for the Spurs. They did what they were supposed to do; they ate.

I’m happy that LaMarcus got off the shooting schneid and seemed to regain his stroke. (Let’s hope it’s still there in L.A. next week.) I’m happy the team looked cohesive and played with force on both ends of the court.

As we now take a week off, let’s take a bit of stock of the season thus far. As hard as we can be on this team, we’re grading on a ridiculously hard curve. So let’s put some objectivity into it.

The Spurs are currently 43-13. The are on pace to finish 63-19. That is very good.

They are 2nd in the West, 4 games behind the Golden State Warriors, and 4 games ahead of the Houston Rockets. This is also very good. There is little hope of catching the Warriors, who are in a class all of their own. Likewise, though, they have full command of that 2-seed. It would take quite a bit for Houston to catch up. Of course, the two teams play 2 more times this season, so it’s not impossible. But if the Spurs just continue this pace, they should easily be the 2-seed, which will be very important in the playoffs, particularly in the second round.

By the advanced efficiency numbers, the Spurs are currently 1st in defense and 5th in offense. The only other team that appears in the Top-5 in both categories is the Golden State Warriors (2nd and 1st, respectively). For comparison, the Cleveland Cavaliers are 3rd in offense, but only 20th in defense. The Houston Rockets are 2nd in offense, and 14th in defense. The next three highly rated defensive teams (Utah, Memphis, and Atlanta) are 12th, 2oth, and 26th in offense, respectively.

If you take the total of the two rankings and average them (to create a sort of ‘overall efficiency rating’), the Warriors would be first at 1.5 (1+2/2). The Spurs would be second at 3. The next best teams would be the Jazz (7.5), the Rockets and the Clippers (8.0), the Wizards (9.5), the Raptors (10), and the Cavs (11.5).

The Spurs are second in the league in Net Rating, with a +9.0 differential. The Warriors are 1st at +12.6, the Rockets are 3rd at +6.0. (The Jazz are 4th at +5.6.)

In essence, there are two really great, well-balanced teams in the league: the Warriors and the Spurs. The Warriors far outpace the field, but the Spurs are pretty much alone in that second tier. The next best teams appear to be the Rockets and the Jazz, and the margin between them and the Spurs is pretty much as great as the margin between the Spurs and the Warriors.

So the Spurs are having a fantastic season. Yes, there is plenty to nitpick; and yes, they might be, once again, better equipped for the regular season than the post-season. None of this changes the fact that they are chugging right along, same as they always have.

The problem this season is with expectations. And that problem is directly traced to the Golden State Warriors. Nobody expects them to lose in the playoffs. And they shouldn’t. That team is stacked. Anything less than a title is a fairly large upset for them.

What do we do with this info as Spurs fans? Do we write the season off?

For me, it’s going to come down to the second round of the playoffs (remember, the round we somehow lost last season). Getting to the Conference Finals will be this season’s “title”. Yes, once you get there, anything can happen. But if we’re realistic, the Warriors have a huge edge in every round of the Playoffs.

So that second round–the right to play the Warriors in the Finals–becomes huge. I want to see the Spurs get to the Conference Finals again. I don’t want to watch the team flame out in the playoffs after a great regular season. I want to see Kawhi and LA play like studs as lead players in the playoffs. I want to see Tony and Manu win with veteran moxie. I want to see the role players shine, and the y0ung players get their feet wet.

I want to beat OKC or Memphis in the First Round. And I want to beat the Clippers or the Rockets in the Second Round.

Yes, it’s still months away. But the first hints of the playoff push start just after the All-Star Break.

Los Angeles. Friday Night.

Go Spurs Go.