For the first time since Nov. 14, Marc Stein ranks the Spurs #1 in ESPN’s Power Rankings:
San Antonio, not Dallas, is the team from Texas that bumps the Detroit Pistons. The Mavericks were a likely candidate after a 13-game win streak and a 36-point spanking of Miami, but the Spurs have capitalized on Dallas’ setback Friday at Denver to claim the league’s longest active win streak — with nine consecutive victories, a 6-0 start on their annual eight-game eviction by the rodeo and just one 20-point game from Tim Duncan in that span. There’s a reason we’ve been saying any team but Detroit would trade their problems for San Antonio’s.
Spurs have found more than cohesion and momentum on their Rodeo Road Trip. They’ve also found the old Manu, who sure looked like his All-Star self in Indy.
This is great news for all of us at SpursDynasty, but what Stein says about the Mavericks, his #2 team, gives me reason to pause: “The anti-Heat? Dallas is 6-1 in its showdowns with San Antonio, Detroit, Phoenix and Miami, averaging 105.7 ppg and holding those teams to a mere 89.7 ppg.”
Steve Kerr thinks that his former Spurs teammates are not quite the best yet.
Was I tempted to drop the Pistons from the rankings’ top spot for the first time since the start of the season? Not at all.
Yes, the Spurs are on fire and are sure to occupy some other folks’ No. 1 spot, but not mine. The two whippings Detroit gave San Antonio earlier this season are still fresh in my mind, so something more drastic than a couple of Pistons losses will have to happen for me to flip-flop the two teams.
