quick summary-

1st half--see above posts...it looked like the same Spurs team from Tuesday night.

2nd half--Spurs blew them out and most the starters never saw the court in the 4th.

Hill finally came through in the second half of the game.

No injuries, which is the most important thing at this point.

50-11, 21 games to go. Magic number to clinch HCA sits at 17 for the moment.

quote:

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The way they are playing right now, it won't be long until the Mavs take the one spot.

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Not happening.

And to add to the above post, Magic number is 4 to earn a playoff spot. Meaningless, I know, but impressive because of how much of the season remains.

And magic number for HCA through the Finals is at 18.

quote:

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Not happening.

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Look at the remaining schedules.

Teams of note that the Spurs still have to play:

Miami twice
LA Twice
Dallas
Denver twice
Portland twice
Memphis
Boston
Phx twice
Atlanta
Utah

Dallas:

Memphis
LA twice
NOLA twice
Portland
SA
PHX twice
Utah
Denver

This added to Tony Parker's injury, and the Spurs' struggle defensively makes it a strong possibility.

In the end though, you still need an almost total collapse by the Spurs and for the Mavs to essentially win out. Considering the Spurs haven't lost more than 2 in a row a total collapse certainly seems unlikely. The Mavs odds of winning 90% of their remaining games isn't great either. It's still a 5 game in the loss column lead with 21 to play and the Spurs also have the tie breakers by a few games as well (season series can be no better than a tie). So basically the Spurs have got to drop at least 7 games out of their last 21 and the Mavs have got to lose no more than 1 out of their last 22.

It's possible but the odds are very long to say the least. The Spurs aren't exactly a mentally fragile team that has a history of falling apart.

I can see your point. But it scares me that they are playing some of their worst basketball of the season since the all star break ended. Sure they are winning, but they are struggling to win.

That's the thing though. When other teams struggle, they lose. Spurs have come back and won some games many other teams would've lost.

I'd start worrying when they starting piling up back to back losses. A loss here and there, especially to good teams, is nothing to jump ship about.

I'm not jumping ship. Look, if they lose Friday and Sunday (Heat and Lakers), which is a strong possibility without Parker, and assuming Dallas wins their next couple of games, the Mavs are only 3 games behind the Spurs in the loss column. It's not all that far-fetched.

[This message has been edited by ItalAggie (edited 3/3/2011 12:35p).]

It's definitely not out of the question that DAL could catch us but they would have to continue this stretch that they are on. The reports that Tony is already looking fine to play also doesnt help their case and if he only misses a couple more games (reports that he might even be able to play on sunday) then I highly doubt Dallas will catch the Spurs. Dallas will be without Tyson Chandler for a few games also I believe.

Dallas is playing lights out right now. The Spurs really have to be vigilent down the stretch in order that it doesn't become "interesting".

For Dallas to catch SA:

If Dallas went 22-0 to finish the season, the Spurs would have to still go worse than (or maybe =) 16-5.

That 16-5 is still a lower winning percent than what they've done the whole season.

And even a 20-2 run by the Mavs still requires the Spurs to go 14-7 or worse. I don't see either of those things happening, especially with Dallas having more than half those games against playoff teams or teams trying to get to the playoffs.

I guess I've seen crazier, but I'm trying to remember a collapse like that from a top team. I think the race between Dallas and LA will be interesting, however.

Spurs putting on a 3-ball clinic tonight. Will move to 51-11 going into Sunday's game against the Lakers.

[This message has been edited by agwin12 (edited 3/5/2011 10:23a).]

3 quarters of utter domination

Boston goes down but Spurs are struggling with Detroit. Down to a 7 point game in the 3rd.

Mavs give game away. Can the Spurs hold on against Detroit? Up by 8 with 2 minutes to go.

Spurs go up by 9 with 30 seconds left. Should move to 52-12, gaining another game on both the Mavs and Boston. Good night for the boys in black and silver.

Great night, I'd say. Haven't even watched highlights, but I'll take gaining a game on both Boston and Dallas.

Yeah, especially if they beat the Kings in San Antonio on Friday, I don't see any possible way they could lose that big of a lead.

HCA throughout is pretty well a foregone conclusion. Now they just need to stay healthy and keep up their winning ways.

I'm more interested in the Mavs/Lakers race for HCA in the 2nd round.

And if my logic is correct, one more win gets us a playoff berth, right? 18 games left, currently up 18 games on 9th place phoenix.

Mavs are going to go to the Finals. Just wait for it.

Go ahead and book the Spurs for HCA through the finals.

They gained another game on Boston tonight and have an insurmountable 6 game lead with only 17 games remaining.

53-12.

[This message has been edited by aggie_2001_2005 (edited 3/11/2011 10:20p).]

Why do I have this bad feeling that the all time greatest regular season for the Spurs will end without a ring?

Please tell me I'm gonna be wrong?

I certainly hope that you are wrong.

dont forget the mavs could win it

As a Spurs fan, there are the teams in the west that worry me the most, in order:

LAL
POR
OKC
NOH
MEM/DAL

When Dallas shows some guts in the playoffs and finds a way to stop giving up 30-8 to Parker, then I'll worry about them.

The Spurs won't have any serious competition until they face the LAL / DAL winner in the conference finals.

That will be a difficult series to win, but they've got as good of a chance as anyone.

The NBA Finals should be very entertaining and hard-fought as well, no matter which teams end up there.

I'm hoping for Dallas in the conference finals because LA is a matchup nightmare for the Spurs bigs, and the Spurs have been getting out-rebounded badly lately against inferior competition (for a Spurs team) That, coupled with the Spurs defense being a step or two below its past glory, makes LA a scary matchup.

[This message has been edited by aggie_2001_2005 (edited 3/12/2011 12:51p).]

Spurs move to 54-12 with win over the Rockets. Had 8 players in double figures.

[This message has been edited by agwin12 (edited 3/12/2011 9:57p).]

your ignorant if you think Dallas cant win it this year, they are not the same team they were in past seasons, and dont call me a Mavs fan, because the Spurs are my team all the way and i hate the Mavs, but it wouldnt be shocking if they won it

Can Dallas win it? Sure

However, and this is coming from a Mavs fan, they probably won't. Don't think they have what it takes to beat San Antonio or LA in a seven game series.