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We will really need Patty Mills to step up. I just don't think Tony has the energy for 4 straight rounds every single night. Party brought a huge amount of energy and production off the bench last year

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Yep. Hopefully his shot starts to fall. I mean he's not playing any differently then last year really, his shots just aren't going in this year which is a major problem if that continues. Good news, is there's still some time for him to get it going.

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It's weird because he found his shot there briefly a few games after he came back. And then February happened and since then his shooting has been terrible. His minutes also dropped around then, and I'm not sure if it was because of poor play, injury, Pop's doghouse, or what, but he hasn't been the same since January-ish.

I imagine that a shoulder injury in your shooting arm is something that takes a while to get back fully from. But I'm wondering if there's some other issue we just don't know about.

I think the Spurs would need to finish at 8-1 to possibly get up to the 2 or 3 seed. There are just too many teams ahead of them and the Spurs have one if the tougher finishes. Griz and Portland are struggling though and we get the Rockets twice so a big move is still possible.

Well Portland is essentially locked in at 4. I don't see them moving up to 3 the way they have been playing.

That leaves HOU, MEM, LAC and SA battling for the 2 and 3 spots.

But 8-1, possibly 7-2 seems about right and might give us a chance. Finishing in the 5/6 seems more likely at this point and I'm not sure where I would rather be if MEM or LAC is 3.

Essentially, Pop gets to choose where we finish. We can either finish at 5 and play Portland, who we match up well against, but have to face Warriors in round 2...

Or, we can finish at 6 and play Memphis or Houston (Memphis is most probable). Again, that's a decent matchup for us, plus we avoid Warriors until the WCF.

Either way, homecourt is basically out the window at this point unless we go on an absolute tear, which I doubt we will. We tend to lose focus immediately before the playoffs.

Personally, give me the second scenario. It seems counter-intuitive, but it's actually an easier road to the FInals.

Well even if we finish 5 and get Portland, there's a very good possibility we will have a better record then them and will have HCA in that matchup even though they are technically the 4. Essentially it's easier to just think of them as the 5.

Don't count out the Clippers making a push for the 3 seed as well. They have just as good a chance as anyone to finish 3 when it's all said and done as well.

Overall , I agree with you though.

I think us being 6 and MEM or LAC being 3 and then HOU/DAL being the 2/7 would ultimately be the easiest path for us. Might even get lucky and DAL could upset HOU giving us HCA in round 2.

Yea out of the playoffs teams I would say my order of the easist to hardest matchups would be: OKC, Portland, Griz, Mavs, Houston, Clips, Golden State

I think OKC, Houston and Portland if healthy might be scarier than the Clips but they are all pretty banged up. Mavs always give us their best shot and are well coached, but we should be better. The Clips are on a tear right now and their athleticism and length worries me a bit. However, I still think it comes down to the Spurs vs Golden State matchup at some point.

Right, I keep forgetting we'd have HCA over Portland. But yeah, I see us winning that series anyway.

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Might even get lucky and DAL could upset HOU giving us HCA in round 2.

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Don't you put that evil on me! You have no idea what it's like to have that chit happen to you year after year. That ain't gon happen this year, dammit

I was definitely in the avoid Houston round 1 camp and still am to a certain degree but if they don't have Beverley that's a huge blow for them. He would make it extremely hard on TP and I would prefer to stay away from the free throw barrage of Harden as well.

Its going to be a tough matchup against Houston. Tim's feet just aren't as fast as they used to be and going against even an injures howard will be rough. We have bangers to throw blows on D, but they are limited on O. Whoever wins the west will probably destroy the east opponent ala Heat vs Spurs 2014.

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...and I would prefer to stay away from the free throw barrage of Harden as well.

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Ditto. I feel that two teams match up very well against us: Houston and Golden State. Other than that, I like our chances. Every West playoff team is pretty solid though. Should be an excellent Playoffs.

I key in on the end of close games for more than how the Spurs handle end-game situations.

To be a top contender, you have to be able to score when the other team is exerting maximum effort on defense, and conversely to get stops when the other team is exerting maximum effort on offense. During the regular season, that mostly only happens at the end of close games. During the playoffs though, that high-intensity effort and execution tends to be sustained for much longer stretches. Last year, the Spurs won 3 out of every 4 close regular season games. When the playoffs came around, the close games hardly even happened because they stomped all over every attempted run.

For most of this year they play really well early in the game, but teams have been going on big runs to get back in it and the Spurs have a losing record in close games. They've had a really hard time sustaining a high level of play for 48 minutes. Jumping out to a 15 point lead is nice, but not if you consistently give it right back and get outplayed at the end of the game.

Fortunately, the Rise of Boris has fueled bench production that helps stave off midgame runs and has been a major factor in the Spurs winning big again for the last week or two. Hopefully the bench keeps getting better (tbd in next post).

It's kind of odd, Patty seems to either know it's going in, or it's a BAD miss. He airballed consecutive attempts the other night. His conditioning seems good, which is probably the main thing. I doubt many teams will bet on him missing open shots, so he'll still force the rotation. As long as he can give 15 minutes of full court hustle on defense and force the rotation, he's doing 80% of what the Spurs need from him. I hope he gets his shot back though, the second unit does miss it. On the plus side, CoJo is a legitimate offensive threat now. Pop has a choice at backup PG between a slasher who plays great defense and a shooter who plays good defense. Not bad.

Aside from the Spurs I want to see a 1-8 matchup between the Warriors and OKC. Mainly I want to see how the Warriors respond to a pretty tough opponent that has playoff experience. I think we will see what they are made of.

It would be poetic justice to see the Warriors on the receiving end of an 1-8 first round upset after winning 65+ games.

Even more so if it was by the Mavs.

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Aside from the Spurs I want to see a 1-8 matchup between the Warriors and OKC. Mainly I want to see how the Warriors respond to a pretty tough opponent that has playoff experience. I think we will see what they are made of.

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I honestly think okc can win if Russ has a DWade finals type of series.

If Ibaka is healthy and playing well then I could see OKC giving them a tough 6-7 game series but if him and Durant are out then I don't see OKC having any chance at all.

Spurs @ Heat tonight. 7 PM CT.

Golden State @ LA Clippers tonight as well in a big game that could impact the standings.

If LAC wins tonight I wouldn't be surprised if they finished with a top 3 seed.

Remaining Schedules:

Grizzlies: (51-24)
Thunder
Wizards
Pelicans
@Jazz
@Clippers
@Warriors
Pacers

Rockets: (50-24)
Kings
@Mavericks
@Thunder
@Spurs
Spurs
Pelicans
@Hornets
Jazz

Clippers: (49-25)
Warriors
@Blazers
@Nuggets
@Lakers
Lakers
Grizzlies
Nuggets
@Suns

Blazers: (48-25) (Can't drop past 4)
Clippers
@Lakers
Pelicans
@Nets
Wolves
@Warriors
Jazz
@Thunder
@Mavs

Spurs: (47-26)
@Heat
@Magic
Nuggets
Warriors
@Thunder
Rockets
@Rockets
Suns
Pelicans

After looking at the schedules, I do think the Spurs ultimately end up 6 and I am ok with that. No need to expend extra energy at a chance to move up at this point. We have a tough schedule left and Duncan and Manu should rest on the b2b's at least.

I think depending on how the Clippers do tonight and how the Rockets do in their next few games, then Pop starts looking at it.

A lot can happen in the last few weeks, but if we continue winning and Rockets lose another game, and then we beat them, we're tied in the loss column and I think we make a serious run at the 3 seed.

But that's a lot that has to go right.

Here's a stat that I found to be amazing. In Duncan's long career, the only western conference team that he has never faced in the playoffs is the Rockets. (We haven't met in the postseason since 1995, which is crazy to think about). I went back and looked at the playoff brackets all the back from 1999, and Timmy has faced everybody except Houston (that I am aware of at least). Maybe that will change this season

Just goes to show 1) how long Timmy has been around, and 2) how crazy good y'all have been in recent memory.

Not only that, they're the only team Duncan hasn't eliminated from the playoffs. And they're 1/3 of the way through the Eastern Conference in the Finals.

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Not only that, they're the only team Duncan hasn't eliminated from the playoffs.

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Hopefully that will be the same after this year

Good memories in this arena. (And one bad one.)

Let's get this win. GSG!

Let's go Spurs!!!!

Go Spurs Go!

The claw with a steal already. Also, the bank is open.

Both teams shooting very poorly.