That's not a bias prediction at all

Call me paranoid but I feel like Kawhi is going to reinjure his hand.

Much more worried about Patker's hamstring and Manu injuring whatever than Kawhi. He's recovered and it was a freak injury to start with

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From January 16 thru the end of the regular season, the San Antonio Spurs will compile the best record in the NBA.

(Probably good enough to get them to a West 3 seed.)

Kawhi Leonard makes the difference.

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no

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Much more worried about Parker's hamstring and Manu injuring whatever than Kawhi. He's recovered and it was a freak injury to start with

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To me, Kawhi is irreplaceable on this Spurs roster.

Tony? Very valuable. But if Leonard and Mills remain healthy I really think that the drop off from Parker/Mills to Corey Joseph/Mills is very manageable.

I agree that Manu brings a unique skill set and approach. His durability is a concern, though he is not as vital as Leonard.

Cavs will get knocked out in the 2nd round by the Hawks...

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Much more worried about Parker's hamstring and Manu injuring whatever than Kawhi. He's recovered and it was a freak injury to start with

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To me, Kawhi is irreplaceable on this Spurs roster.

Tony? Very valuable. But if Leonard and Mills remain healthy I really think that the drop off from Parker/Mills to Corey Joseph/Mills is very manageable.

I agree that Manu brings a unique skill set and approach. His durability is a concern, though he is not as vital as Leonard.

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I definitely agree that Leonard is more valuable. As crazy as it is, I think Mills and Joseph could just about replace him (though neither of those guys can drive like Parker).

What I mean is that I think it's very unlikely that Kawhi will reinjure his hand whereas I could see Parker reinjuring his hamstring or Manu falling apart like the car at the end of The Blues Brothers.

Here we are with 2 games left (for the Spurs) in the regular season. My prediction at the top of this thread looked laughable after Feb 25 when the Spurs lost by 20 in Portland to drop their 6th game in a 10 game span starting Jan31.

However, San Antonio has only lost 3 games since that time, and while the prediction hasn't come true (yet), it is still in play.

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From January 16 thru the end of the regular season, the San Antonio Spurs will compile the best record in the NBA.
(Probably good enough to get them to a West 3 seed.)

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Going into Jan 16, here were the West standings:
1. 31-05 G St
2. 30-09 Port
3. 28-12 Hou
4. 27-11 Mem
5. 27-13 Dal
6. 26-13 LAC
7. 24-16 Spurs
8. 23-18 Phx
9. 19-19 NOrl
10T. 18-20 OKC & Den

Also, four teams in the East (Atl, Wash, Tor, & Chi) had better records than SA. The Spurs were 11th in the NBA.

From January 16 (the day Kawhi Leonard rejoined the lineup) through the morning of April 12, the Spurs have compiled a 30-10 (.750) record, bested only by Cleveland (31-8, .795) and G St (34-10, .773).

Yes, the Spurs are now in the West 5 seed, but are tied for the 2nd best record in the West and 3rd best record in the NBA overall. The West seedings as of this morning (with record from Jan16-now in parentheses):
1. 65-15 G St (34-10)
2. 54-26 LAC (28-13)
3. 54-26 Mem (27-15)
4. 51-29 Port (21-20) *can drop no lower than 4 because they win their division
5. 54-26 The Defending Champs (30-10)
6. 53-36 Hou (25-14)... would be 2 seed in the East
7. 48-31 Dal (21-18)
8. 43-36 NOrl (24-17)
9. 43-36 OKC (25-16)
10. 39-41 Phx (16-23)
11. 37-43 Utah (24-17)... would be 1/2 game out of 8 seed in the East)

In the East, only the Hawks (60-19, 29-11 from Jan16 thru now) have a better overall record than SA. 2 seed Cleveland is 51-28.

Ya it really took a little longer to get everyone back and in game shape. But once that happened they took off. We're just lucky we get to see these guys all together (and playing) one more time.

Nicely done, OP.

The scary thing is the Spurs could be one loss away from sliding back to 6 seed, and SA has arguably the toughest game left of the SA/LAC/Mem/Hou group: @ the surging Pelicans to end the season as they fight to make the playoffs.

(Memphis does go to GS, but the Warriors have nothing to play for.)

Lol

Since this thread is full of accurate predictions (except dunceaggie of course), here's mine. Mavs beat the grizzlies in the first round if the current standings hold. Spurs advance with an easy sweep over Portland. Jordan has a game winning, heart breaking alley oop over James harden in game 7 to eliminate the rockets yet again in the first round.