Open Thread: The Spurs are reeling and things will only get more difficult

The good news? The San Antonio Spurs can begin to forget, or at least put behind them, their longest-ever homestand, in which they went a woeful 2-7 and are now at risk of falling outside the play-in games.

The bad news? Life for the Silver and Black only gets more challenging from here.

Beginning with a miniseries against a scary Denver team on Wednesday and Friday, the Spurs proceed to play 17 of their next 24 on the road. Maybe that’s a good thing given how bad San Antonio’s been in the AT&T Center (12-17), but few players or coaches would take such a road-heavy slate—especially this year.

Then there’s the competition they’ll face. Tankathon’s strength of schedule index has San Antonio’s remaining games as the 2nd hardest in the league as of this writing, behind only Houston. The Cavs, who just routed them, 125-101? They were meant to be one of the easy ones:

We’ll see if the Spurs’ bad luck with health as of late can turn around in the weeks ahead. After seeing recently signed Gorgui Dieng come back on Monday, a new name was added to the injury report in Dejounte Murray, who missed the loss to Cleveland with a sore right foot. Lonnie Walker IV missed an 8th straight game with a wrist injury while Trey Lyles and two-way player Keita Baites-Diop have also been on ice.

It’s a weird season, to put it lightly, which provides ample perspective for the team’s performance of late and serves as a reminder that anything can happen in the weeks ahead. Most of the Spurs’ losses haven’t been as lop-sided as Monday’s to Cleveland, so who’s to say what can happen if the team can bring the requisite energy and focus.

If things don’t turn around, do you remember Tankathon? It does have other sections Spurs fans may want to familiarize themselves with soon.

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