The Spurs have separated themselves from the bottom of the league
With their improvement in recent months, the Spurs have separated themselves from the bottom of the league.
Until recently, the Spurs were on pace for a franchise-worst, sub-20 win season. With the addition of a one-of-a-kind star rookie, this young team and Victor Wembanyama himself faced a steep learning curve. His massive talent shifted every player’s role throughout the roster while simultaneously and constantly shifting around his own growth and lineup experimentation.
Encouragingly, the team is now seeing the other side of that curve as this season nears a close. The month of March saw San Antonio’s best winning percentage of the season (.400) (outside of their original .500 start in October, but we’re talking about larger stretches than four games). Within March and April, they have a net rating of -2.2. Limit that to just March and it’s -1.8. Both of these show considerable improvement compared to their October through February net rating of -8.2.
This progress stands in contrast to the rest of the bottom eight NBA teams, all of which have gotten worse since the All-Star break. However, at the bottom of the Western Conference and far eliminated from playoff contention, the Spurs have found a way to soldier on. They are determined to avoid a franchise-worst record — 20-62 set by the 1997-97 team — and have made every game count.
“It’s very important in that the whole focus is on winning these games,” Wembanyama said at a late March practice. “I think we’ve had our ups and downs in the season, but we know each other way better today. So, it all comes down to all of our efforts to make this work. But it is going to work.”
The team knew going into the stretch-run that they needed to see measurable improvement. They entered the last segment of the season with specific goals on both sides of the ball.
“We’ve got to finish the season strong on our defense,” point guard Blake Wesley told The Athletic at All-Star break. “We had a meeting, and the goal is to finish in the top 15 in our offense and defense. That’s our goal…top 15 in points, assists, rebounds, defense. We’re trying to be top 15 or better. That’s our main goal. Finish out the season strong.”
As of April 8, the team is 23rd in offensive rating and 15th in defensive rating.
“We don’t care about the record. We’re just here to get better. We’re just here to do our job.” Wesley added.
While Wesley states apathy towards the record, that shouldn’t be taken as a disregard for winning, quite the contrary. The Spurs don’t let their record get in the way of their main goal every night, which is winning basketball games. Even after a tough double-overtime loss to Philadelphia, the team continues looking ahead. In the postgame presser, when asked about the team’s next game in Memphis, “It’s just a must-win,” was all Wembanyama had to say.
Overall, this Spurs team remains focused. They are only one win away from that 20th win which would only tie them with the franchise’s worst season. They have four more games to grab it and hopefully one or two more. Over their previous four games, they are 2-2, with a 112.2 defensive rating, which would rank in the top five compared to league-wide season numbers. On the other side, they still struggle with a 108.3 offensive rating, a number that would be in the bottom five.
Nevertheless, the team seems determined. Finishing above 20 might have seemed unlikely a couple of months ago, but it now looks within grasp. This speaks to the path ahead and where this team plans on going. Regardless of where they finish and what the future holds, they are talking about the right things: staying focused on winning, even if it’s just one game at a time.
