Running the gantlet
Homestand was supposed to be reprieve from tough schedule ahead
Coming back from the All-star break in mid-march, the Spurs knew this was going to be difficult.
With 40 games packed into the season’s remaining 68 days, the challenge of keeping afloat in the Western Conference playoff race was self-evident.
The Spurs lost nine of their first 15 games coming out of the break, slipped out of the top eight of the conference standings and then came to a startling realization.
“The tough part hasn’t even kicked in,” guard Demar Derozan said.
Somehow, the Spurs’ schedule gets more rugged from here. The Spurs concluded a nine-game homestand Monday against Cleveland that was meant to boost them. Instead, it all but broke them.
They lost six of the first eight games before facing the Cavaliers, including backto-back overtime defeats against Atlanta and Indiana.
The rest of the Spurs’ season comes with a higher degree of difficulty.
Seventeen of the final 24 games come on the road. Their opponents’ combined record is .562, making the Spurs’ remaining slate the second-toughest in the NBA behind Houston.
Twelve of those contests are against teams already sitting on 30 victories. It’s like getting your face beat in by Canelo Alvarez for two weeks, then discovering now he gets to use a hammer.
“It’s a mental toughness sort of thing to get through the schedule,” coach Gregg Popovich said.
If there is good news for the Spurs, it’s
that they do not have to finish the season inside the top eight to remain eligible for a postseason berth. Under the NBA’S new format, teams that finish Nos. 7 through 10 enter a play-in tournament for the eighth and ninth seeds in each conference.
Here is a breakdown of the gauntlet the Spurs will have to survive if they hope to keep their postseason hopes alive:
Road sweet road?
Spurs fans hoping to catch the team play in a socially distanced AT&T Center are guaranteed only seven more chances. If the Spurs are going to pad their record down the stretch, the victories are going to have to come on the road.
The good news there: The Spurs have been a decent road team this season, posting a 12-7 record away from the AT&T Center.
It’s the home games that have been killer, with the Spurs going 12-16 in those. Perhaps hitting the road
for an extended stretch won’t be the worst thing in the world for the Spurs.
Those killer mini-series
The Spurs have three sets of two-game “miniseries” remaining on their pandemic slate. As bad luck would have it, those six games come against three of the top four teams in the Western Conference.
After facing Cleveland at home Monday, the Spurs were set to leave for a pair of games in Denver on Wednesday and Friday. A brutal final month includes games at Westleading Utah on May 3 and 5, and a series-closing set at home against Phoenix on May 15 and 16.
Though not part of a mini-series, the Spurs have a third game against the up-and-coming Suns on April 17 at Phoenix. It is on the second night of a backto-back.
Speaking of back-to-backs
In a scheduling quirk that seems almost mathematically impossible, the Spurs have seven back-tobacks crammed into the final five weeks of the season.
The Spurs have been fine on the first night of a back-to-back this season, going 6-3 in those games. Playing on the second night of a back-to-back often has been an automatic prescription for defeat, with the Spurs struggling to a 2-7.
The Spurs will be wise to rest up during a week this week that includes only the home game against Cleveland and two at Denver.
The back-to-backs are on the way.
The ‘make hay’ stretch
If the Spurs are to keep up in the playoff race, they are going to need to find some victories somewhere. If there is a soft spot in the remaining schedule, it comes the final two weeks of this month.
Only one of the seven foes the Spurs face in that stretch had a winning record heading into Monday’s games. That piece of the slate features a lone back-to-back, at home against Miami and Detroit on April 21 and 22.
It also includes a rare three-game week, with the Spurs going to Washington, Miami and Boston with a day off in between to finish the month.
The ‘it may kill you’ stretch
If the Spurs make it to May with their playoff aims still realistic, the final week of the season might prove fatal.
The Spurs conclude their second-half death march with a home game against Milwaukee, a backto-back trip to face a loaded Brooklyn team before taking on New York, then finish with the two-pack of home games against Phoenix.
If that is not the most difficult stretch of the Spurs’ remaining schedule, the week before might be.
The Spurs celebrate the first week of May by playing five games in seven nights. On the itinerary is a home game against Eastleading Philadelphia, with a game at Utah on the second night of a back-toback, followed by another game against the Jazz before leaving Salt Lake City, followed by a road back-to-back at Sacramento and Portland.
It feels like the Spurs are going to need a bank of victories built up to make it out of May still playoff hopeful.
The consolation prize, if the Spurs do not qualify for the postseason? They can rest until October.