Rivalry retains appeal despite blowout
Monday night wasn’t exactly what NBA fans were yearning for when the season started.
Back then, in-state rivals the Rockets and Spurs looked like teams that would be at or near the top of the Western Conference standings.
The Rockets have kept up their end of the bargain, powering through their schedule to become one of the premier teams in the league.
But the Spurs are having their worst season in recent memory.
And while Monday night marked a lopsided victory for the Rockets (53-14), who are happy to be home after a four-game road trip, it was a possible preview of the first round of the upcoming playoffs.
The Rockets easily handled some of the Spurs with a 109-93 win at Toyota Center.
So the home team stays on top of the West and the Spurs — a playoff regular — drop to the cluttered No. 8-9-10 spots with the other teams with 30 losses.
But Rockets coach Mike
D’Antoni is no fool.
And knowing the Spurs might not be themselves doesn’t offer him much comfort headed into the postseason.
Monday night, the Spurs were without Manu Ginobili, LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard.
Leonard is likely to make his much anticipated return from being off most of the season with a lingering quadriceps injury that has brought a ton of drama to the most “boring” team in the NBA.
So next month, the Spurs won’t just be a group of young players no one has heard of and Tony Parker like they were Monday night at Toyota Center.
They probably also won’t be the same team that beat the Rockets in six games last season during the second round of the playoffs.
Back of the pack
Somewhere in the middle, though, is a team that can’t be counted out — not when it has made the playoffs for 20 years in a row.
“They are in eighth place so right now, that’s who we would see,” D’Antoni said. “If we were in second, we could see OKC. That’s not much better. It’s going to be tough. No one is easy to beat.”
On the flip side of that, the Spurs know they are in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time in two decades.
But coach Gregg Popovich isn’t thinking about it. He and his team have zero discussions when it comes to playoff seedings.
“They aren’t idiots,” he said. “They know. We don’t have to talk about it.”
So Popovich is doing what he knows how to do better than most for the time being.
He’s developing the youth he has. It’s hard to doubt his methods based on Spurs history.
Parker, Tim Duncan, Ginobili.
Even players like Patty Mills and Danny Green, who have done a lot of growing up in San Antonio.
“It’s really thrilling to watch,” Popovich said. “The maturation process, the learning. I’m glad they get these games, these experiences.”
Youth making strides
He alluded to young point guard Dejounte Murray.
“He gets to go out every night and one night it’s Damian Lillard, then it’s (Russell) Westbook,” Popovich said.
“Tonight, it’s that other guy who is pretty good,” he said with a smirk. He meant Chris Paul. And he knows Murray’s time against a future Hall of Famer can only help the young guard develop.
Whether his young squad will develop enough in time to hang on for a playoff spot — and a possible appearance against the Rockets in the first round — remains to be seen.
But the return of other players, like Aldridge — who had his way with the Rockets during the 2014 postseason when he was the star in Portland — will make a difference.
Before the injury that took Leonard — an MVP candidate last season — out of the mix this year, he was one of the best players in the league on both sides of the ball.
If he is back to anywhere near that level of play, he can make any game competitive.
And Ginobili always has been one of those players who can make a ridiculously great play out of nowhere to save a game.
All that being said, the Rockets are so much better this year headed into the postseason than they have been in years.
Postseason potential
Their offense is staggering, their defense is some of the most improved in the NBA and they have a deep bench filled with veterans who do not get rattled.
It would be great to see the Spurs and Rockets in the postseason again.
Monday night wasn’t a good taste of what that series could be.
The Spurs were supposed to be a lot better than what they showed at Toyota Center.
And the Rockets made it look too easy — as they often have this season.
Still, the Texas-sized rivalry doesn’t disappoint.
And if the Spurs can get back to some semblance of their former selves, a first-round matchup against the Rockets would make for a great start to the playoffs.