You think the Warriors are world beaters?

[I<3NBA]

take a look at what the spurs are doing quietly.

their record 21-5

okc 112-106 L
bkn 75-102 W
bos 87-95 W
knicks 84-94 W
was 102-99 L
cha 94-114 W
sac 88-106 W
blazers 101-113 W
bkn 109-111 W
76ers 83-92 W
blazers 80-93 W
nugz 98-109 W
pels 104-90 L
grizz 82-92 W
suns 84-98 W
mavs 83-88 W
nugz 80-91 W
hawks 88-108 W
bulls 92-89 L
bucks 70-95 W
grizz 83-103 W
celts 105-108 W
76rs 68-119 W
raps 97-94 L
lakers 87-109 W
hawks 78-103 W
jazz 81-118 W

first, they have only allowed an opponent to score 100 or more 6 times. 3 of their losses came from those. the two other losses came from bulls and raps. they have allowed opponents to score over 90 only 4 times. the rest of their games they have held their opponents to 90 or less. if you think that is scary defense, think of this some more: in their last 6 wins, they have scored over 100 and have kept their opponents to an average of 80ppg, with only the celtics skewing that average by scoring over 100. each of those wins except the celtics have had an average differential of +20 points. they've absolutely been destroying their opponents now that they're rounding out into form and LA is presumed to be gelling well. they're not into mid-season form yet.

think about that.

while the Warriors have taken the NBA by storm because of the streak, their defense isn't on the level of the Spurs. i haven't checked the stats yet, but just from memory, i think they've allowed a lot of opponents to score 100ppg over them.

the Spurs have tailored their defense to stop the pace and space system everyone is copying from the Warriors. that's how they're keeping these teams below 90ppg. their losses came against teams not employing pace and space.

i'm interested to see how they'd fare against Cavs, who aren't a pace and space team as well.

[VengefulAngel]

take a look at what the spurs are doing quietly.

their record 21-5

okc 112-106 L
bkn 75-102 W
bos 87-95 W
knicks 84-94 W
was 102-99 L
cha 94-114 W
sac 88-106 W
blazers 101-113 W
bkn 109-111 W
76ers 83-92 W
blazers 80-93 W
nugz 98-109 W
pels 104-90 L
grizz 82-92 W
suns 84-98 W
mavs 83-88 W
nugz 80-91 W
hawks 88-108 W
bulls 92-89 L
bucks 70-95 W
grizz 83-103 W
celts 105-108 W
76rs 68-119 W
raps 97-94 L
lakers 87-109 W
hawks 78-103 W
jazz 81-118 W

first, they have only allowed an opponent to score 100 or more 6 times. 3 of their losses came from those. the two other losses came from bulls and raps. they have allowed opponents to score over 90 only 4 times. the rest of their games they have held their opponents to 90 or less. if you think that is scary defense, think of this some more: in their last 6 wins, they have scored over 100 and have kept their opponents to an average of 80ppg, with only the celtics skewing that average by scoring over 100. each of those wins except the celtics have had an average differential of +20 points. they've absolutely been destroying their opponents now that they're rounding out into form and LA is presumed to be gelling well. they're not into mid-season form yet.

think about that.

while the Warriors have taken the NBA by storm because of the streak, their defense isn't on the level of the Spurs. i haven't checked the stats yet, but just from memory, i think they've allowed a lot of opponents to score 100ppg over them.

the Spurs have tailored their defense to stop the pace and space system everyone is copying from the Warriors. that's how they're keeping these teams below 90ppg. their losses came against teams not employing pace and space.

i'm interested to see how they'd fare against Cavs, who aren't a pace and space team as well.

Look at the record against the good teams, they've had a very easy schedule so far, I'm still sceptical until I see the top team's face each other to gauge where exactly they are at.

[dhsilv]

Total points is ignoring pace and the spurs are back to that "boring" pace that contrarians constantly bring up. That said the spurs look good.

[SpaceJam]

Spurs also have a higher points differential I believe after last nights game

[Naero]

Total points is ignoring pace and the spurs are back to that "boring" pace that contrarians constantly bring up. That said the spurs look good.

This.

The Warriors rank 2nd in pace, whereas the Spurs are on the 27th-ranked cusp (tied with the Bucks); therefore, the Spurs' opponents are bound to average less points by correlation of less possessions per game to generate points.

The closest pace-relative metric we have is Hollinger's defensive-ranking, which tries to project how many points a team's opponents would average if extrapolated to 100 possessions; in that metric, the Spurs rank first, while the Warriors rank fifth. Extrapolation is a bit too theoretical for my taste, however, which is why I do not lend into it too much into it while we're still working with somewhat of a sample size.

That being said, I still give the Spurs the best chance to beat the Warriors out of any team by far; in fact, I've went as far as to proclaim that the championship series is effectively this year's Western Conference Finals between these two teams. We still don't have grander-scale metrics to truly compare the two teams yet, however, due to all the arbitrary variables that factor into the current metrics due to differing schedules.

[brooks_thompson]

I think we all know the Spurs 'should' be there in the WCF, giving the Warriors a run for the money. But until they get by the Clippers/OKC...I'm not willing to say they're on the Warriors' level.

They should pick up Tony Allen as strictly a defender for 12-15 minutes a game. He has looked bad this season, but I think he could still wreak some havoc in spot minutes.

[I<3NBA]

Total points is ignoring pace and the spurs are back to that "boring" pace that contrarians constantly bring up. That said the spurs look good.
:facepalm

it explains pace, not ignore it. it means if Spurs are holding opponents down 90, that means they're able to slow the pace down. how the fk does that "ignore it?"

also, since you're arguing their opponent ppg is because of "slow pace," then why the fk are they still scoring 100ppg on most of those games they limit their opponents to <90ppg?

[PsychoBe]

yet all their losses were to the only good teams they've faced

[Funktion]

rent free

[toxicxr6]

Look at the record against the good teams, they've had a very easy schedule so far, I'm still sceptical until I see the top team's face each other to gauge where exactly they are at.

If your going to include the Wizards as a good team

Please explain why you haven't included Memphis, Dallas, hornets, Boston as they all have records that would indicate they are good teams..

[I<3NBA]

http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2015/12/16/why-spurs-might-be-nbas-best-team/#more-92638

hangtime blogs explain why the Spurs, not the Warriors are the best team in the NBA

[DoctorP]

Well they are the world champions so yeah they are world beaters.

[knicksman]

in the end, spurs dont have superstar talent anymore and a team with a superstar is going to beat them

[Lebronxrings]

weakstern conference.