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San Antonio Spurs: Early Schedule Provides Breathing Room

By Cody Daniel

Oct 18, 2015; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs power forward Tim Duncan (L) shares a laugh on the court with teammate LaMarcus Aldridge (R) during the first half against the Detroit Pistons at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 18, 2015; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs power forward Tim Duncan (L) shares a laugh on the court with teammate LaMarcus Aldridge (R) during the first half against the Detroit Pistons at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports /
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The San Antonio Spurs kicked off the new season on the road against a realistic 2016 NBA Finals victor in a potential Western Conference Finals preview, and things didn’t work out favorably after suffering a 112-106 defeat at the hands of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant.

San Antonio now has something in common with the Jazz, Lakers, Kings, Suns, Rockets, Pelicans, Magic, Pacers, Hornets, Nets, 76ers and Bucks: They’re winless.

Now obviously, the Spurs have only one game under their belt, and more importantly, it’s the Spurs we’re talking about here, who will assuredly secure their 19th consecutive playoff berth by season’s end. But they’re also lodged amidst a brutal Western Conference, where luck can ultimately decide your fate with five serious contenders gunning for a lone position in the NBA Finals – San Antonio, Golden State, Houston, Oklahoma City and the Los Angeles Clippers.

Where each and every loss becomes of the utmost importance lies within the sheer power of the conference as a whole, and the NBA ditching the division winners for seeding and awarding the eight best records from top to bottom. With home court advantage in mind, San Antonio having to enter a Game 7 on the road at Golden State or Oklahoma City is less than ideal, and could be the difference between an extended season, which may require 58-60 wins, or an early vacation.

With such a feat in mind, San Antonio’s upcoming 10-game schedule’s lack of consistently noteworthy opponents hints at an ideal opportunity to accrue a large chunk of their necessary win total.

  • Brooklyn Nets (0-1)
  • @ Boston Celtics (1-0)
  • @ New York Knicks (1-1)
  • @ Washington Wizards (1-0)
  • Charlotte Hornets (0-1)
  • @ Sacramento Kings (0-1)
  • @ Portland Trail Blazers (1-0)
  • Philadelphia 76ers (0-1)
  • Portland Trail Blazers (1-0)
  • Denver Nuggets (1-0)

Included in this 10-game stint are five games against teams that failed to make the playoffs last season – Knicks, Hornets, Kings, Sixers, and Nuggets – while eight of these 10 matchups come against teams expected to miss the cut this season; the Celtics and Wizards being the exceptions. At the very least, a wise man would project the Spurs to come out on top in eight or nine of the aforementioned matchups, if not all 10.

With a quite likely 9-2 or 10-1 start to their 2015-16 campaign, the Spurs should find themselves firmly near, or in control of the Western Conference’s top spot. And an underlying, but arguably just as crucial theme over the course of this somewhat simple stretch of their season is the scheme these semi-new look Spurs implement with the addition of LaMarcus Aldridge down low alongside Tim Duncan. In their opener, it was clear there’s still much left to be desired before the vision Aldridge had upon joining San Antonio comes to fruition, and the next 10 games serve as an ideal time to establish that chemistry.

Ultimately, this all equates to what could be a minute difference in playoff seeding, and stretches like this could prove to be the difference between a fifth seed and a first or second seed in a Western Conference that saw five teams win at least 55 games last season.

Next: San Antonio Spurs: 5 Keys To Contending

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