Ti’s Four-Point Play: Which NBA Teams Can Challenge The Warriors?

San Antonio Spurs

There are many people who believe the San Antonio Spurs are even better than the Warriors. That could be true. So why are they not ranked as the biggest threat to Golden State?

Age. Thanks to dumping Tiago Splitter in a salary-clearing move to land LaMarcus Aldridge and Aldridge refusing to play center every night, Tim Duncan has to be a defensive anchor for these Spurs. Without him, this team isn’t nearly as potent.

The Spurs have played against two very good teams without Duncan. They lost both of those games. The Spurs are still good enough to beat lesser teams without Duncan–and they have, going 8-0 in their other games without him. Those games were against a lot of lottery-bound teams and the stumbling, bumbling Houston Rockets.

So a very important question has to be raised: should Duncan falter in the Conference or NBA Finals, can San Antonio still hang with the best teams in the NBA?

That’s a question the Spurs are really hoping they don’t have to answer. But relying on anybody at age 40 (like Tim Duncan will be when the latter rounds of the playoffs are underway) is dubious. Kawhi Leonard has taken the leap from very good to great and this team has a lot of talent, but San Antonio is built to win with the defensive Duncan at center.

The Spurs may not be ready to win another title without Duncan just yet. And really, who can blame them for that?

Next: And Now, The Thunderous Finale