San Antonio Spurs: Predicting easiest, hardest months of 2019-20 season

Easiest month of the 2019-20 season: January

Any month that features two games against the Phoenix Suns has a case to be the least-challenging month on a team’s schedule.

The San Antonio Spurs receive some additional perks in January, with games against the Chicago Bulls and the Atlanta Hawks, two teams that finished with 50-plus losses in 2018-19.

Thinking about the potential conditions of the season, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Spurs at their absolute best around this time.

With motives set on pleasing fans and coaches, players like LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan could be creating their cases to return as perennial All-Stars in the Western Conference. Aldridge, in particular, has been at or around his best during this time frame.

It is true that the Spurs will have eight games on the road, which is problematic considering the Spurs have gone 30-52 away from home over the last two seasons.

But, one glance at some of the teams they could be playing — the Thunder, Grizzlies, Suns, Bulls —  this could be the month that they reverse those misfortunes heading into the home stretch.

Outside of that, the Spurs will have plenty of games against either middle-of-the-pack franchises (Miami) or teams in a transition stage, which could lead to inconsistencies (i.e. New Orleans, Toronto, Boston).

Over a 14-game January, the Spurs will face teams with a 52.8 win percentage, a lot of that inflated by a home-and-home against the Milwaukee Bucks on January 4 and 6. Take away that, and those opponents have just a 48.6 win percentage.

Historically, the Spurs have used January as either a way to jump in the standings, or remain in the mix. Last season, they went 10-5, and in 2017-18, they went 9-7. This year, they’ll be hoping for a similar, if not better result.