Don’t look now, the San Antonio Spurs are back in the playoff mix
By Duncan Smith
The San Antonio Spurs were left for dead after LaMarcus Aldridge was ruled out for the NBA restart, but we forgot the first rule: Don’t count out Gregg Popovich and the Spurs.
Before the NBA’s restart bubble began, the Memphis Grizzlies had a chokehold on the Western Conference’s eighth seed with the Portland Trail Blazers, the New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings and the San Antonio Spurs trailing far behind. Thanks to the rules of the league’s return to play, the eight seed isn’t a sure thing for the playoffs, but it’s a big advantage.
If the nine seed is within 4.0 games of the eighth seed, the two teams will play a play-in tournament in which the eight only needs to win one game to qualify for the playoffs, and the nine needs to win two.
The Blazers and Pelicans seemed like the biggest challengers for that play-in matchup, but we forgot the number one rule when it comes to the playoffs: That’s Gregg Popovich season, and the Spurs are better at making the playoffs than any franchise in North American sports.
Everything has changed since the bubble began. The Grizzlies are 0-2. The Blazers are 1-1. The Kings are 0-2. The 0-2 Pelicans might as well pack their bags and go home, they suddenly don’t belong here and played like they knew it against the LA Clippers on Saturday.
The Spurs, on the other hand, are 2-0 and suddenly have the chance to stretch their playoff streak to an incredible 23 straight appearances. We’ll take a look at what’s happened and what’s next for them.