5 reasons the San Antonio Spurs can win the 2017 NBA Championship
By John Buhler
The San Antonio Spurs are chasing their sixth NBA title of the Gregg Popovich era in 2017. Here are five reasons they will hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
For yet another year, the San Antonio Spurs will be in the Western Conference Playoffs. They have made the NBA Playoffs every year since the 1997-98 NBA season. With the exception of the strike-shortened 1998-99 campaign, San Antonio has won at least 50 regular season games annually during that span.
The Spurs will be the No. 2 seed this year, with only the Golden State Warriors ahead of them in the Western Conference standings. San Antonio is looking for its sixth NBA Championship of the Gregg Popovich era. Here are five reasons No. 6 is coming in June for the Spurs.
5. Tenacious defense
San Antonio has won over 60 games for the third time in four years. The Spurs are always well-coached and an extremely disciplined bunch. So it comes as no surprise that the Spurs have one of the best defenses in the NBA in 2016-17.
The Spurs play at a sluggish pace of 94.3 possessions per game (27th in the NBA), but that has helped this team be top-10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. While many teams would be happy with being eighth in offensive rating at 111.2, we all know that the Spurs cut their teeth with tenacious defense under Popovich.
San Antonio is the best team in basketball in terms of defensive rating at 103.4 points per 100 possessions. Though their pace is slow, the Spurs control the tempo of the game better than just about everybody.
This is crucial come playoff time when the style of basketball becomes more half-court centric. If San Antonio is able to hang on transition defense, this team can hang with anybody this April, May or June. Being top-10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency screams that this Spurs team has the necessary balance to contend for an NBA Championship.