The San Antonio Spurs and their trifecta of point guards

This year, more than any other, the NBA’s Western Conference is split into easily defined tiers. In the basement, you have the Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Lakers. Then there’s the Utah Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder, New Orleans Pelicans, Portland Trail Blazers, Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves all fighting for home-court in the first round of the playoffs. And sitting decisively at the top are a trio of teams—two expected (Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors) and one (San Antonio Spurs)…not so much.

With stars such as Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker missing the first month-and-a-half of the season, the Spurs were expected to fall off. Instead, they kept their heads well above water until the roster could get healthy. Unfortunately, Leonard’s return to action on Dec. 12 has garnered most of the attention, but Parker’s return a few weeks earlier was just as important.

Parker righted the Spurs’ rotation and sent placeholders Dejounte Murray and Patty Mills back to the second-units they thrive with. In combination, this three-headed point guard platoon has the perfect blend of skillsets, intelligence and athletic ability to attack any matchup they come across.

Read More: Useful players contenders can target on the NBA trade market

It all begins with Parker’s return to the starting lineup, the place he undeniably belongs despite his age and injury history.. Having played for Gregg Popovich for 15 years and counting, he’s a continuation of the coach. For the limited time Parker’s on the court (18.7 minutes per game), he conducts the offense, keeping everyone in their position, timing their movements so they flow together as one. He has been at his absolute best when creating shots for his teammates.

Here, he hits Pau Gasol at the elbow who’s coming off a pin-down screen from Rudy Gay. As soon as Parker makes the pass, he performs a blind pig cut to the basket off Gasol’s right shoulder:

With Parker’s man caught off guard for just a half-second, Gasol hits the veteran with a dribble hand-off and the point guard takes off down the lane line as if he’s been shot out of a cannon. This puts Gay’s man in a precarious position, as he needs to choose between stopping the drive or staying home on his man in the short corner. Ultimately, he decides to stop the drive and Gay relocates closer to the 3-point line. As soon as Parker gets the defender to fully commit to his penetration, he throws a basic no-look pass to his teammate who calmy rises and knocks down the open jumper.

Penetration has long been Parker’s specialty. In his limited playing time, he is averaging 11.6 drives per game, and connecting on 57.1 percent of his shots off drives, tied for second in the NBA with Giannis Antetokounmpo and only behind LeBron James among players who average at least 10 drives per game. He also creates good looks for others on those attacks, with an assist percentage of 13.6, ranking sixth in the league.

When Parker heads to the bench midway through the first quarter, Mills and his contrasting style enter the game.

Where Parker picks up his man at his 3-point line, Mills guards 94 feet. Where Parker penetrates the lane, Mills runs the arc. Where Parker lofts up pretty floaters in the paint, Mills chucks outside shots on the move.

Mills is Popovich’s change of pace running back. He doesn’t dominate the ball, instead, allowing the offense to run through players such as LaMarcus Aldridge, Pau Gasol, Danny Green, Manu Ginobili and Rudy Gay.

He often initiates the play by passing it off and beginning his never-ending hunt for an open look around the 3-point line. This constant movement keeps the defense on edge, never allowing them to get comfortable. As soon as he finds an opening, his teammates know to look for him and hit him in stride for a good shot at the basket:

Even though his outside shooting percentage is down a bit this season (37.2 compared to his career average of 39.3), the way he rotates around the perimeter allows Aldridge, Gasol, and now Leonard again to go work on the low block without the worry of being doubled by Mills’ man. This spatial freedom is different than what Parker brings to the table and adds a different wrinkle to the Spurs’ game plan.

Defensively, Mills is a different beast as well. He routinely pressures opposing points for the length of the floor, often using his spastic energy to take them out of their comfort zone. This nagging obstacle for opponents may not always bear immediate results, but it wears down the offense as time goes on.

The Parker-Mills combination is a great backcourt duo in-and-of-itself. But what makes them really special is the secret weapon San Antonio has as their third guard-Dejounte Murray. Murray, a 6-foot-5 lean string bean, conforms to the modern age of positionless basketball. He can effectively guard multiple positions and bother the offense with his 6-foot-9 wingspan. When the Spurs come up against a team with a bigger, more physical point, Popovich often uses Murray to offset the other team’s supposed advantage. This is exactly what he did on Dec. 3 against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Russell Westbrook.

Murray played less than ten minutes in the first three games after Parker’s return, but came up big in the next game against the Thunder.

Matched up against the reigning MVP for most of the game, Murray recorded 17 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, three steals and a block. He also helped hold Westbrook to 22 points on 9-of-22 from the floor and seven turnovers.

Murray’s length was evidently bothering the Thunder, as he was constantly playing the passing lanes and making it extremely problematic to pass over, around or through him. This active defense also led directly to opportunities for easy buckets on multiple occasions:

Murray begins the play fighting over the ball-screen set by Steven Adams and hustles to try to get back in front of his man, never giving up. Gasol, who’s implementing drop pick-and-roll coverage, ensures he keeps the barreling Westbrook in front of him, giving Murray time to creep back into the play. Westbrook then hits the rolling Adams with a bounce pass, but the pesky Murray is right there to knock the ball out of the big man’s hands. Kyle Anderson gathers the rock and hits the streaking second-year player with an underhand scoop pass who then takes the ball the length of the floor and finishes with a finger roll at the rim.

This defense-to-offense translation is important for the former Washington Husky, as he’s not a polished offensive player at this point in his career. Shooting only 41.2 percent from the field, he relies mostly on cuts to the hoop and offensive putbacks to put himself in a position to score. Even then it isn’t pretty, as he ranks in the 17th percentile of points per possession in both those categories according to NBA.com.

Next: The sudden and thorough collapse of the Memphis Grizzlies

The point guard position has evolved and the stars who play it represent a broad array of specialties. The Spurs may not have the star power at that position, but whether it’s the penetration of Parker, the catch-and-shoot ability of Mills, or the long-armed defense of Murray, the Spurs are perfectly equipped to matchup and cause problems.

This trio may go unnoticed and unappreciated, but the malleability they give San Antonio’s rotations is one of the things that makes the Spurs so tough to plan for.