Spurs remain in strong position in Western Conference

Dalton Hartmann, Assistant Magazine Editor

The San Antonio Spurs are currently sitting at the sixth seed in the western conference after their games versus the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Knicks with an 18-13 record. With the way the Spurs have been playing, the sixth seed is well deserved, and as a Spurs fan, I am very happy to see that such a young roster is playing at the level they currently are. The strength of the Spurs has always been their team play, and this season is no exception. With players like DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge leading the Spurs with their veteran presence on the court and a whole assortment of young and very capable players waiting in the wings, this roster is scary. Some players to make sure to keep an eye on are going to be Keldon Johnson and Derrick White. White had his coming out party on the national stage two years back during the Nuggets series, and while Johnson hasn’t had his, there is still a lot of season left for it, and both are dangerous. Looking at this roster as a whole, I am very excited to see what they can do through the rest of the season and then hopefully into the playoffs. 

To get into this week’s games, the Spurs took on the Nets on Monday in a very exciting game that went to OT as both teams were scoring machines. The score was close throughout the whole game, with the scoring being tied heading into the fourth. The fourth started off poorly for the Spurs, with them being unable to produce offensively and the Nets capitalizing on that. Fortunately for the Spurs, they were able to get their rhythm back and made the game a close one. With the score being 108-106 Nets and 4.2 seconds left on the shot clock, Dejounte Murray went up and got the rebound and took it down the court. With the shot clock expiring, Murray took the shot at the buzzer and made it to force overtime. While the miracle drive from Murray was special, the overtime performance from the Spurs could not keep the magic going. The Nets managed to take the win 124-113.

Coming off a tough overtime loss, the Spurs were looking to bounce back against the Knicks. While the game was close for the majority of the first half, the Spurs managed to take a small lead 47-51, going into halftime. With a lead already established, the Spurs added to it in the third, outscoring their opponents by 15 points. With this game all but over, the Spurs would close it out in the fourth, outscoring the Knicks 25-32 to take the game 93-119 Spurs. 

While the Spurs managed to pick up the win against the Knicks in convincing fashion, their next couple of games will not be so easy. The Spurs have the Thunder, Mavericks, Magic and 76ers for the rest of this week. These next few games, especially the 76ers game, will be a big test to see if the Spurs can hold onto their playoff seeding.