The Golden State Warriors have captured the basketball world’s attention this season. Their history-making 24-0 start to the season was breathtaking, and the Warriors’ fast-paced and deadly offensive onslaught, combined with smothering defence, had NBA fans singing their praises.
The Warriors now sit 31-2, first in the Western Conference, with losses coming against the Milwaukee Bucks – in what was the Warriors’ final game of a seven-game road trip – and a tough loss to the Dallas Mavericks, a game in which MVP Stephen Curry didn’t play.
So, while Golden State has had some hiccups, many would still proclaim them as the league’s best team.
While it’s a fair and sensible point, it is wrong.
A team has overtaken the Warriors as the league’s best and, like everything else they do, it has flown under the radar.
The San Antonio Spurs.
San Antonio have been playing beautiful basketball this season, which shouldn’t come as a surprise. Despite falling in the first round of last season’s playoffs – in an epic, seven-game series with the Los Angeles Clippers – the Spurs reloaded in the off-season with the signing of LaMarcus Aldridge and the re-signing of Kawhi Leonard.
While Aldridge has slowly worked his way into Gregg Popovich’s system – averaging 15.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game while shooting 48.2per cent from the field – Leonard has absolutely exploded this season.
Leonard has been the league’s best two-way player, developing a consistent and effective offensive attack to complement his always-tremendous defence. His per-game numbers of 20.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.0 steals, 0.9 blocks, while shooting 51.3 per cent from the field and 49.6 per cent from three-point range, are simply amazing. His metamorphosis into a legitimate offensive weapon had added another dimension to not only his game, but to the Spurs’ already excellent offensive attack.
San Antonio’s ball movement has always been a staple of their system, and it still is – the Spurs are second in assists per game, third in assists percentage, first in assist-to-turnover ratio, second in assist ratio, and third in field goals made off assists.
The evolution of Leonard’s offensive game has given the Spurs (along with Aldridge) two scoring threats who can create their own shot in clutch moments. While Leonard is still more effective in catch-and-shoot situations, where he has a field goal percentage of 49.0 per cent, he can now put the ball on the floor and create his own shot. In pull-up scenarios, Leonard is shooting a respectable 45.6 per cent, which is an improvement over last season’s 42.4 per cent rate.
As his offence has developed, Leonard’s defence has still been stellar. When being guarded by Leonard, opponents are shooting just 36.7 per cent from the field, which is 7.3 per cent below their season average. Leonard’s large hands allow him to be the NBA’s best at stripping opposing players, and his boisterous on-ball pressure makes him a pain to play against.
In fact, Leonard’s excellent defensive work is an indication of how dominant the entire Spurs team has been on that side of the ball this season. The Spurs’ ball and player movement on the offensive side of the ball is wonderful, but their effort on the ‘ugly’ side of the ball has been the key in their start to the season.
The Spurs have the best defence in the entire league; their rotations are sharp, they communicate at a high level, and they end the possession with the defensive rebound – an underrated aspect of the defensive end.
Acquiring veteran David West over the off-season has been one of the major factors in the Spurs defensive onslaught, according to Danny Green, via Tom Orsborn of Express News.
“The reason why our defence is so good is because of how focused we are with the vets we’ve brought in, and he’s the main one,” Green said. “He’s very focused defensively, very on top of things, encouraging guys. He talks us through and helps us see different things defensively. He’s a big communicator on the floor.”
The Spurs are first in the league in defensive rating – and it isn’t even close. San Antonio has a defensive rating of 92.9, 4.9 points better than the second-best team, the Boston Celtics, who have a defensive rating of 97.8.
San Antonio have done an excellent job at limiting both the points scored and effectiveness of opposing offences in multiple areas of the game, leading to them boasting the league’s top offence.
The Spurs allow the least amount of points scored by the opposition in the entire league, as teams are putting up just 89.0 points per game. Both the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers give up 94.5 points per game.
Opponents are not only struggling to score against the Spurs, they are also struggling to shoot effectively. San Antonio rank second in the league in opponent field-goal percentage, the only allow teams to shoot 42.4 per cent. From the three-point line, the Spurs are tied first with the New York Knicks, only allowing teams to connect at a 31.5 per cent from beyond the arc.
Two other areas where the Spurs are disturbing opposition teams is not allowing to score off turnovers and second-chance points. Off turnovers, the Spurs are allowing the least amount of points per game, only giving up 14.1 points.
Off second-chance points, the Spurs are only allowing 9.1 points per game, which is an indication of how good of at defensive rebounding the Spurs have been.
Defensive rebounding is an underrated aspect of basketball. You can play excellent defence for 24 seconds, but if you don’t grab the rebound, the possession goes to waste. The Spurs have no such issues, as they rank first in the league in defensive rebounding percentage, with an 80.8 per cent mark.
San Antonio are winning games on the defensive end, but their offence has been clicking at a high rate, which is no surprise to anyone who has watched the Spurs under Popovich.
The Spurs’ ball movement is sensational, having built a system many teams are attempting to copy. Their unselfish play has led them to be near or at the top of most of the most telling offensive categories.
San Antonio rank first in the league in field goal percentage, third in the league in offensive rating, second in the league in effective field goals percentage, and second in the league in true shooting percentage.
While it isn’t as dominant as their league-destroying defence, the Spurs’ offence is still one of the best – an ominous sign for the rest of the NBA.
The Warriors have received all the attention this season, but the Spurs have retaken the mantle of the league’s best team.
On January 26 the Spurs visit Oracle Arena for a must-watch game against the Warriors.
reegs82
Guest
Thats some point differential right there.
Graeme
Guest
Oh look at that. GSW with 30 point wins over Spurs, cavs and Bulls. No I see your point now spurs are definitely better ?
Nick
Guest
Just popping in to remind you how little you know. Your "best team in the league" just went down by 30 points to.............. Golden State Warriors. Game Set Match
Nick
Guest
If only the Spurs could have that same defence EH? 30 point hiding by the Warriors! 30 POINTS!
Crash32
Guest
Good to see you people aren't defensive or insecure or anything like that....
pete bloor
Guest
I apologise deeply for my fat finger, when the screen relaoded I just pressed enter again and it came up as a new post rather than a reply (hence the "double" above). Glad you aren't super sensitive
pete bloor
Guest
Reegs: that rings hollow when the GSW top 5 have played more than the spurs Ryan: When I think of the "best" I think who is most likely to win a game tomorrow at a neutral venue. If your definition of the "best" is simply whose has won the most games within a given time frame then of course whoever ahs won the most games equals that. I do actually factor in last years (as I said). I had objection to your "pales" in comparison to when in actual fact for predicting a result tomorrow the win losses is the one that takes a back seat. Fact is, not opinion, points differential has been repeatedly proven to be a better indicator of ability to play across a wide variety of sports including basketball. Remco: Couldn't' disagree more with the idea that every win exhibits the exact same ability to play basketball.
reegs82
Guest
If its all about point differential I dare say the Warriors could quite easily increase theirs if they were to push Curry, Klay and Green in to blowout games but instead have played smart and their big leads have diminished when they have used their 2nd and even 3rd squads
Crash32
Guest
There is, but the problem there is: Some of the teams who play in those series night have men injured. And some teams who have injured players might be bitter after losing a series and then for the rest of the year. The players and their fans might complain and cry that they "would have won the series" if they weren't injured, and assume an asterisk should be placed next to the win in the history books (as if they were the first team to enter a playoff series injured) If that were to happen, the fan of the team that won the series could only hope that the very next year, in the regular season, his team DESTROYS that team while they are healthy, one their home court, while your team is the one that is injured. Thus, shutting up all those cry-babies who asked for the asterisk in the first place. I like your idea about this "series" thing. But I can see some teams and fans being so full of themselves that they'll never accept losing, until they really, REALLY LOSE. AND LOSE BAD. Then and only then would they admit the other team is superior.
Nate
Guest
I would not say they are better but they are pretty damn close. I have been pushing the Spurs good points in discussions with a mate recently. They are really not far off but I don't think they are there yet. That said, I look forward to the 2 teams playing and I have a feeling the Spurs may be able to take them on. That's just based on gut instinct though and nothing more. I will agree with the author on one point though, Kawhi is clearly the best 2 way player in the league at the moment.
Remco
Guest
+1 Ryan "Wins and losses are binary events which assume every win is equal." Yes, and that is true. At the end of the day every win is indeed equal. You don't win the NBA championship with point differentials, but only with wins. We're at the halfway point and the Warriors have won 94% of their games, the Spurs only 84%. It's pretty clear which team is best.
Graeme
Guest
Yes but you also have to look at strength of schedule and travel. So far San Antonio have had the easiest schedule in the league, and have also had 20 of 36 games at home with their longest road trip being 3 games as opposed to the warriors 7 yet still they have 4 more losses. The spurs are a good team and its going to be a great match up but any one saying the spurs are better at this point is either going for clicks (and if thats your goal well done, you got me to bite) or should probably spend some more time watching basketball and less looking at point differentials
Ryan O'Connell
Expert
- The Warriors are the defending champions. - They have the best win/loss record in the league, with just two losses to the Spurs's six. - The two losses came at the end of a seven game Eastern Conference road trip (in which their game the night before went to OT), and the second when their best player wasn’t playing. To me, that's an extremely convincing argument that they are the best team in the NBA. Even if you want to lean heavily on points differential as your indicator, they are second in the league by just 1.8 points, and I believe they have actually led the league for most of this season. Plus they led the NBA in points differential last year season. I can't see any way in which the Dubs could not be nominated the best team in the league.
Swampy
Guest
Next article: Why Kawhi Leonard is the real MVP... Homer.
Craig
Guest
What argument? I was saying that it is a stupid thing to worry about this in January, hence the use of "for whatever stupid reason you have". As a service to those of you that clearly want to continue banging on about something completely inane, I provided you one of the the best resources to do so. You're welcome.
pete bloor
Guest
Actually your argument is self defeating. If winning the finals is the definition of the best then there is no ability to discuss “the best” at this point as the only relevance of wins and losses is playoff qualification.
pete bloor
Guest
double -
pete bloor
Guest
Yes it’s more predicative of a team’s ability to win games in the future which to me is the “best”. Wins and losses are binary events which assume every win is equal. Win by 100 points and you demonstrated the exact amount of basketball ability as a winning by a buzzer beater. Even the “eye test” guys know that doesn’t make sense right? Personally for me it is a coin toss, I’d factor in last year as well in my ranking but if you are looking at just this year I can see the author’s point. GSW are like 7 or 8 and 0 in coin toss games and the spurs are 3-5, given history suggests that teams records in two possession games trend pretty much back towards 50% I can see the reluctance to rely on those records as the arbiter.
Craig
Guest
If only they had some system where the best teams would play against each other in batches of games at the end of the season to work this impossible question out. If you want to dive deeper in January for whatever stupid reason you have, check this out as it is probably a good overall balance of actual record, points differential and strength of schedule http://espn.go.com/nba/stats/rpi
Ryan O'Connell
Expert
More predictive than what? Actually winning?! I'll take 'winning' over any other stat in history when it comes to deciding who the 'best' is. You'd really take 'points differential' as an indicator of which is the best team in the league, over win/loss records, the fact the team with the best win/loss record is also the defending champion, and is also second in points differential anyway?