After Monday’s 106-79 road win over the deliriously dysfunctional Brooklyn Nets, the 33-6 San Antonio Spurs have matched the team’s best start through 39 games in its storied franchise history. The Spurs have won five championships since Gregg Popovich took over as coach during the 1996-1997 season, but have never started the regular season with more wins than they have right now. And San Antonio isn’t just beating teams, it’s steamrolling opponents at a level not seen anywhere else in the league. The
Top 12 Remaining Free Agents — July 14 Edition
You hear the phrase all the time: “Don’t drink and drive.” Unfortunately, Denver Nuggets guard Ty Lawson still hasn’t gotten the memo. Lawson was arrested for DUI in Los Angeles early Tuesday morning at 2:30 AM, TMZ reported. This is Lawson’s second DUI arrest this year. Lawson was also arrested for DUI back in January. There’s simply no excuse for this once, let alone twice. Lawson is on the books for $12.4 million this season and $13.2 million the following season. Simply put, he
Sprung: Spurs are living and dying with/without Kawhi Leonard
Where would the San Antonio Spurs be this season without Kawhi Leonard? To answer my own question, probably out of the playoff picture. In a Western Conference where the 8th-seeded New Orleans Pelicans are seven games over .500, the Spurs are 33-16 with Leonard and just 9-9 without him. Leonard leads the team in scoring, defensive rating and minutes per game. There’s an immense difference in Leonard’s stats in Spurs wins and losses, to the point where an off night can torpedo
Marks: Pop Still Spurring on Brown as Losses Mount in Philly
PHILADELPHIA – Oh, to be a bullfrog along the Schuylkill River on Monday, listening in while Gregg Popovich and Brett Brown walked and talked a few hours before Pop’s world champion Spurs – minus Tim Duncan and Tony Parker – kept Brown’s 76ers winless with a 109-103 victory. “He made me walk with him for an hour and a half today,’’ laughed an unusually amiable Popovich of his longtime assistant and good friend, who’s having a bit of a rough go
Five Things To Watch: San Antonio Spurs
All the San Antonio Spurs could talk about last season was avenging their 2013 NBA Finals loss to the Miami Heat, especially the heartbreaking loss in Game 6. The Spurs made sure it didn’t get to a Game 6 in 2014 as they dominated the Heat in five games to win their fifth championship. Tim Duncan, who many assumed would retire after his fifth title, now enters the 2014-15 season looking for a ring for his other hand now. The Spurs brought
Scotto: Championship Window Still Open for Spurs as Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich Chase Jordan, Jackson
The San Antonio Spurs and the organization’s two stalwarts, Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich, are coming off a fifth championship and are poised for another title run next season – provided Duncan doesn’t retire. With five championships in a 15-year period, the Spurs have made a claim to be considered a dynasty. However, some people – most notably Phil Jackson – would disagree because the Spurs haven’t won consecutive titles. Jackson won three consecutive championships on three separate occasions (1991-93, 96-98, 2000-2002).
Gonzalez: Three Keys to the Finals for Each Coach
I have always pondered the challenge of being an NBA coach, so here’s my attempt at coming up with three different key strategies for both coaches and teams to implement if they are going to win the championship. I personally feel that San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich is not only the premier coach in the game today, I actually believe he is one of the greatest leaders of any sport in the history of our country. On the other side you have Miami’s
Bernucca: Among the Elite, Thunder the Team to Beat
A look at the overall NBA standings shows four teams at the top – Indiana, Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Miami – separated by one game in the loss column. In fact, they were dead even until three of them lost Sunday. Just a notch below them are three more teams – Houston, the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland – separated by two games in the loss column. They also would have been dead even had the Blazers held