Author: John Buhler
(Note: The data in this article ends on December 3)
Slam the eye and lost the inside pillar Tim - Duncan San Antonio Spurs performed very well.
In the first 19 games of the 2016-17 season, the Spurs ranked second in the league with a record of 15 wins and 4 losses, only one victory difference behind Golden State Warriors (16 wins and 3 losses). They are still chasing the goal of 65+ wins. San Antonio has undoubtedly completed the transfer of power from Tim Duncan to Kawhi Leonard perfectly, and the Spurs in the Popovich era still remain competitive for a long time.
It seems that the Spurs have another chance to compete for another NBA championship this year. At the beginning of the season, San Antonio, Golden State, Cleveland Cavaliers (13 wins and 4 losses) and Los Angeles Clippers (15 wins and 5 losses) were undoubtedly the most powerful contenders for the 2016-17 championship.
However, there is still no team that can be called perfect this season. The personnel changes in Golden State in the summer have greatly lost their ability to protect the frame. Los Angeles Clippers s have never touched the floor of the Western Conference Finals since they put on this jersey. And does Cleveland really have the mental outlook that a defending champion should have? As for the Spurs, their home performance is terrible... Wait, the Spurs' home game is terrible?
Yes, the Spurs are really bad at the ATT Center this year. Now San Antonio has a perfect record of 11-0 away, and has only 4 wins and 4 losses at home. Three of the four lost games were facing the Utah Jazz in early November (November 1, 106-91), the Clippers (November 5, 116-92), and the Houston Rockets (November 9, 101-99).
These three teams at least look like they are the quarterfinals of in the 2017 Western Conference playoffs, and they are even able to win the next round of the series. However, the Orlando Magic (7 wins and 12 losses) that the Spurs recently lost to home are obviously not in this category. On Thursday, November 29, the Magic were on the way, and the Spurs lost again at home with a score of 95-83.
The Spurs have already performed phenomenal away games this season, but why is it so abnormal at home? Is it the opponent's tactical achievement, or the Spurs' own psychological problem?
Let's review the four home losses of the Spurs to see if they can find out. Utah and Los Angeles have good rebounding protection and are very tough in defense. They are undoubtedly two playoff-level teams, and even the best teams are understandable to lose to them occasionally.
Houston played an extremely fast running and bombing tactic. Perhaps the crazy speed-up Rockets is born with restraint for the elderly Spurs? The Magic may be overcrowded in the frontcourt, but sometimes they can keep their focus on rebounding because of this. Orlando is not a playoff team, but they can sometimes win games with the league’s top defensive intensity.
Go back and take a look at the magical home and away performance of the Spurs. There is no outstanding data that shows the reason for the ATT downturn. When you compare the team's performances in the victory and failures respectively, the team's performance is naturally worse in the lost games. However, there seems to be a very significant problem when the Spurs play at home: they can't get points.
In the eight home games of the Spurs this season, they can only score 99.8 points per 100 rounds, which is similar to the Memphis Grizzlies who were full of wounded soldiers last season. And San Antonio's offense was very explosive, and they averaged a league-high 114.8 points per game.
Looking at these data, it is easy to guess that it may be that some pressure or tension from the home court has affected them. Perhaps it will be more difficult to rebuild the "post-Duncan era" in front of your fans? But the Spurs have proved their mental tenacity before. They still played very good defense at home, and perhaps looking at the whole season in the future, all this is just an occasional statistical deviation.
They'd better do this, otherwise the home advantage of the playoffs may be nothing to them.
Hupu Basketball Translation Team
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