The Spurs are looking like the Spurs again, and know one wants to see them in the playoffs.
Well, I guess Father Time really is undefeated. They had a great run. It’s really sad, though, isn’t it? I thought the Spurs had a shot again this year.
Oh wait, the Spurs are two games out of the 3-seed in the West.
Yes, it’s that time of year again. It’s time to get hip to granddaddy Pop and the Spurs again. They shut down the Eastern Conference version of themselves, the Atlanta Hawks, on Sunday, and they are looking like their old selves again — playing their best basketball a little later than they should, right on schedule for the upcoming NBA Finals.
Tony Parker, per the norm, has been battling a nagging hamstring injury pretty much all year. But recently, he has been hammy-free and his performance is showing it (20 points per game, 5.5 assists per game in his last 10 games). For the year, he’s a smidge under 15 points a game and barely five assists a game, so clearly something changed.
Kawhi Leonard took the traditional role of the crucial Spurs player who misses a third of the season and takes awhile to get back into rhythm with the team. But, now that he has, he looks like the quiet, freakish NBA Finals MVP from last June. Leonard has averaged 20 points and three steals per game over his past 10 games, and those three steals are a ‘book-it’ stat. His hands are abnormally large and scary-quick. Do not dribble within Kawhi’s reach — just don’t.
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Manu Ginobili has been as been as banged up and as enigmatic as ever, but is sure to have at least one freaky, Euro-stepping, off-balance, 3-pointer sinking, how-did-you-make-that-pass, type of Manu playoff series.
Tim Duncan has been throwing haymakers in the 12th round of his fight with Father Time this season, as he has been the steadiest of the Spurs bunch this season. He’s played the third-most games of any Spur this year and is averaging 14 points and over nine boards per game. He isn’t obviously dropping 20-and-12 anymore, but the potential for him to do so is still there on a nightly basis. The man turns 39 in a month.
Look, the Spurs have been especially banged up this year, especially with Kawhi being out. Now that they’re clicking, and assuming they stay healthy, there is no team in the West that isn’t shaking.
Jimmy Watkins is a freshman studying journalism and is a sports writer for The Post. Let him know what if you buy in on the Spurs chances this season on Twitter @JAjimbojr or through email jw331813@ohio.edu.
