NBA Power Rankings: Spurs Win vs. Bucks Triggers Jump?
The San Antonio Spurs kick off a five-game west coast trip tonight against the Golden State Warriors.
The Spurs could have gone on the trip looking to break a six-game losing streak, but San Antonio returned to its winning ways on Friday with a 111-93 win over the NBA-best Milwaukee Bucks. Granted, the Bucks played without Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday, but for a team like the Spurs, a win is a win.
The win helped the Spurs move up two spots in this week's NBA Power Rankings from The Athletic from No. 29 to 27.
"Their net rating shows they’ll eventually trend toward not winning a lot of these games, but so far, they’ve been fun and competitive a lot of nights against teams you wouldn’t necessarily expect," The Athletic writes.
The Spurs may not have the talent to compete with every team night in and night out. On most nights, the Spurs are usually forced to defend the best player on the floor rather than him wearing "San Antonio" across his chest. However, Gregg Popovich and his team can control how they approach each game and the effort they put out on the floor. And it shows that it is enough to be nearly .500 in the first month of the season.
This week, the Spurs play the Warriors (Mon.), Portland Trail Blazers (Tues.), Sacramento Kings (Thurs.), Los Angeles Clippers (Sat.) and Los Angeles Lakers (Sun.)
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