San Antonio Spurs: 3 reasons why they will host a playoff series

The San Antonio Spurs have totally turned their season around after a rough start and are primed to get a top-four seed in a loaded Western Conference.

Many pundits were thinking of writing off the San Antonio Spurs as they were floundering below .500 and on the outside looking in to the Western Conference playoff picture back in November.

An 11-5 record in December and a 3-1 start to the month of January has launched San Antonio back into the top eight in the West and they look poised to continue to improve over the rest of the season.

Finishing in the top four in the Western Conference may have been a pipe dream a month ago, but the Spurs are only a game-and-a-half back of the Clippers who currently occupy that fourth spot.

The following slides will describe why I believe San Antonio will continue their upward trajectory and vault their way into a first round series at home despite being out of the playoff picture just a few weeks ago.

Next: Home Court Advantage

Home Court Advantage

The Spurs are just past the halfway point of their season with a record of 24-18 overall, and their success is due in large part to their dominance at the AT&T Center.

San Antonio is tied with Portland for the most home wins in the Western Conference this season with 17, and only the Nuggets and Mavs have less home losses than the Spurs do at the midway point.

Even when San Antonio was struggling early on, they were still able to defend their home court with ease. And they could even improve on that impressive home winning percentage in the second half of the year if they avoid losing to bad teams at they AT&T Center like they did against Orlando and Chicago during November.

The Spurs have always excelled at home under Gregg Popovich, and continuing their winning ways in San Antonio will help propel them into the top four in the West.

Next: Depth

Depth

As we hit the midpoint of the season, many teams around the league have been forced to test the depth of their roster due to injuries to some of their key players.

The Spurs started the year with some major injuries, and their incredible depth has kept them afloat through thosetough times.

San Antonio suffered one of the biggest losses of the preseason when Dejounte Murray tore his ACL in October. Derrick White, Pau Gasol, Lonnie Walker, and Rudy Gay have also missed significant time over the first couple months, but the strength of the Spurs’ roster has helped them weather the storm.

Bryn Forbes has enjoyed a breakout season after being thrust into the starting lineup for the first time in his career. Davis Bertans has shot the lights out from downtown, Patty Mills has been as steady as always, and the Spurs have also got some key contributions from Marco Belinelli and Dante Cunningham this season.

That depth also allows San Antonio to win in many different ways, and their reliable role players will help them earn home court advantage in the first round of the postseason.

Next: Coaching

Coaching

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It seems pretty obvious, but having the best coach in the history of the NBA is a major reason why the Spurs will secure a top-four seed this year.

San Antonio has gone through  the most turnover on their roster since the Tim Duncan era began in 1998.

The Kawhi Leonard trade forced the Spurs to tailor their offense around DeMar DeRozan’s skillset, and San Antonio struggled incorporating some of their new pieces during the first couple of months.

Now that the new players have had time to learn Popovich’s scheme and develop some chemistry together, they have become one of the league’s most potent offenses and their defense has improved mightily since the beginning of the season.

Assuming the Spurs can stay relatively healthy over the second half of the season, they should continue to gel together as a unit and Popovich, along with the rest of the incredible coaching staff around him, will keep developing a gameplan that accentuates the strength of this new squad.

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With all of those factors in mind, the Spurs have a great shot to pass the Rockets, Blazers, and Clippers over the last 40 games and secure a home playoff series after being forced to go on the road last year.