San Antonio Spurs: Previewing upcoming road trip

After playing eight of their last 10 games at home and winning nine of them, the San Antonio Spurs head out on the road again for a three-game trip.

The San Antonio Spurs’ home-road splits have been more stark than any team in the league this season (29-8 at home, 13-22 on the road), and we’ve seen a perfect example of that phenomenon over the past two months.

The Spurs struggled mightily on their annual Rodeo Road Trip during the month of February where they went 1-7 and slipped to the bottom of the Western Conference playoff picture.

San Antonio returned home and instantly became the hottest team in the NBA during the month of March where they won nine games in a row including victories over Detroit, Denver, Oklahoma City, Milwaukee, Portland, and Golden State before Miami snapped the winning streak at home on Wednesday night.

Gregg Popovich’s squad got as high as the fifth spot in the Western Conference standings during that winning streak giving them a chance to get home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

The Spurs are now scheduled to head out on their first road trip since the month of February, and they will face some pretty stiff competition during this three-game stint.

Let’s take a look at San Antonio’s chances in all three games to see if they can improve their playoff positioning.

Next: Houston Rockets

Houston Rockets

The San Antonio Spurs begin their three-game road trip by traveling to Houston to take on their Southwest Division rival.

The Rockets may be a bit tired coming into this game after playing a back-to-back in Atlanta and Memphis on Tuesday and Wednesday with their game against the Grizzlies going into overtime after a furious fourth quarter comeback from Houston sent the game to OT.

James Harden‘s 57 points weren’t enough to pick up a victory in Memphis, and he’s got to be worn out after carrying such a large offensive load all season long.

The Spurs head into this matchup three games behind the Rockets in the Western Conference standings and 2.5 games behind Portland for the coveted four seed.

Houston is 2-1 against San Antonio this season, but these two teams haven’t played each other since December 22nd and each squad has undergone major changes since that matchup.

The Rockets are currently six-point favorites, but the Spurs’ rest advantage gives them a chance to pull off an upset on Friday night.

Next: Boston Celtics

Boston Celtics

The Spurs’ next stop on this three-game trip will be in Boston on Sunday night as they face the Celtics for the first time since New Year’s Eve.

San Antonio picked up a 120-111 victory at the AT&T Center that night as LaMarcus Aldridge led the way with 32 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists, and Derrick White provided 22 points in one of his breakout games.

The Spurs had a tough time defending Jaylen Brown as he dropped 30 points, but they were able to hold each member of the Celtics’ starting lineup to under 20 points that night.

The Celtics hasn’t been playing great basketball of late losing three of their last five games, and this matchup in Boston comes on the second night of a back-to-back for the Celtics after playing in Charlotte on Saturday night.

This will be another game where the Spurs should be more rested than their opponent, which should help their chances of picking up a crucial road win in Boston.

Next: Charlotte Hornets

Charlotte Hornets

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San Antonio’s final game of this road trip will be in Charlotte as they take on Tony Parker and the Hornets.

The first meeting between these two teams was an extremely emotional night as it was Parker’s first time playing in San Antonio as an opponent, and former Spurs assistant coach James Borrego also wanted to pick up a victory against his former team.

TP was obviously motivated to stick it to his former team, and he sparked the Hornets with 8 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds as Charlotte beat the Spurs handily at the AT&T Center.

San Antonio didn’t have much of an answer for Kemba Walker in that game as he dropped 33 points. Derrick White will need to play his best basketball on the defensive end of the floor if the Spurs hope to close out this road trip with a victory.

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Hopefully the Hornets will be out of playoff contention by next Tuesday so the Spurs will have a motivational advantage in this matchup.