Harrison Barnes' shocking Spurs turnaround needs to be studied

It wasn't so long ago that many San Antonio Spurs fans, myself included, were ready to write off forward Harrison Barnes as being washed. Our bad. Since being benched for the first time in a decade, Barnes has been shooting lights out, drilling 43.5% from three on 4.4 attempts over the last 13 games.

That is eerily similar to the shooting numbers he was putting up last season when he proved that he was far more than a salary dump from the Sacramento Kings. With Barnes back to shooting lights out from outside, San Antonio has been red hot.

They are 12-2 during his hot stretch, with him seemingly taking to coming off the bench well. That is a welcome sight and makes the team's decision not to trade for a power forward far more justifiable.

Harrison Barnes is thriving in his new role on the Spurs

Spurs coach Mitch Johnson still made the right call by having Julian Champagnie start over Barnes and now has two great options at power forward. Champagnie is the better defender of the two and a far better rebounder.

That is helpful because it keeps the Spurs from getting beaten up on the offensive glass. Having Champagnie play well on both ends made the move to bench Barnes a no-brainer. Even with Barnes playing well again, "Mr. 100%" should continue to come off the bench.

His minutes have decreased steadily with him playing with the second unit. He's gone from playing around 29 minutes per game to averaging just 20.3 minutes off the bench. That might not seem like a huge difference in terms of playing time.

However, Barnes is 33 years old and has 14 years of NBA experience. He has also played more than 350 straight games. That is a lot of wear and tear on his body. Playing fewer minutes and having had eight days off thanks to the NBA All-Star break will hopefully help Barnes continue his resurgence.

The Spurs will need his shooting when the game slows down and becomes more physical in the playoffs. After all, he has the most playoff experience of any player on this team. As a result, he may be relied upon more, and if he continues to play like he has of late, then San Antonio will remain firing on all cylinders.