Rumors of a weakened Western Conference were premature but the Spurs are built for a fight

We were told that the Western Conference would be weaker. Hell, I thought the Western Conference would be weaker. The East was getting all of the hype heading into the season, and look how things have turned out thus far. It's not what most of us expected.

Ten of the West's 15 teams are above .500, compared with five in the East. The Lakers are 11-2 and sit above the Spurs, and Houston is right on San Antonio's heels at 9-3. A team at 8-3 is sitting fifth in the West; Memphis is 7-4 and that's ninth. It's absurd how good this conference is again.

The damn Nuggets are 6-4 and sitting 10th. That's supposed to be a better team with Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray leading the way. Even if we expected them to take a step back, I don't know if anyone believed they'd fall over.

The advanced stats back up the Western Conference's dominance

Go ahead and check out those NBA.com stats. Eight of the top 10 teams in offensive rating are from the West, led by the Lakers and the Silver and Black. Six of the top 10 in defensive rating are Western teams as well, and Minnesota is first in the league in that department.

There are a few more East teams up there on defense than offense, but the West's average net rating is plus-1.9 and the other side's is minus-2.0.

The Spurs are built to survive the West's gauntlet

San Antonio is ready to do battle with all of them (someone cue the Jon Snow Battle of the Bastards gif). They have the talent, and the depth is there, even if they aren't using it to its fullest capability right now. Tobias Harris' eventual return will help with that at least some.

Remember when I mentioned that six of the top ten teams in defensive rating came from the West? Well, the Spurs are one of them, and they have the third-best net rating behind only Boston and Minnesota. Their only two losses came against Oklahoma City and Houston, when they were still getting their bearings together.

Their schedule has been pretty weak lately, but that's why they've been mostly blowing teams' doors off. They've beaten Utah twice and Sacramento twice, and those teams are a combined 2-21. That won't be the case forever, and it's about to change quickly.

Golden State was supposed to be the first real challenge, but Stephen Curry will be out for the next month. The Warriors are still dangerous, just not nearly as much. But the Spurs still face Detroit, the Lakers, and Boston before the month is out. By the time they get through the tougher part of the schedule, they'll be operating much closer to "well-oiled machine" level.

I expect them to survive it and finish the year at the top of the conference with over 65 wins if health allows, but it's not going to be easy. The West is the cream of the crop again. All in all, it will sharpen them for another playoff run. So, bring it on.

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