All signs point to the Spurs being the NBA’s best team with growing pains

Remember when people thought the Oklahoma City Thunder would be the team to break the NBA's win record? It's pretty hilarious to look back on. What is even funnier is that not only would the Thunder not be doing it this year, but they won't even be the team to do it.

The Spurs will be the first team to break 73 wins. Yes, that's a very bold claim.

Obviously, it won't be happening this year, but what if I told you it could have been done very easily? One stat in particular shows that the Spurs very well could have been on pace for a record-breaking season.

The Spurs have let several wins slip away

If 52 wins weren't impressive enough, this stat should be. The Spurs have led by double digits in 13 of their 18 losses. As they have led by double digits in 72% of games, according to NBA.com’s John Schuhmann, that’s the highest rate for any team in the 30 seasons of play-by-play data.

While some may see this as a negative, I see this as an absolute positive. To translate, San Antonio could have had 13 more wins on the season had disaster not struck.

Doing the math, if the Spurs held onto their leads, they would be an absurd 65-5. That's hard to wrap your head around. It's mind-blowing to think that the Spurs could have this record.

The Spurs' youthfulness has led to blown leads

The biggest knock on the Spurs has been their youth. As we look ahead to the playoffs, many people love to bash them for their lack of experience. And frankly, they are right. This team is too young to be succeeding the way they are, and it shows.

The biggest cause for their several blown leads is their lack of experience. In many of these games, the Spurs had struggled to close out because they didn't have enough reps in clutch situations. Their abundance of winning has actually hurt their ability to come away with close victories.

They have blown out so many teams that they aren't getting the experience they need. Additionally, the Spurs may let leads get away by getting too comfortable.

As young athletes, it is easy to get ahead of yourself and let your ego run the show. In the NBA, it's hard to get away with that. Opposing teams will sense that and instantly attack it.

Hopefully, these issues won't pop up in the postseason. If anything, it may take a few years to hammer out these problems, but when they do, the NBA needs to be ready. This Spurs team is ready to take over the league, and this season was just the start.