Spurs are passing NBA's brutal test with flying colors and relief will be brief

The Spurs have earned every bit of the praise they've been receiving since they took down OKC twice in a row and three times in the span of 12 days. They've been the best team in the league for the past month, beating some of the most elite the NBA has to offer, whether they've been shorthanded or not. Not to mention, San Antonio has traveled more than Odysseus over the last month-plus.

They've had plenty of excuses to lose games this season but have yet to feel sorry for themselves when someone goes down with an injury. This group shows up, expecting to win every night, and they exude that sort of confidence. It's working for them, and they need it when they're forced to deal with the constant travel that this post described weeks ago.

Since December 13, when this post was written, the Spurs have played six more games. Only two of them were at the Frost Bank Center. SA played a heavy home-based schedule to start the season, and now the other shoe has dropped, but the way they've cleaned up, it's like that shoe fell perfectly onto a waiting foot, fitting as snugly as Cinderella's glass slipper.

The Spurs have handled their adversity like a veteran team

The early experience dealing with a nagging injury bug and a brutal schedule will pay off as the season wanes, because it's not stopping now. San Antonio gets to play their next three games at home, but then it's right back on the road for another travel-heavy month in January.

They'll play nine games away from Alamo City and only six back at the crib. To make matters worse, the Silver and Black play four back-to-backs in January as well. It'll be another tough month, but their depth has been their strength, and they'll need to lean on that more than ever.

Fortunately, this is an incredibly selfless team with steady leadership that understands the benefits of reaching deep into your bench during a long season. Mitch Johnson has been a master orchestrator of the game from the sidelines, and it's been a joy to watch him work. He has great command of the team, and the young coach knows when to pull different levers to get the most out of his guys.

Nothing has come easy for the Spurs. They're about to go into another game without one of their stars, and it's just par for the course. They've dealt with one thing or another since the first basketball was tipped off in October. It's yet to slow them down. I doubt that changes.