The Spurs are (quite possibly) back

The San Antonio Spurs are finally starting to find their feet this season, having won 8 of their last 10 matches and reminding us there still might be life, and maybe even yet another championship run, left in those old, wily Texan legs.
The Spurs this week have back to back games in Florida against Miami and Orlando which will give us a great idea as to whether the Spurs are really indeed back to their championship calibre best, or rather just beating up on the extremely poor opponents their schedule has bestowed upon them of late.

The Spurs are playing their best basketball all year, with their line-up, despite being without '07 finals MVP Tony Parker, finally starting to have a discernible structure about it. Over that eight game span they've lost only to divisional rival Houston and the NBA's best, Cleveland, both road games, and by just 5 and 2 points respectively. During that same span they've conceded 100 just twice, while in the other 8 games they've had a defense that has averaged giving up just over 90. In other words we're talking about the way the Spurs used to go about defense. This season they've been giving up a very un-San Antonio like 101 points per game.

So what else has changed? Well for starters impressive second year guard George Hill has had more minutes as a result of Parker's injury and the young second round pick has relished his increased responsibilities. His numbers in every category have increased over the last month or so. Richard Jefferson's another who has improved of late. The $14 million a year off season acquisition has been much maligned all season however he's also stepped up his game after returning to the starting line up in recent weeks and has topped the Spurs rebounding no less than 4 times in the past 5 games, a feat the former Net hadn't accomplished all season. Even the forgotten Matt Bonner has returned, popping up to top score 21 points while Tim Duncan was able to get some always appreciated bench time in the Spurs most recent rout of the Clippers.

Whether the Spurs most recent form is a a product of sheer coincidence thanks to its recent schedule of a product of a tailored campaign designed to start hitting its peak right now, just one month out from the playoffs, will become a little clearer by week's end. At present the Spurs have just an inkling of that champion look about them, which first and foremost is recognised by its stingy defense and rebounding (now ranked 3rd in the league), pillars which for Popovich's teams have always ensured the Spurs are a threat come the playoffs.