On Thursday the NBA launched the schedule for the 2024-25 season. It gave basketball junkies their repair as they undergo the schedule, estimating wins and losses. San Antonio Spurs followers bought an opportunity to see how powerful the schedule can be for a group with greater expectations than final season.
San Antonio heads into the yr with a extra aggressive roster after including veterans Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes, and top-5 decide, Stephon Fortress. Draft Kings has set the Spurs’ win complete for subsequent yr at 35.5, which might probably go away them on the surface trying in of the Play-In Match. They’ll be examined early and infrequently this season, as Optimistic Residual estimates San Antonio has the sixth hardest schedule within the league.
Let’s check out a number of the key stretches and video games within the 2024-25 schedule.
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An necessary first 10 video games
The Spurs have an attention-grabbing begin to the season that would put them able to start out the season above .500. They’ll play the Western Convention Champion Dallas Mavericks on TNT, one in every of their 21 nationally televised video games, within the opener. They’ll go on the highway to Oklahoma Metropolis, Utah, Los Angeles to play the Clippers and Houston. San Antonio will host the Rockets twice, the Timberwolves, Jazz and Path Blazers within the first ten video games.
Dallas, OKC and Minnesota are three of the very best groups within the West. The remainder of the schedule included winnable video games for San Antonio. The Clippers are a thriller and Kawhi Leonard is a query mark to play early within the season. Three matchups with Portland and Utah give them an opportunity to pad the win complete early. The most important query is how they fare in opposition to the quickly enhancing Rockets. This rivalry has gained some steam within the final yr or so, with the addition of Victor Wembanyama to the Spurs, and Dillon Brooks and Fred VanVleet to the Rockets. Houston often is the group standing between the Spurs and an above-.500 begin to the season.
Hitting the highway
A lot can be made about San Antonio’s 4 “impartial website” video games this yr. On January twenty third and twenty fifth, the Spurs will face the Indiana Pacers in Paris, France. Then only a month later, they’ll play the Phoenix Suns and Detroit Pistons on the Moody Middle in Austin, Texas.
Wembanyama’s return to France in a Spurs jersey can be one of many highlights of the NBA season. Aside from the worldwide journey, the Spurs ought to have the benefit of a complete nation rooting on the participant that simply introduced them an Olympic silver medal. Whereas his position is unclear proper now, Sidy Cissoko may even be making a return to his residence nation.
The Austin video games have been hotly debated by Spurs followers, however they arrive at a reasonably opportune time within the 24-25 season. The Silver and Black would be the residence group for 2 video games to separate up their rodeo highway journey. It’ll be 12 video games away from San Antonio, however the two video games in Austin ought to be shut sufficient to residence that they really feel like a reprieve from the grueling highway stretch that lasts primarily the complete month of February.
A tricky final leg
San Antonio may have its work minimize out for them in the event that they need to attain the Play-In Match. The final 10 video games of the season are brutal, with 7 of them approaching the highway. There can be reprieves in opposition to Detroit, Portland and Toronto, however the different opponents are powerful. The Spurs will play Boston, Golden State twice, Cleveland twice, Denver, Phoenix and the Clippers. Los Angeles is a little bit of a wild card, however the different groups will probably issue within the playoff race someway.
Within the final two years, San Antonio has been utterly out of the playoff image within the remaining stretch of the season. If the Spurs are certainly contenders for a playoff spot, they’ll probably must steal a number of video games in opposition to powerful opponents to assist their standing within the West late within the season.
Matchups to observe
A number of notable video games that I’m trying ahead to incorporate:
October thirtieth in Oklahoma Metropolis: Wemby vs. Chet Holmgren is all the time a enjoyable matchup. Will CP3 and Barnes assist them compete in opposition to the very best within the West?
NBA Cup sport, November fifteenth vs. the Lakers: San Antonio hosts the defending NBA Cup champs in what might be a tone-setting sport for the In Season Match.
December twenty fifth in New York: Wembanyama has an opportunity to redeem himself at Madison Sq. Backyard on Christmas. This can be a must-watch sport.
January eighth in Milwaukee: Giannis Antetokounmpo and Wembanyama is a kaiju matchup that rivals Godzilla and King Kong. I can’t wait to observe these two compete for the years to return.
February fifth in Atlanta: It’s by no means too early to consider these 2025 picks. Beating the Hawks means a greater decide in a stacked 2025 NBA Draft.
March tenth and twelfth vs. the Mavericks: If the Spurs are competing for the Playoffs, this homestand in opposition to the Mavs ought to have a number of pleasure. These can be significant video games late within the season in opposition to an in-state rival.
Some analytics
Listed below are some attention-grabbing particulars to recollect for the 24-25 schedule:
San Antonio may have a relaxation benefit in 11 video games subsequent yr, fifth most within the NBA. Which means they’ll have extra relaxation than one other group going into over an eighth of their video games. The Spurs may have 9 relaxation drawback video games, the place groups have extra relaxation than them.
The Spurs will play 15 back-to-back video games this season, second most within the league.
San Antonio will journey 43,497 miles this yr domestically. This doesn’t account for video games in Paris.
What do you suppose? Primarily based on the schedule, will the Spurs go over or beneath their projected 35.5 win complete? Is a Playoff berth within the playing cards this season?
