After the Spurs’ dwelling win over the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder on December 23, Spurs’ radio announcer Dan Weiss launched this outstanding stat on X:
This commentary acquired me considering {that a} seven-game successful streak with a unique main scorer in every sport has in all probability by no means been completed earlier than. Most groups which are adequate to win seven in a row have two or three stars that take many of the photographs and rating many of the factors every sport. Even for groups that share the ball greater than star-centered offenses, the chances of this explicit streak taking place may be very small.
One cause for this streak: Victor is fortunately coming off the bench in order to to not disrupt the staff’s run. One more reason is one thing I discussed earlier than: former starter Keldon Johnson embracing his sixth-man function. In very associated information, the Spurs have eight gamers averaging double figures. So that you don’t must look it up, the eighth Spur averaging double figures up to now this season, aside from the seven listed above, is Julian Champagnie, who’s averaging 10 PPG.
As my Knicks fan Marc identified, the Spurs’ “successful streak” included a loss to the Knicks within the Cup Closing. But when the NBA is just not going to depend that as a daily season loss, neither am I. Together with the Knicks sport would additionally imply I couldn’t have written this submit.
Two info — seven completely different gamers main the staff in scoring, all wins, and the eight gamers averaging double figures — led to me to search for one other staff with an analogous sharing model to see if this very cool streak occurred earlier than. Fully at random, I selected the Stunning Recreation 2013-14 Spurs and took a have a look at the historical past books. That staff had six gamers common over 10 factors per sport, and two others, DannyGreen! and Boris Diaw, averaged 9. (See in case you can guess the six who averaged 10 plus for the Stunning Recreation Spurs. Time’s up. You in all probability acquired Tony Parker, the Nice Duncan, Kawhi Leonard and My Man Manu, you might need gotten Patty Mills, and anybody who acquired the sixth is a real Spurs fan: Marco Belinelli.) Parker led the staff in scoring, however averaged “solely” 16.7 PPG, a low determine for a staff’s main scorer.
Remarkably, that staff had eleven (!!) completely different gamers lead the staff in scoring in some unspecified time in the future through the common season. These eleven gamers have been the eight talked about above, plus Tiago Splitter, Corey Joseph and … Austin Daye. However did that staff match this staff’s seven-game successful streak with seven completely different main scorers?
The 2013-14 Spurs had two separate streaks with 5 completely different gamers main the staff in scoring. First, a Manu, Parker, Belinelli, Splitter, Duncan run in early January, however the staff went solely 4-1. In March, the staff had one other 5 sport streak with main scorers Mills, Inexperienced, Manu, Parker and Belinelli, and the staff received all 5 video games. However the staff by no means had a six-game streak, not to mention seven in a row like the current Spurs. If that supremely balanced staff, which ended the season with a 62 -20 document with a 19-game successful streak from late February to early April, together with an unbeaten month in March (16-0), didn’t do what this Spurs staff simply completed, I’m now much more satisfied that no different staff has executed so both.
Again to the current, the Spurs wanted Champagnie, or probably Luke Kornet, to guide the staff in scoring on Christmas Day to stretch the streak to eight video games. Sadly, Champagnie had a goose-egg and Kornet had simply 6 factors, far wanting Fox’s team-leading 29 factors.
In fact, the staff was in no way involved with their uncommon streak. As an alternative of lamenting the top of that streak, the Spurs’ third consecutive win over the defending champion Thunder had this close-knit staff dancing fortunately as in the event that they have been within the San Antonio model of a Charlie Brown Christmas particular.
