San Antonio Spurs: Which top seed does SA match up with best?

As the San Antonio Spurs prepare for the playoffs for their 22nd straight season, which top seed should they hope to play against?

For the 22 straight season, the San Antonio Spurs have consistently qualified for the playoffs in the NBA. Good enough to tie the Syracuse Nationals/Philadelphia 76ers for the longest streak of all-time in history (per Yahoo!).

The Spurs defied almost all odds this season, as many expected San Antonio’s 21-year playoff streak to end. After all, let’s remember that the Spurs lost Kawhi Leonard (via trade) during the summer, Tony Parker during free agency and Manu Ginobili to retirement.

Everything pointed to the Spurs missing the playoffs. And after receiving pennies on the dollar (with all due respect to DeMar DeRozan) in exchange for Kawhi, it seemed like the most likely scenario.

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However, with roughly a week and a half left in the NBA’s regular season, the Spurs have clinched the playoffs once again and a starring down a first-round playoff matchup against the Golden State Warriors or Denver Nuggets, with an outside chance with sneaking up to the 5th or 6th seed.

With the playoffs quickly approaching, which higher seed should the Spurs be looking forward to face off against more? Well, before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s just make the ground rule that the Warriors should not be that team.

Despite them not playing at their best this season, the Warriors simply have too much firepower for the Spurs. The Spurs own a top 10 offense, but their defense has been a weak point in their overall game. That’s not something you want to have if you’re going to like your chances against the Warriors.

Golden State, if nothing else, is the best scoring team in the NBA. They might not play much defense, but they can play the scoreboard. Therefore, if any team is going to beat the Warriors this season, it’s going to be a team that can excel on both ends of the floor. Not just one.

Cross the Warriors off the list of teams the Spurs should look forward to facing.

Which then leaves the Nuggets, Portland Trail Blazers or Houston Rockets. While the Spurs have historically given the Rockets issues in the past, and most recently beat Houston two years ago in the Western Conference Semifinals. Though, James Harden and Chris Paul‘s star power would likely be too much for even the well-coached Spurs to overcome.

The Trail Blazers are the first team that I firmly believe the Spurs could give issues. Portland has a top 10 offense, like the Spurs, but have an almost equally flawed defensive unit. And you could probably give the hat tip to Gregg Popovich over Terry Stotts in a head coaching matchup.

Plus, if any coach is going to figure out the Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum puzzle, it will be the Spurs. Plus, let’s not forget that C.J. McCollum is still sidelined with an injury and if there’s even an outside chance that he isn’t 100 percent, it gets even more interesting.

As for the Nuggets, they pose another interesting opportunity for San Antonio. The Spurs have played the Nuggets three times this season, and are 2-1 in such games. They also don’t have the star power that some of the other top teams in the West do. The same could be said about their playoff experience.

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A Nuggets-Spurs first-round playoff matchup could set the stage for potentially one of the biggest on-paper upsets in recent playoff history. As the Spurs prepare for another playoff run, matching up against the Blazers or Nuggets likely gives them the best chance at pulling off an upset.

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