Marilyn Dubinski: On one hand, for 40 out of 48 minutes per game they look much more like the decent, middle-of-the-league team the advanced stats say they are. They have a good enough defense to back up their passable offense and keep them either in games against superior opponents or out ahead of inferior ones. But on the other, those key minutes when they look more like the 26th best team in the league is when it matters the most: the fourth quarter and crunch time. If they can’t figure out how to close games as a team (since they don’t have a true closer), the standings won’t catch up to the ratings.
The Spurs might be better than their record suggests
