Last year the San Antonio Spurs had the best record in the Western conference and looked unbeatable till they met the Thunder in Western Conference Finals. In that series they just looked old and maybe out of time to capture another NBA title. But you can never count out their experience and if the team stays healthy they may have enough to juice left for one last championship try.
San Antonio will return with very little changes and will basically be trotting out the same starting five as last season. The team is hoping that Kawhi Leonard develops into a star and potentially the heir apparent to Duncan as the face of the franchise.
The team has started to make the move to a younger squad and the new basketball video game NBA 2K13 has the younger Spurs going through some growing pains and finishing with a worst record than last season. The team had the best record in the 2011-12 season but NBA 2K13 is predicting that they will be the sixth seed this year. According to the game, the suprising Golden State Warriors will defeat the Spurs in six games in the opening round of the playoffs.
The game does however predict that Duncan will decide to play for another year at the end of this season. But longtime coach Greg Popovich will call it a career and the Spurs will be looking for his replacement next year.
Here is how the game simulates the Spurs' season:
Regular Season Record: 48-34 fifth seed in the Western Conference
Top scorers: PF Dejuan Blair 13.2 PPG, C Tim Duncan 16.1 PPG, PG Tony Parker 20.8 PPG
Leading rebounders: SG Manu Ginobili 5 RPG, C Tim Duncan 9.2 RPG, PF Dejuan 9.6 RPG
Assist Leader: SG Manu Ginobli 4.0 APG, SF Stephen Jackson 4.5 APG, PG Tony Parker 5.7 APG
Playoff Opponents
Round 1: Golden State Warriors, The Warriors win the series 4-2
Round 2: Did not qualify
Eastern Conference Finals: Did not qualify
NBA Finals: Did not qualify
You can check out our review of the game here and read about Jeremy Lin's player rating here.
Check out our other NBA 2K13 team previews:
Miami Heat
Oklahoma City Thunder
San Antonio Spurs
Boston Celtics
Los Angeles Lakers
Philadelphia 76ers
New York Knicks
Brooklyn Nets
Chicago Bulls
Los Angeles Clippers
Minnesota Timberwolves
Portland Trail Blazers
Cleveland Cavaliers