I don\u2019t know if you\u2019ve heard, but the Spurs are on their second 11-game win streak right now.<\/p>\n
After leaving a Kawhi Leonard-shaped crater behind them in Los Angeles, without the aid of the Monstar that is Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs should enter this one with peak confidence.<\/p>\n
It almost feels like a lack of exaggeration to say the silver-and-black have been so in lockstep over the last several games that it\u2019s hard to point out who (if anyone) can end this streak.<\/p>\n
The Nuggets are on that *very* short list, though, with most of their top contributors back on the court for this match-up.<\/p>\n
When healthy, Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon pose particular problems for the Spurs, with Gordon exploiting the Spurs\u2019 weakness at Power Forward, and Jokic\u2019s passing negating some of Wemby\u2019s otherwise smothering presence in the paint.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d also be remiss to leave out the ever-levitating Jamal Murray, who serves as one of the best challenges to the usually stellar defense of San Antonio\u2019s guards.<\/p>\n
Difficult enough to guard on an average day, you never know when Murray is going to summon the golden touch and completely wreck a lead, or San Antonio\u2019s entire game plan. Almost every player, given enough time, will go on a hot streak that surpasses even the loftiest expectations, but Murray is in his own category in that respect, to the extent that it would have turned even Kobe Bryant\u2019s head.<\/p>\n
If I\u2019m being honest, it reminds me of the way that Manu Ginobili would get hot back in his prime. And that\u2019s as high a compliment as I can give.<\/p>\n
That being said, the Spurs are in an interesting state of mind (and health), with the team seemingly getting stronger the longer that the streak goes on.<\/p>\n
Wemby\u2019s been tossing out 40-point games with the ease of a longtime paper boy running his route for the 1000th time. Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper are burning up the rims from long-distance, each easily shooting 40%+ outside of the arc (with Harper shooting 50%) over the last 10 games. All of the important players are off the injury report.<\/p>\n