The Spurs will get a bit of a scheduling break after the NBA cancelled the first two weeks of games through Nov. 14 because of the extension of the lockout.
Here’s a look at the games the Spurs will miss:
Nov. 2 – Milwaukee
Nov. 4 – Dallas
Nov. 7 – at Golden State
Nov. 9 – at Los Angeles Lakers
Nov. 10 – at Portland
Nov. 12 – New Orleans
On the surface, it appears that missing those six particular games won’t hurt the team. San Antonio will skip contests with four teams that made the playoffs, including a tough back-to-back that would have featured games at the Lakers and Portland on consecutive nights. That game would have been followed by a home game against improving New Orleans two nights later.
San Antonio’s six opponents had a combined record of 279-213 last season for a combined winning percentage of .567.
Spurs Nation will miss out on a chance to jeer Mark Cuban and Jason Terry during their first trip to the city after their championship banner would have been raised at the start of the season. I would imagine they will save up their catcalls for whenever their first scheduled trip to the city by the Mavericks finally materializes.
Of course, there’s no indication how many games the team will be actually miss. The first six were announced Monday night were only a start and many more could be coming.
The Spurs thrived with a veteran team during the 1999 season that was abbreviated by a similar lockout, posting a 37-13 record and eventually claiming their first NBA title.
Considering the veteran core for their current team, missing a few games at the start shouldn’t necessarily a problem for them.
When he saw the games that he would be missing, I wonder if Gregg Popovich secretly might have felt a little relieved.