SAN ANTONIO — In NBA history, no team has a better win percentage at home than San Antonio, which is at .746 all-time.
“I think it speaks to the culture they’ve created, the players they have here, the talent and obviously one of the best pro coaches in any sport in the history of sports in Gregg Popovich,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “Thatap what I credit their having the best home court record ever in the NBA.”
In some ways the Nuggets are getting a heat check Thursday night, a litmus test to see just how well they’re playing. The offensive numbers during their current three-game winning streak jump off the page – 130.7 points, 57.5 field goal percentage, a 41.2 3-point field goal percentage. But the last time the Nuggets didn’t top 100? That was Jan. 5 when the Spurs held them to 99 in a 28-point home loss.
So the Nuggets will test their new, higher octane offense out against the Spurs, one of only three teams in the NBA that is holding opponents under 100 points per game.
Getting pace into the game is must for the Nuggets.
“They’re going to slow the game down,” guard said. “They take a lot of low-second shot clock stuff. So, I think the main thing is we’ve got to convert and we’ve got to speed them up. We can’t play slow. We need to do what we do and make it a high scoring game for us, and at the same time try to slow them down.”
Thatap easier said than done.
The Spurs are one of only a few teams that can play a high-tempo game on offense and yet still find a way to stop teams defensively. Thatap no small feat in an NBA this season where scoring is at an all-time high and teams are adept at stretching defenses to their breaking points.
“I joked with our coaches this morning, San Antonio is like a coach’s dream; top four offensive efficiency, top four defensive efficiency,” Malone said. “You’re getting it at a high level on both ends of the floor. And thatap why they’re a championship caliber team every year.”
Itap a lesson Malone wants his Nuggets to learn.
“Anytime you play against a team like the Spurs, they may not have the greatest talent in the NBA – for a while they did. But what they do have is probably the greatest teamwork in the NBA on both ends of the floor,” he said. “So, I think there’s a lot to be learned and taken from these guys.”
The Nuggets will not have (ankle), (personal) or (knee) available.
“We said to beat this team you have to play Spurs basketball,” Malone said. “Offensively we’ve been doing that. Now the challenge is can we become a team in the immediate future and go from being a below average to an average defensive team; and then from an average defensive team to an elite defensive team? If we do that, thatap when it gets scary. What is our limit, what is our potential?”
