SAN ANTONIO — More and more the Toronto Raptors are the sexy new flavour in the National Basketball Association.
One poll on ESPN.com has them as the No.9 team in the NBA. Another has them No.7.
And there's no arguing with the fact that they're one of the hottest teams in the league.
Their 18-7 record since January 1st trails only Phoenix (22-5) and Dallas (22-2), and they're 24-9 record since Dec. 12th, when they were a season-worst seven games under .500, building up that record during a stretch that included injuries to Chris Bosh, T.J. Ford, Jose Calderon and Jorge Garbajosa.
Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh, right, looks to pass against Charlotte Bobcats forward Walter Herrmann during the second half of an NBA basketball game at Charlotte Bobcats Arena in Charlotte, N.C., on Saturday. (Nell Redmond/AP)
They might be for real.
But there's nothing like a trip to San Antonio to examine what's real and what's not.
The Spurs might not have the best record in the NBA, but at 38-18, they're pretty good. And they've been pretty good to excellent forever, it seems.
Why? Not that complicated. Tim Duncan was drafted in 1997 and the Spurs have never lost more than 29 games in a season since, winning three NBA titles along they way.
The same ESPN.com polls that have the Raptors 9th and 7th; have the Spurs 1st and 3rd, respectively.
How do they do what they do? Not that complicated either.
"The Spurs make defense a priority," said Raptors centre Rasho Nesterovic, who played three seasons in San Antonio and won a championship in 2005. "It's a good philosophy. If you have bad nights and you can't make shots, you can still win if you're defending. Sooner or later you're going to get some fast break points and it will open up to you."
The Spurs are doing it again this season. They lead the NBA in points allowed, at 90.55, and rank fourth in opponent's field goal percentage at 44.3 per cent.
Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell is hopeful that his team's willingness to pass the ball will off-set some of the Spurs essential advantage.
"Most defenses take advantage of team's being selfish basketball," said Mitchell. "If you don't move the ball, you play right into their hands. You have to move the basketball. You have to play unselfishly against good defensive teams, because what they prey on is guys wanting to catch, hold and dribble and what they do is keep you on one side of the floor."
But the Spurs have another advantage that most teams don't. With a deep and experience frontcourt rotation, they may not have to automatically double team Bosh, which eliminates what is often the start of the Raptors ball moving ways: a pass from Bosh out of the double-team which begins the process of swing the ball ahead of the other team's defensive rotations.
The onus, then, may fall on Bosh. "If they're going to play you're best player straight up, he's got to make it a tough night for somebody," said Mitchell.
At least Bosh and his teammates will have fresh legs. Mitchell gave his team the day off Sunday after playing (and winning) back-to-back games against Indiana and Charlotte.
He made up his mind when Nesterovic — one of the team's quiet leaders — called Mitchell early Sunday morning, after the team arrived in San Antonio and lobbied for a day off, citing the team's general fatigue.
"Rasho and I know each other well, he can say stuff to me, he knows that," said Mitchell. "[He] practises hard and he plays hard. He's not going to ask for a day off just to con me. If [he] asks for a day, they really need one."
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