San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich has led some of the best defensive teams in the history of the NBA. He knows how to build a dominant defensive ground and win titles in that mold.
With Pop now in his 23rd season as the Spurs’ head coach, he’s not feeling the increase in scoring we’ve seen thus far during the 2018-19 campaign.
Pop on the increased scoring league wide: “When the score got up to 130, I thought I was going to have to be taken to the emergency room.”
Pop says the Spurs may not get back to where they’ve traditionally been defensively, but they will get better with time.
— Paul Garcia (@PaulGarciaNBA) October 24, 2018
Indeed, Popovich’s Spurs outlasted LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in overtime Monday night, 143-142. It was the most points his Spurs have both given up and scored in his near quarter-century on the bench.
League-wide, we’re seeing a dramatic increase in scoring around the Association. NBA teams are averaging a whopping 113.4 points per game. It’s the highest average we’ve seen in the Association in nearly a quarter century.
For their part, the Spurs rank fifth in the NBA in scoring at 121 points per game and are yielding the fourth-most points at nearly 124 per outing.
For the sake of Pop’s health, both mentally and physically, we’re hoping this trend changes for San Antonio moving forward. But we wouldn’t bank on it.