Two weeks ago, the San Antonio Spurs were 8-2, looking like one of the top three teams in the Western Conference. Now, they are 10-4, with three of their main guys sidelined due to injuries, and a stretch that can make the difference between a successful and an unsuccessful season. In the crowded Western Conference, one bad stretch of games can be the difference between homecourt in the first round and fighting for a play-in spot. Nobody wins a title in November and December, but the Spurs will be without three players for the next two weeks. If they manage to stay afloat, their chances for a high playoff spot remain.
The Spurs will have to manage for a while without Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper, and Victor Wembanyama. Out of those three, Castle might come back first. He is out with a left hip flexor strain and will be re-evaluated in one to two weeks.
Wemby is out with a calf strain, and he is expected to miss at least two weeks. However, because calf injuries can often result in something more serious, the Spurs might be cautious with their franchise center. Harper has been out for a while with a calf injury as well. His timetable for return is still unknown. The rookie has been out since November 2.
More: Wembanyama's calf injury: How it should be treated, why Spurs should be extra careful
Looking at the upcoming schedule for the Spurs, they have eight games against teams fighting for a playoff spot or already in the playoffs. Only two of those teams have a below-50% record, and five are direct competitors in the Western Conference.
To make matters worse, they have a brutal four-game road trip that includes stops in Phoenix, Portland, Denver, and Minnesota. Right after that, they have a home-and-away back-to-back against the Memphis Grizzlies, followed by a road game in Orlando. They finish off the eight-game stretch with a game in Cleveland against the Cavaliers.
By then, the Spurs should be healthy and fully complete. Right now, they are 10-4. After eight games, they could very well be 12-12, falling in the standings to ninth or tenth. It is hard to imagine them falling below the Utah Jazz, but they could slide down below the Golden State Warriors or the Phoenix Suns.
The good news is that after the brutal stretch, they have four relatively easy games: two against the New Orleans Pelicans, one against the Washington Wizards, and one on the road against the Atlanta Hawks.
The Spurs traded for De’Aaron Fox, hoping he would be the co-star Wembanyama needs to reach his full potential. But since the trade last February, the two haven’t played much together. Fox now enters a stretch where he will be the main guy on the team, and he should prove his worth to the organization. Carrying the Spurs through the stretch with the young guys sidelined could silence all those rumors that the Spurs are better off trading him and building around Wemby, Castle, and Harper. So far, so good for Fox. In the first game, he carried the team past the Grizzlies with 26 points.
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