Losing to the Indiana Pacers, the Spurs only have nine games left before the end of the regular season. In nine games, except for one away game back-to-back, the remaining seven games were home games, which is better news for the Spurs.

Until now, the Spurs have not suffered any major injuries. Only Jack Butler sprained his knee during last week's confrontation training. It is very likely that he will not play until the playoffs begin. It is a big loss for the inside line, which is already insufficient, but no injuries do not mean that you can rest assured.[]

This season, the main players did not change much, but the game was not as reassuring as last season. Duncan and Ginobili were in better shape than last season. In addition to Stephen's suspension, the main reason was the decline in substitute players' state and lack of ability.

Needless to say, the problem of the inside is not mentioned, but on the outside, perhaps the motivation to play after winning the championship is gone, and perhaps dissatisfied with Stephen's large-scale use of the shooting rights. In short, Michael Finley's condition is obviously not as good as last season, but it is not as critical as it can be criticized.

Just like Nestrovitch last season, he did not show his greatest ability to play. Another possibility is that Michael Finley feels that his current salary is not worth playing so hard. Anyway, the championship ring has been on. He signed a three-year contract at the beginning, but after the second season, Michael Finley has the right to jump out of the contract, and he will definitely jump out of the contract and seek a larger or longer contract. Therefore, ** Vicky took Michael Finley's name without hesitation in the plan for next season.

**Vicci would rather use Brent Barry, who is not as capable as he is, because at least Brent Barry will do his best to show his abilities as long as he plays. Of course, Brent Barry also gets the fourth highest salary in the team, and it is a bit unreasonable if he doesn't perform.

Apart from Brent Barry, Bruce Bowen cannot be ignored. If Stephen cannot be left this season, then the Spurs' outside defense will need him to support him for at least one season, so he must do his best to comfort him and find a spare tire for Bruce Bowen. This is the most troublesome problem to Vicky.

The recruited Jacque Vaughan has far less role in the team than Van Exel, so Yudic has gotten many opportunities to play. However, as far as Stephen knows, Yudic has proposed a renewal negotiation to the team, but was rejected by the team.

On the one hand, the Spurs wanted to resolve Stephen's contract first and then decide how much contract to offer Yudic based on the salary space, but Yudic couldn't accept this. At the same time, since his data and playing time have improved greatly this season, his expectations for salary are higher than the Spurs' expectations.

The Spurs never offer contracts beyond the standard for role players, not to mention that Yudic still has one year of contract, because the Spurs have team options, not because he has player options. The Spurs really can't make it necessary to start contract renewal negotiations now. He is not an indispensable player for the team, but for a player, the contract is his lifelong reliance, so he naturally attaches great importance to it.

Although Stephen has made progress this season, due to the substitute player, **Vic felt that the Spurs' strength has actually declined. Last season, the Spurs could safely top the league. No matter which team goes, they have a home advantage, and this season will not work.

Because there were too many games lost in January and February, even if the Dallas Mavericks, which is now ranked No. 1 in the league, lose all the games behind the game, the Spurs won all the results, and the Phoenix Suns are likely, but who would pin his hopes on the Suns, who have performed well in one season, lose all the games, even if Nash, the Suns' engine, is seriously injured and unable to play, they will not lose all of them.

Therefore, the Spurs will definitely not be able to rise to the first or second position in the West. In order to avoid these two strong teams in the first round, the Spurs will definitely not deliberately slide to the seventh or eighth position. The positions that can be selected are naturally the four positions from third to sixth.

**Vicci doesn't want to give up his home court advantage, so he can choose only the third and fourth positions. Since the Dallas Mavericks are indeed the first in the Southwest Division, and the Phoenix Suns have firmly occupied the first place in the Pacific Division. According to the regulations that the first place in the division will automatically enter the top four, it depends on whether the Uta Jazz or the Denver Nuggets will win first in the Northwest Division.

Currently, the two teams lead the Nuggets' record, but they have not fully qualified to be the first in the division. The Jazz still have a chance. Moreover, the Nuggets have just recently lost a two-game losing streak, while the Jazz have won a two-game winning streak. Currently, the two teams are only one win away.

At this time, the Rockets had already surpassed the Nuggets, and they became the third in the West. If the Spurs did not lose this game against the Pacers, they would have surpassed the Nuggets in record, although according to the rules, the Spurs were still in the fifth position.

However, the two teams are still in the same record, and the Spurs are still ahead of them due to the problem of victory or loss. Any situation may happen with nine games left, but as long as there are no major problems, the Spurs' opponents in the first round of the playoffs should be among these teams.

Of course, there is another team behind them that is also chasing them, that is, the Los Angeles Lakers, and they also have the possibility of squeezing the Jazz, but other teams are basically impossible to jump to the top anymore, so what the Spurs have to consider now is who to choose as their opponent and whether they need to fight for home advantage.

As long as the opponent is not the Rockets, whether it is the Nuggets or the Jazz, the Spurs have a lot of experience in playing, especially the Jazz. They have never performed well against opponents like the Spurs who are good at controlling rhythm. They have also been swept by the Spurs this season. It should be said that the Spurs have the least pressure on the Jazz.

However, according to the current situation, if the Spurs want to meet the Jazz, they must advance to the third place in the West to compete with them. In this way, the Spurs must surpass the Rockets in record, and defensive teams like the Rockets usually have very stable records.

**Vicci listed many possibilities and analyzed the opponents of each team behind, and then calculated the possibilities in the future based on their winning rate. After calculating for a long time, **Vicci was dizzy and still couldn't figure out a result.

Find data analysts to calculate it? **Vicci immediately gave up this idea because it is possible to give up some of the games when choosing an opponent. Moreover, **Vicci is considering more than the first round. He is confident that the Spurs will definitely win the first round. The reason why they choose an opponent is simply to save some effort.

However, if you are in the fourth or fifth position, according to the rules, the winner must face the first and eighth place winners in the semi-finals. According to the evil spirit of the Mavericks in this season, it is impossible to expect the Kings or the Clippers to cause trouble to them.

**Vicci didn't want to meet the Mavericks so early. This season, except for the game that won the Mavericks at the beginning of the season, the Spurs lost all the other two matches. In the next nine games, there is another away game against the Mavericks.

With **Vic's wisdom, facing the Mavericks this season, I feel helpless. The Mavericks were strong enough last season. After further adjustment this season, they have become even more terrifying. While maintaining the league's first-class defense, their offensive power is second only to the league's number one Phoenix Suns.

It is not easy for the Spurs to beat the Mavericks by relying on their slight defensive advantage alone, so **Victz thought that the later they met the Mavericks, the better. In this way, you can observe them more and understand their weaknesses. On the other hand, **Victz also believes that the more you end up, the greater the advantage of experience and willpower that the Spurs have.

So if the Spurs cannot occupy the third position upward, they will simply slide down to sixth. They would rather not have a home advantage. **Vic did not want to meet the Mavericks in advance, but this idea cannot be known to too many people, otherwise it would be a heavy blow to morale. When will the Spurs reach the point where they need to avoid their opponents?

But this is very normal in **Vicci's opinion. Whether as a soldier or an intelligence officer, it is acceptable to use any means to win or aim. It is naturally possible to choose a opponent strategically. Therefore, **Vicci decided that if the Rockets cannot be surpassed in the early stage, the Spurs will give up the game in the last few games.

After determining the principle, facing the Seattle Supersonics who were unwilling to win, the Spurs easily won 21 points. In this game, **Vic frequently changed the lineup. On the one hand, it examined the status of those substitutes, and at the same time it allowed the main players to get news.

In the whole game, no player in the Spurs played more than 30 minutes, and Stephen scored twenty-eight points in the twenty-eight minutes, which was exactly one-minute and one-point scoring efficiency. After winning this game, the Spurs officially completed the overtake of the Nuggets, but was still in the fifth position, but they were closer to the Rockets.

After defeating the Supersonics, the Spurs faced the challenge of the Phoenix Suns again. However, **Vic made a lot of preparations for this game, because according to the rules, if the Spurs don't want to meet the Mavericks in the second round, they will inevitably encounter the Suns. They just treat this game as a preview of the semi-finals and try their new tactics.
Chapter completed!