SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs wrapped up their 2023-24 season with a home win over the Pistons, matching last season's record with 22 wins.
The Spurs' season had more losses than the team may have expected to start the season, including an 18-game losing skid, double-digit leads squandered, and lopsided losses.
But to end the season, the Spurs showed signs of what could have been if things had fallen into place earlier.
The team held on to leads to pick up wins, did not come apart when teams made runs on them, racked up a 3-game winning streak, and thrillingly defeated the defending NBA champs, the Nuggets, 121-120.
Overall, the Spurs closed the season on a great note, and why Tre Jones sees it as a sign of good things on the horizon.
"We gave them a little bit of what it would be like moving forward as far as how the team is going," he said. "These last few weeks or months, we've been playing better. We've been winning more games and been in a lot more games."
The Spurs showed how much they grew on the court as the season progressed, and some statistics show that.
Before the All-Star break, the team's plus-minus differential was -8.6. Following the All-Star break, it was -2.1.
Also, the team's defensive rating was 117.5 before the All-Star break and 111.8 after.
As for finishing close games, San Antonio averaged 6.9 points in clutch situations and a -2.5 plus-minus differential before the All-Star break. Afterward, the team averaged 9.3 points and had a 0.8 plus-minus differential in the clutch.
"As a team, we're going through it all together. We're able to be in these close games together, being in these big moments together against some of the top teams in the league," he said.
Jones noted that the players' getting more NBA experience was positive, and ending the season positively will do wonders for the team's mindset in the offseason and to the start of the 2024-25 season.
But he cautions that the team will still be young and that there may be more growing pains ahead.
"It was really good for us this year, and have that roll into next season. Pick up where we left off and continue to grow," he said. "It's not like we're starting next year with a bunch of veterans. We'll still be young but we'll be able to pick up where we left off for sure. Be able to just go with the chemistry that we built throughout the year."
Team chemistry took giant steps forward as the players got used to their roles, adjusted to life with Victor Wembanyama, and dealt with injuries and different lineups.
Even Jones had to adjust to coming off the bench to start the season but soon was re-inserted as the starting point guard. Adjustments like those took time, but the team figured it out slowly.
Jones said, "I felt like we built a lot of chemistry both on and off the court, which was huge."
With the offseason here, the players will rest before training ahead of the new season.
Fortunately for team chemistry, Jones said some players will remain in San Antonio, allowing themselves to continue developing together.
"I think some of us will be here for a lot of the summer, for sure," he said. We will be able to go to the gym together and work out together, and that's always good as well."
The Spurs ended the season on a 2-game winning streak (Denver and Detroit), won four of their final six games, took the 76ers to double-overtime in a loss, and ranked high in the league in several statistics to close the season.
From March to the end of the regular season, the Spurs ranked first in rebounds (46.8 per game), second in assists (30.3), first in blocks (6.7), seventh in clutch time points (9.9), fourth in contested shots (42.0), and 11th in fast break points at 16.0.
The Spurs' final record does not indicate the team's tremendous growth, leaving Jones with a smile that great things are ahead for the team and fans next season.
"We're gonna put in a ton of work this summer like we always do, but we'll definitely be excited to get it going next year to build off of everything," he said.