A social-media graphic making the rounds put the Spurs in a strange little spotlight: every NBA team has a worst head-to-head opponent, but San Antonio’s worst matchup is the Lakers, and even that edge is razor thin.
The Spurs are sitting at 97-99 all-time in the regular season against Los Angeles. That makes the Lakers the only team in the league San Antonio hasn’t been able to overtake yet. For a franchise that usually does the bullying, that’s an unusual spot to be in.
The good news for San Antonio is that this can change quickly. The Spurs have three chances to close the gap this season, and the math is simple: sweep the Lakers and they move to 100-99, finally taking the lead.
Anything less leaves them behind. A 2-1 finish would still have them stuck at 99-100.
The schedule gives them a shot at it, too. San Antonio hosts Los Angeles on November 27 in NBA Cup group play, hosts them again on February 6, and then wraps the season series in Los Angeles on April 4. Three games, two losses to erase.
That’s what makes the Lakers stand out on the list of every team’s worst head-to-head opponent. Detroit is 39-73 against Utah.
Portland is 50-78 against Boston. The Lakers are 135-169 against the Celtics, a 34-game deficit that still sits there no matter how many banners get raised.
San Antonio, though, doesn’t have that kind of scar tissue. The Spurs have spent decades stacking wins against plenty of teams.
They are 60-47 against Boston, 56-47 against Milwaukee, and 119-74 over Golden State. The pattern runs across the board: the Spurs usually end up on the winning side.
They also handled the Lakers well last season, going 3-1 against JJ Redick’s team and entering this year on a three-game winning streak in the series. Those games were decided by 13, 16, and 28 points, including a February blowout when Victor Wembanyama scored 40 points in 26 minutes.
To be fair, two of those three wins came against Lakers lineups missing rotational pieces. Still, the results count, and San Antonio has already shown it knows how to beat this opponent.
Now the Spurs get their chance to turn that slight all-time deficit into a lead.
In Other News...
JJ Redick Just Gave The Spurs A Contender Reality Check
The Spurs have spent the early part of the season getting folded into the leagues bigger contender conversation, a sign of how quickly the expectations have climbed around San Antonio. With Victor Wembanyama front and center and Dylan Harper and Devin Vassell also part of the broader push, the Spurs are no longer being treated like a team simply building for later. They are being discussed in the same breath as clubs trying to turn talent into something much more immediate.
JJ Redick, though, is making it clear the Lakers are not spending much time worrying about that outside chatter. Los Angeles is focused on its own path, with roster upgrades built around Luka Doncic on offense and Walker Kessler added to help with rebounding and defense. For San Antonio, the bigger takeaway is not what Redick said about the Spurs directly, but how quickly their name now comes up in the same title hopeful discussions as Oklahoma City and New York. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Need More From Carter Bryant At A Crucial Early Moment
Tobias Harris being sidelined with a left calf strain has opened a familiar early-season question for the Spurs: who picks up the extra offensive load while one of the rotation pieces is unavailable. In that space, second-year forward Carter Bryant becomes a name worth watching, especially for a team that already liked what it saw from him on the defensive end as a rookie.
What the Spurs want now is a more assertive version of Bryant on offense, one who plays with confidence and makes quicker decisions when the ball finds him. The tools are there, and the defensive foundation gives San Antonio reason to keep leaning in, but this is also the sort of stretch when a young player can either start building trust or drift back into a supporting role. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs May Already Have A De'Aaron Fox Problem To Solve
The Spurs already have a roster-building question hanging over De'Aaron Fox, even if it is not the kind they expected when they acquired him. In a couple of seasons, the league's next expansion draft could give San Antonio a rare chance to sort through its protected list, and Fox's place on it may not be as secure as his name recognition suggests. The organization is leaning toward a younger core, which makes a veteran guard on an expensive deal look more like a luxury than a foundational piece.
Fox's value in San Antonio will depend heavily on what happens between now and then, because there is still time for his play to change the conversation. If his performance and trade value rise, the Spurs gain more flexibility in how they handle the contract. If not, the team could face an awkward decision about one of its priciest players at a time when the rest of the roster is pushing in a younger direction. [Read more 🡒]