The Spurs are in Washington to face the Wizards on Saturday night, and if the Wizards were ever going to have a shot against the best team in the NBA, tonight could be the night.
San Antonio is playing their fourth game in five nights, and if last night was any indication they could be getting a little weary. The Spurs opened this back-to-back with a 77-71 loss to the Sixers in which San Antonio shot just 33.4 percent from the floor.
If you didn't catch the first meeting between these teams, a 94-80 win for the Spurs, you might not recognize this edition of the silver and black. The Spurs still have Gregg Popovich at the helm and Tim Duncan leading the way, but they're playing a more up-tempo style of basketball -- at least when compared to their traditional glacial pace (the Spurs are now around league average in pace).
It'll be interesting to see if they have the legs to keep that pace up. Andray Blatche told me before the Wizards game Wednesday against the Bucks that Washington would try and run them off the court early coming off a back-to-back on the road. If that's the case tonight, the Wizards might be able to reverse the difference in fast-break points that hurt them in the teams' first matchup.
Another interesting nugget is that coach Flip Saunders said before the game that the Wizards don't adjust their gameplan according to the opponent because they have to about themselves. Just another impact of the team's youth. Read a few more thoughts on this from SB Nation DC overlord Mike Prada at Bullets Forever.
The Wizards will be without Rashard Lewis, Al Thorton and Josh Howard tonight.