Here come the Spurs: After dismantling the Hawks, San Antonio looks ready to roll

After an at-times unimpressive start to the season that cast doubt on their chances of defending the NBA championship they won last summer, the San Antonio Spurs have looked to be rounding into form of late, shaking off early struggles as Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard return to health to join the stalwart Tim Duncan for the postseason push. And yet, some skepticism has surrounded the Spurs’ rise.

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Yes, San Antonio has racked up victories over the past couple of months, but more than a few have come against lower-tier competition within the friendly confines of the AT&T Centerl they’ve still dropped a couple of games to stiff opposition at home. Moreover, they scuffled during the post-All-Star portion of their annual Rodeo Road Trip, dropping four straight to the Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors, Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers. Then there was whatever the Spurs coughed up against the New York Knicks on St. Patrick’s Day.

The profile was there — 19-9 since Leonard’s return to the lineup on Jan. 16, the league’s fifth-best record during that span, with top-10 marks in both points scored and allowed per possession — but the results have felt less impressive than the stats. No sane person would write off the Spurs, but you’d be more likely to consider them a contender if they’d just take care of business against a quality opponent, especially on the road.

And then: Sunday.

The Spurs whipped the Atlanta Hawks, turning Philips Arena into their own personal Highlight Factory in a 114-95 beatdown. Even without injured second-unit captain Manu Ginobili, Gregg Popovich’s club looked as good as it has since laying waste to the Miami Heat last June.

San Antonio raced out to a 26-6 lead eight minutes into the game, generating and canning clean look after clean look en route to an 11-for-14 start from the field, including 10 straight makes in a 5 1/2-minute span. The Spurs’ defense came ready to dictate the terms of engagement early, with Duncan and Tiago Splitter locking down the paint and San Antonio’s wings re-routing Hawks cutters as they worked off the ball in Atlanta head coach (and ex-longtime San Antonio assistant) Mike Budenholzer’s free-flowing, motion-heavy offense. The result: a dismal 3-for-10 start from the floor for Atlanta, and a season-low 13 points in the first quarter;

When the Hawks came to life in the second quarter, sparked by All-Star forward Paul Millsap and reserve point guard Dennis Schröder, San Antonio continually answered right back, with Splitter (nine points and four rebounds in 8 1/2 minutes of second-quarter work) and Marco Belinelli (all 13 of his points in the frame) keeping the Hawks at bay, extending the Spurs’ lead to 18 at intermission.

The signature half-court ball movement that propelled the Spurs to last year’s title was on full display on Sunday:

That ball movement today

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