How Can the Spurs Stay in Contention for a Playoff Berth?

San Antonio would be in the NBA play-in tournament as the Western Conference's No. 9 seed, but with 50-plus games left to play, can the Spurs stay in the playoff hunt?

San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) commits an offensive foul while driving for a shot against the Philadelphia 76ers during the third quarter at Wells Fargo Center. / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Through the first 29 games, the San Antonio Spurs find themselves in ninth place in the Western Conference standings, which would give them a spot in the play-in tournament.

There’s still a lot of games left to be played, though, and the final standings could look drastically different by then. So, what do the Spurs need to do stay in line for a playoff berth?

Here are four things San Antonio should try to do to make that a reality:

Stay healthy

The Spurs had some injury woes in December, but those seem to be in the past with no players listed for San Antonio on Monday’s injury report. The Spurs need to keep their best players on the court and not in the trainer’s room.

Limit turnovers

San Antonio overcame its December injury woes, but is still working to stop giving the ball away to the opposing team. The Spurs’ had 18 turnovers in Monday night’s 111-106 loss. Wembanyama had five turnovers and Chris Paul had four. For the Spurs to make it to the playoffs, they can’t have their best players committing that many turnovers.

Add talent at trade deadline

The Spurs have four first round draft picks in the upcoming NBA draft, which could be packaged together to add a De’Aaron Fox or a Jimmy Butler or another player that could help this Spurs team take the next steps.

Get Gregg Popovich back

The five-time NBA champion for San Antonio hasn’t coached since suffering a mild stroke on Nov. 2. The Spurs have 13-11 in his absence and are in ninth place in the Western conference. Having a coach like Popovich would certainly help the Spurs stay in contention for a playoff spot.

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