Can San Antonio Spurs Avoid Franchise Infamy in Final 6 Games?

The San Antonio Spurs have a few records they are trying to avoid this season.

Jeremy Brener | Apr 4, 2024

Apr 2, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) controls the ball / Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

In this story:

San Antonio Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs are 18-58 with six games left in the season, and there are a few distinctions they are trying to avoid.

Should the Spurs go 0-6 or 1-5, it will be the lowest win total for any team in franchise history. The team must go at least 2-4 to tie the 1996-97 team for the worst record in Spurs history. That team won just 20 games, but they went on to draft Tim Duncan and form a two-decade dynasty in San Antonio.

Apr 2, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Sandro Mamukelashvili (54) reacts / Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

A more comparable goal for the Spurs is to finish with a better record than last year. But in order to do that, the Spurs must win five of their last six games to grab 23 wins. The team finished 22-60 last year, and if they were to finish strong, they could go into the offseason with momentum and signs that the team is certainly improving.

Even with the Spurs going 4-5 in their last nine games, the task will be tall to try and beat that record from last year. The Spurs will visit the New Orleans Pelicans tomorrow before heading back home to host the Philadelphia 76ers, who saw Joel Embiid return to the lineup earlier this week.

The Spurs have a winnable game on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday before facing off against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets, two teams fighting for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. However, the season finale against the Detroit Pistons at home will give the Spurs another chance to seal a victory.

So if the Spurs can win the two games against their fellow cellar-dwellers, they'll have 20 wins, which will prevent them from being the absolute worst team in franchise history. But a spoiler win in any of the other four games will cement that status, and that should be enough motivation to play for at this point in the year.

Published Apr 4, 2024

JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.