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How Spurs’ upcoming schedule creates championship-like challenge
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A game against the Houston Rockets , with yet another one to come eight days later, continues what's been a tough portion of the schedule for De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle , Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs .
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It's a stretch Fox says good squads embrace.
"When you're a bad team, you're looking at it like, 'Oh, we've got to do all of this and trying to get to the All-Star break, to have our break,'" the 2023 NBA All-Star said to ClutchPoints.
"Whenever you're trying to position yourself to have home court advantage in the playoffs, you're not looking at it like that," Fox continued.
Heading into the match-up with their IH-10 rivals, the Spurs sit second in the Western Conference . Since December 23rd, they've faced the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder three times, the New York Knicks , Los Angeles Lakers , Boston Celtics and Minnesota Timberwolves twice. Those teams rank, in the order they're listed, first, third, sixth, second and fourth in their respective conferences.
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"I mean, this is the NBA. We're going to have stretches where you're on the road for a while and you're going to have stretches where you're playing extremely good teams, or all playoff teams at a time. So, you look at it as a test," Fox added in responding to ClutchPoints' question.
The Spurs second leading scorer has helped the resurgence of a proud franchise looking for its first playoff appearance since 2019. They're two years removed from 22 victories and won 34 games last season. They head into the Houston contest at 30 victories with 39 games remaining. Fox told ClutchPoints the success goes beyond the results on the court.
"You're not looking at it as, 'Ah, we're going to be on the road,' or 'We're about to play so many good teams in a row.' It's a test to see where you are throughout the course of the year. And it's especially happening at this time when teams are going to be banged up, teams are tired, guys have been on the road for a while. You see where you are as a team."
Stephon Castle keeps at least one eye on standings
A Spurs loss to the Rockets would move Houston within a loss of their Western foes. When San Antonio faced the Lakers toward the beginning of this gauntlet vs. contenders, ClutchPoints asked star guard Stephon Castle if he's already keeping an eye on the standings.
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"I didn't know that they were right behind us coming into the game. Just knowing we were number two in the West, knowing we dropped a couple games there that we should've won, just wanting to take it game by game and (we wanted to) make sure we came out with energy for this one," the Reigning Rookie of the Year answered.
It's now the Rockets who are on the Spurs heels. And while the Silver and Black have the playoff picture in the back of their minds, they're not focusing on it. Not yet at least.
"I think we all pay attention to it, but not really try and focus on it, if that makes sense."
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Related: How Victor Wembanyama's All-Star starter nod secures Spurs franchise history
