A look at three key numbers related to Thursday’s game at the Smoothie King Center between San Antonio and New Orleans (7 p.m., TNT, WRNO 99.5 FM):
: Teams that have beaten San Antonio more than once this season. With an upset victory on its home floor tonight, New Orleans would become the only NBA team to prevail multiple times against the Spurs in 2015-16. San Antonio has just nine defeats all season, a run of success that would be drawing breathless historical comparisons and high-volume First Take debates of “Can they win 70?” if not for the greatness of the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors. San Antonio’s other losses have been to Oklahoma City, Washington, Chicago, Toronto, Houston, Golden State, Cleveland and the Clippers, all on the road.
1: San Antonio’s rank in offensive efficiency in the NBA, at 95.5 points per 100 possessions, via NBA.com. There are numerous characteristics that account for the gap in the Southwest Division between the Spurs and the other four teams, but this is the biggest advantage they hold. The Pelicans enter Thursday’s games ranked 26th in defensive efficiency, allowing 106.4 points per 100 possessions. New Orleans has actually been a middle-of-the-pack defensive team recently, but started the season woefully at that end of the floor.
3: Number of Pelicans players who were born in the 1990s. It’s “90’s Night” in the Smoothie King Center, a celebration of the decade that brought us the likes of Vanilla Ice, Hammer and grunge music. On average, Spurs players certainly would have clearer recollections of the 1990s, because they’re a much older bunch than the Pelicans. New Orleans’ roster is comprised of many key players in their mid-20s who were still pre-teens during the Y2K false alarm, including Anthony Davis, who was born in 1993. Point guard Andre Miller, who just signed with the Spurs this week, made his NBA debut in November 1999 and will turn 40 this month.
