Spurs news: Brad Stevens guarantees San Antonio will make the playoffs

Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens believes in Gregg Poppovich and the San Antonio Spurs and guaranteed they'll make the playoffs.

Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens believes in Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs.

Stevens was asked about San Antonio's (15-20) current place in the Western Conference ahead of Boston's game against the Spurs on Wednesday night, and Stevens responded by saying he believed the Spurs would be “well” over .500 and will have secured a place in the playoffs by the end of the season:

Also Stevens made this Joe Namath-esque guarantee about the 15-20 Spurs: "They’ll be well over .500 when it’s over and they’ll be in the playoffs and everything will be the same as it’s always been.”

— Jeff McDonald (@JMcDonald_SAEN) January 8, 2020

Brad Stevens on the Spurs record: They will be over .500 by the time the season is over

— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) January 8, 2020

The Spurs are currently eighth in the Western Conference, barely holding on to the final playoff spot.

San Antonio have not missed the playoffs since the 1996-97 season, when Popovich took over for Bob Hill as the head coach. The Spurs followed that abysmal season by selecting Tim Duncan with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1997 NBA Draft, and the rest is history.

Duncan almost immediately transformed the franchise, as the Spurs won 56 games the very next year. By 1999, they had captured their first NBA title. The Spurs would go on to win three more rings in the 2000s before adding a fifth championship in 2014.

However, the success has been harder to come by as of late. The Spurs are relying on substantial growth from players like Dejounte Murray as well as veteran contributions from both DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge. While San Antonio have been one of the top 10 offensive teams in the league, they have struggled immensely on the defensive end of the floor.

The Spurs rank 25th in opponents scoring average and 23rd in defensive rating. The defensive struggles are uncharacteristic for a Popovich team, so perhaps Stevens has reason to believe the legendary head coach will make adjustments and find a way to navigate his team to the playoffs.