2. SAN ANTONIO SPURS
Messing with Gregg Popovich and R.C. Buford‘s recipe for success is hard to do. They’ve competed for a title for more than a decade, so I don’t want to tell these two how to do their jobs… but they are grabbing rebounds at a pretty low rate. They’re second-to-last in offensive rebounds, and they’re currently 23 out of 30 in defensive rebounding rate. Varejao’s 13-plus boards a game will come in handy when they’re getting killed on the glass like they did when the Clippers blew them out and out-rebounded them, 46-29 earlier this year. The Knicks didn’t have more rebounds last night, but against athletic teams like the Clippers, Varejao’s rebounding tenacity would be a big plus in the playoffs. Also, can’t you just imagine Boris Diaw and Anderson Varejao slicing and back-cutting an opposing team’s frontcourt? I’m pretty sure Popovich has dreams of Varejao and Diaw playing interchangeably in his rotation.