As the calendar year of 2012 came to a close, the Spurs were riding a six game winning streak and most players and coaches wanted to talk about their steady improvement on defense. That is completely understandable since defense has been a point of emphasis for the Spurs since they convened for training camp three months ago.

During that 6 game stretch at the end of December, opposing teams averaged just 90 points per game.

The eye popping numbers, however, have come from the Spurs' offense, where they rank in the top five in the NBA in virtually ever important category. As of this writing, the Spurs rank 1st in assists, 2nd in field goal percentage, 3rd in 3 point field goal percentage and 3rd in scoring.

They are hitting free throws at a 79% clip, good for 5th in the league. Former Spurs assistant PJ Carlesimo, now the interim head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, said trying to defend the Spurs is extremely difficult. Carlesimo told me last week,"It starts with trying to keep Tony (Parker) and Manu (Ginobili) out of the paint, then you have to worry about Timmy (Duncan) and Tiago (Splitter) inside, then they've got all these shooters who space the floor.

Some of these guys deserve to be double teamed, but then they pass so well, they consistently find the open man." PJ was prophetic. An hour after our visit, the Spurs shot 59% from the floor in a 104-73 Spurs win.