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The Mavericks have been struggling of late, but still sit atop the league with an impressive 42-14 record. The Kings were a Robert Horry miracle shot away from a Finals appearance last season and have been as good or better this season, even with starters and key reserves on the injured list. And you can never count out the three-time defending champs, especially when Kobe Bryant is doing his best Michael Jordan imitation.

All of these are good choices, but there is a name missing from the list, and with each passing game, that name appears to be closer to the top of the list. The team that is not getting a lot of press but certainly deserves it is the San Antonio Spurs.

At the beginning of the season, not too many people thought the Spurs had done anything to improve themselves. It was even suggested that they had sacrificed this season -- David Robinson's last -- in favor of having the most cap room for negotiations next summer. There was some truth to the notion, as the Spurs made it clear early on that they would not make any moves beyond re-signing Malik Rose that would in any way reduce their cap space.

But now, two-thirds of the way through the NBA season, it is clear that Gregg Popovich was doing anything but planning to a tank season with the next in mind. The San Antonio Spurs have taken their game to a new level, starting with an NBA season-long road trip that saw the Spurs win eight in a row, and then continuing with blowouts of Denver and Miami and a big win over the Pacers in San Antonio. The only blot on the Spurs' record over the past 13 games was a loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

The Kings have Chris Webber back in action, and they used his return to propel themselves into a five-game winning streak, which included an overtime win over the Mavs last Thursday. It seemed that the Kings were ready to assume the throne, as they expected to take out San Antonio to prove that they really deserved the second seed that is gifted to them as leaders of the Pacific Division. All of the hype was centered on the power forward matchup of Tim Duncan and Chris Webber, but no sooner did the game start than a smaller and younger Spur made a statement that set the tone for the entire game.

Tony Parker scored 19 points during a first quarter run that would see the Spurs take an 11-point lead, and the Kings never caught up. Parker went on to score a career-high 32 points while holding Mike Bibby to just 4 points and he lead the Spurs to a huge 108-100 win over the Kings. Chris Webber went off for 36 points, Peja Stojakovic added 20, and Bobby Jackson scored 19 off the bench, but Tim Duncan posted 18 points and 15 rebounds, Stephen Jackson went for 14, and Malik Rose scored 10 off the bench to overcome a strong team effort by Sacramento.

Let it be known that the Spurs have served notice: anyone overlooking them will be sorry they did so. The win moves San Antonio to 40-17, just three and a half games behind the Mavs for the best record in the NBA. Sacramento drops to 41-19, with a one-game lead over Portland in the loss column. This was the final meeting between the Spurs and Kings for the regular season, with the Spurs taking the series 3-1.

San Antonio plays two more games with the first-place Mavs, with the last one being the final game of the regular season. The Spurs have their fate in their own hands, and right now they look very capable of finishing on top of the league.

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