December hasn't treated the San Antonio Spurs very good.

The defending NBA champions are just 7-9 in December, having lost seven of their last 10 games. Santa wasn't very friendly to Gregg Popovich this Christmas season. On top of that, NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard is still out with a torn ligament in his hand and has missed the last seven consecutive games.

The Spurs currently sit in fourth place in the Southwest division behind the Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets and Memphis Grizzlies. More importantly, the Spurs are in seventh place overall in the Western Conference with 19-13 record. Who would of thought the Spurs would be the third best team out of Texas this far into the season?

On the positive side for the Spurs, Patty Mills has returned from his shoulder injury. On Dec. 28 Mills played 20 minutes against the Rockets, and he looked great scoring eight points and grabbing four rebounds in a 110-106 victory. Last season, Mills was the most underrated player for the Spurs and could have won the Sixth Man of the Year Award. Last season, Mills shot 40 percent from the field and made 89 percent of his free throws, providing a huge spark off the bench for the eventual NBA Champions.

If the Spurs are going to win back-to-back titles, Mills will have to duplicate what he did last year, especially in the postseason.

Tim Duncan may be 38 years old, but he is the Spurs' leading scorer this season. Without a doubt, Danny Green has been the best perimeter shooter for the team this season making 80 shots from downtown, which ranks sixth in the league. Brazilian big man Tiago Splitter is back from his calf injury, but he will not play in back-to-back games.

On the negative side, Tony Parker is battling a hamstring injury, and Manu Ginobili is struggling this season. The 37-year-old Argentinean is shooting a career low 41.8 percent from the field while playing his most minutes since 2010. Ginobili is one of the Spurs "Big 3" having won four career titles, but it's been a rough start for him.

At 19-13, the Spurs aren't out of it by any means. It's an extremely tough Western Conference and injuries have plagued this team, but when you have veteran championship players like they do, anything is possible. The Spurs have to first improve their divisional play. The Spurs are just 3-5 against their division opponents this season.

When the Spurs won the championship last season, they were the No. 1 seed in the West with home court advantage in the postseason. It's going to be very difficult to get home court advantage again with so many elite teams in the conference, but this Spurs team has shown they can win big road playoff games in the past.

The Spurs will play the Grizzlies in Memphis on Tuesday, Dec. 30, at 8 p.m. EST.

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