San Antonio still went through a lot to earn this championship. Mid-season trades for Brent Barry and Nazr Mohammed gave them the depth they needed in the postseason. It was a weird Finals. The first four games were all blowouts for the home team. He scored 21 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, including a game-winning three with six seconds left. The Pistons forced a Game 7. But San Antonio eventually came out on top.
A healthy sense of defiance makes every championship taste a little sweeter. In the three years following that success, they lost in the first round, got swept by the Lakers in the conference finals, and lost to them in five games in In the summer of , David Robinson announced that he would retire after the season. A fourth straight title was expected. But while the Spurs struggled to repeat their success, they still had Duncan and Popovich.
Duncan was spectacular in And then came the Finals, where the Knicks were dispatched in five. The reinforcements were coming, however. In , the team drafted French point guard Tony Parker in the first round, then a year later, Argentinian shooting guard Emmanuel Ginobili got snagged with a flyer deep into the second round.
With those two slowly emerging to fill out the roster and Robinson announcing his intention to retire at the end of the season, loomed as a special opportunity for the team. Following through, the Spurs won 60 games in the regular season and cruised through the playoffs, winning all four series in six games apiece. Duncan won NBA MVP -- his second straight -- during the regular season, then delivered one of the greatest postseasons in history: 24 games, Seriously, if someone needs to be convinced that Duncan is one of the greatest athletes to ever play, go show them highlights of the Finals against New Jersey.
The arrival of the "Big Three" to San Antonio. After a couple years to mature and improve, Parker and Ginobili emerged as legitimate stars for the Spurs during this season.
Finally armed with some serious weapons to back Duncan, surely the Spurs had no issues getting that third title, right? Instead, Parker and Ginobili were thrown into the fire against the Detroit Pistons in one of the most interesting NBA series of the past 20 years.
Following four straight blowouts to begin the Finals, Game 5 gave us one of the most memorable performances in recent history: Robert Horry's three-point barrage, culminating with the game-winner in the final seconds to put San Antonio up, San Antonio Spurs finished the regular season It was the season Dallas Mavericks dominated with Spurs players forced Lebron James to stop and Spurs passed series without any loss.
Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Adam Silver's post-game comments on the Spurs showing the beauty of basketball weren't just some off-hand thoughts. More likely, a lot of people came away from this series agreeing with that sentiment.
This championship also signaled the emergence of Leonard, the year-old forward being tasked with continuing the standard of excellence established over so many. And if these games showed us anything, it's that an entire league should be ready to deal with the Spurs' newest star.
As for the rest of the core, guys like Popovich, Duncan and Ginobili probably aren't done yet, which really means one thing: we best be prepared to have the same discussion next year. As long as those guys are around and Leonard keeps getting better, the Spurs will probably do what they've always done: win. Please Log In or add your name and email to post the comment. Log In. LOG IN. Forgot password? Part 1. Part 1 1 It's not easy to remember now, but the Spurs weren't always the Spurs we've come to regard with a mixture of respect, gratitude and general awe.
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