Collection of Spurs 2014 Championship Photos

2014 Official Team Photo

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Three ESPN.com Headlines

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Two NBA.com Headlines

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A Few of My Favorite from Facebook Posts

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A Screenshot from the Game-5 Post-game Celebration

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THE Dunk

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The Team Trophy Photo, and My Three Favorites

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The Orchestrator Counting His Titles

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Thank you San Antonio Spurs for your excellent play this 2014 season! This one was absolutely the sweetest!!

Now, onward to the RACE for SEIS!!!

A Glimpse of What's to Come

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29 points, 10 of 13 shooting - 4 rebounds - 2 assists - 2 steals - 2 blocks - 3 of 6 from three - 1 turnover

Heat Can't Handle the Heat

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1 down, 3 to go. Hopefully LeBron comes back strong, because I don't want to hear what the media has to say about the A/C issue. It was the same for both teams, and will likely never happen again. I also have serious doubts that 10 degrees forced LeBron's muscles to cramp-up. It happens in football all the time - when it's cold outside.

Go Spurs!!

Found on Facebook

One down, 4 to go.

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Really ESPN? We led for like 97% of this game. Except for about 2 minutes, this was a domination. C'Mon, Espn.

Go Spurs..

Final NBA Finals Post

OK well I didn't get game-6 done in time for game-7, so once again I have to lump them together. But rather than even bother, and since it's over, I'm just gonna type what I want. Everyone knows by now the Heat won. Everyone knows we blew a terrific chance to take the title in game 6. So, I'm not gonna bore everyone with two game synopses. Instead I'm gonna post a couple pictures, and focus on how I feel, and what this did to me.

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This was by far the best image from the last few days. After watching and listening to all the post-game interviews, it's hard for me to explain how I feel now. But if you saw Tim's game 7 post-game conference, and have any idea the way it appeared he felt - that's how I feel. We blew it in game 6, and I knew game 7 was just one more chance to watch my team play. Or at least that's how I chose to go about it. I was tons more confident in win #4 on Tuesday than I was Thursday. I knew we still had the chance to hoist the trophy, but I wasn't holding my breath, so to speak. Then once we were right there, yet again, I had to just smile, and enjoy it, win or lose.

Now we don't have any Spurs games until late October, and I feel like one feels just after accepting a relationship they've been in is now over. You're not still ultra-sad. You've accepted it, but there's a gaping hole. The only other time I felt this gigantic gaping Spurs hole was after game 5 of 2004's West Finals. Duncan hit the last shot at the buzzer to put us up 3-2 on the Lakers, and one game from a chance to repeat, and shut Phil Jackson up. Everyone also knows good and well that there was 0.4 left on the clock, and the rest is infamous Spurs history.

I know we had a great season - it was far beyond the expectations of most "experts". Probably beyond the expectations of most fans, too. It was in fact a season that many years from now I will hold right up there with, well, 1999, 2003, 2005, and 2007. Trite as that just sounded, that's just how close we were. I loved every second of it! We'll be back, too. This team isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Pop said so, and when Pop says something, you must believe.

Here are the two ESPN box scores in case you're interested: GAME 6 ... GAME 7

NBA Finals Update - Games 4 & 5

The 2013 NBA Finals resumed Thursday night in San Antonio for game 4. The way the series has gone, the team who loses a game rallies to win the next. Miami has even done it in this pattern for the entire series vs. Indiana in the prior round as well. So the Spurs surely expected some Heat. Yeah I intended that one.

It wasn't to be in the very beginning, however, as San Antonio came out strong, and had the early 19-11 lead. Everyone would soon get involved in the Miami offense, though, and they'd hold the 1st quarter lead, 29-26. Both teams were shooting well, and the intensity was obvious. Especially from the big-three dressed in red. Yeah Dwyane Wade and LeBron James came to play tonight. Their lead would be 9 by mid-2nd quarter, and both defenses began to tighten-up. Spurs came to within 5, and then Miami would extend it back out to 9 again (47-38) before San Antonio

Image Source (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

would go on a huge run to finish the half strong - something Pop stressed from our last loss. Parker & Diaw would score 11 together, while the Spurs held the Heat to 2 during the stretch, and at halftime we were tied at 49.

This one remained tight, as the Spurs held Miami's lead to 6 at the most, and after 3 quarters, the score was 81-76. Both teams struggled to score at the beginning of the 4th quarter, but the Heat found the groove first, and the lead was 10 at the midway point. Wade and LeBron suddenly were hitting almost everything they shot, they were getting the shots they wanted, and Chris Bosh was even working in the low post, contributing offense of his own. Spurs hung with them for the most part, but once Miami extended the lead to 15 with 5 minutes to go (100-85), it was clear that a win in this one would be hard to come by for San Antonio. Spurs would only score 8 in the final 5+ minutes, but putting up 15 of their own, LeBron & company Heat held on for the 109-93 victory. Here's ESPN's game-4 box score. James, Wade and Bosh combined for 85 points - their most ever as a threesome.

                              --------------------------------------------------------

Onto game 5 Sunday evening, the last of the three in SA. Between games 4 and 5, I read a lot of articles on how Manu's "done", how he's not been himself in a long time. I was even in agreement, as I produced a few stats to show my Mom just how much he's hurting our team sometimes. Going backwards, this is what that looked like:

vs MIA: 10-29 (34.5%).. 3-16 3-pt. (18.8%).. 6 reb/ 12 ast/ 3 stl/ 11 fouls.. 7 TO   (4 g's)
vs MEM: 11-27 (40.7%).. 4-14 3-pt. (28.6%).. 21 reb/ 18 ast/ 2 st/ 12 fouls.. 10 TO   (4 g's)
vs. GS: 26-76 (34.2%).. 7-40 3-pt. (17.5%).. 30 reb/ 38 ast/ 10 st/ 13 fouls.. 15 TO   (6 g's)
vs. LAL: 14-30 (46.7%).. 7-14 3-pt. (50.0%).. 12 reb/ 19 ast/ 7 st/ 4 fouls.. 8 TO (4 g's)

So I thought Pop should bench him before this gets any worse. So here we are at game time, and what does Pop do? He starts him.. Doh!

It appeared to pay off, however, as Manu hit his first shot (nearly a three), and dished out several assists right off the bat. It wasn't long before he hit a three, and was getting everyone involved -even more so than Tony- to the tune of a 1st quarter score of 32-19, Spurs, as San Antonio held Miami to 2 points in the final 4:45 of the quarter. But the drought continued, as the Spurs' lead was 14 after the first 3 minutes of the 2nd (36-22). This lead ballooned to 17 before Miami started to make their trips to the offensive end count. They would go on a 14-2

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run, and the score was at that point, 47-42, Spurs, with about 4 minutes left in the half.

Both D's tightened-up again, but the fast pace of the first 20 minutes was already in the books. Parker hit a last second shot to give the Spurs the 61-52 halftime lead. A lead that would be shrunk to 1 within 2 minutes. Then San Antonio would go on a 9-2 run to take the 61-60 lead back to 70-62, a lead the Spurs would maintain until about 3 minutes to go in the 3rd as the Heat would hit 7-straight (75-74). Then the Spurs would blow it open! Danny Green has continued his super-hot 3pt. shooting, and had hit 4 at this point already, but it was a Green three that began a 19-1 run through the end of the 3rd and the start of the 4th. Just before Green's 5th three, which tied Ray Allen's record for 3-pointers in a finals series, the score was 75-74, with 3+ minutes showing on the 3rd-quarter clock. After 3 quarters, Spurs led 87-75. By the end of the run, there was 9:30 showing on the clock, and the score was 94-75.

Those 5½ minutes would prove to be the difference in the game. But the Heat would stay strong, and make it a game again - coming to within 8 again with only 1:37 to play (109-101). Enter Danny Green again, who would sink his 6th three of the game to break Allen's record, and pretty much seal the game. San Antonio takes game-5 114-104, and leads the series 3-2, as it shifts back to Miami. Here is ESPN's game-5 box score.

Yeah Green hit a bunch more threes, and is probably our Finals MVP at this point, but the hero of this game was Manu Ginobili. Dude came out of nowhere and put up 24 points on 8 of 12 shooting, and added 10 assists.. all while everyone in the nation was thinking he should probably be benched for now. That's Pop! Bench him? Hell no, I'm gonna put him in the starting lineup so he gets to play with the starters, and not have to feel like the entire burden's on him to carry the second unit. That's the genius as we know him. Gregg Popovich never fails to impress me with his adjustments.

Game-6 is Tuesday night in Miami.

NBA Finals Update

Well I intended to have game-2's review done before game-3 took place, but after everything went down the way that it did, I'm glad I didn't.

Game-2:   HEAT 103 - SPURS 84   (a doimination)
Game-3:   SPURS 113 - HEAT 77   (not a domination)

So Sunday in Miami, we saw game-2 play much like game-1 did through the first half. It was tied at 22 after 1 quarter of basketball. Both the Heat and the Spurs would hold a 5-pt. lead during the 2nd quarter, but Miami would do it twice. The last one as the quarter finished, 50-45. The 3rd quarter was once again tight, as the Spurs came back with a 16-7 run, squashing the Heat's 8-pt. lead. But Danny Green's bucket

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with 3:49 on the clock, putting the Spurs up 62-61, would be their last one.. for a long while.

For the next 10+ minutes the Heat would hit everything they put up, going on an unbelievable 33-5 run, and before anyone knew it, Pop was emptying the bench, and the score was 94-67. During the run Chalmers, Miller, and Allen all contributed, and nothing the Spurs did went right. After 4 turnovers in game-1, the Spurs ended up with 16 in game-2, and a lot of them came during this stretch. With our back-ups in for the last (almost) 7 minutes of the game, however, we outplayed them (their starters for a couple minutes) 17-9 to make the loss a little less painful. Heat win 103-84. Here's the box score.

The media and sports sites all over were touting the Heat as glorious again, and all of a sudden they were unstoppable.. referring to the 10-minute run when calling the game a total domination. OK so we played a super-sloppy 10 minute stretch, but was the game a domination? Not in my opinion.

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                              --------------------------------------------------------------

Fast forward to game-3 on Tuesday, back in Texas. San Antonio fans had waited more than 2 weeks for another home game. Specifically it had been since May 21st, game-2 vs. the Grizzlies! More importantly the organization had waited SIX YEARS for this new opportunity. Obviously fans, and players alike were stoked. Atmosphere was incredible, and in showed as the Spurs jumped out to an early 8-pt. lead, 15-7. Spurs took a 4-pt. lead into the 2nd quarter, 24-20, as it appeared everyone was happy to be at home. Green was hot again (he hasn't really cooled off), Gary Neal was hitting, Kawhi Leonard was hitting, and we were taking care of the ball. With the game tied at 44, and 37 seconds left in the half, Tony hit an amazing three from the corner, followed by a steal on the ensuing possession, and a Gary Neal three at the buzzer. The moment was exciting, as momentum was 100% ours going into halftime 50-44.

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Including those 6 points, San Antonio would go on a 69 to 33 run for more than 24 minutes of Finals basketball. Neal and Green would combine to hit 13 of 19 threes for the game, and the Spurs as a team hit 16 of 32. Kawhi added 14 pts, and Duncan 12, while Tony was hampered with a strained hamstring. This, my friends, was a total domination. Mike Miller hit 5 of 5 from three, but LeBron was held to 15 points on 7 of 21 shooting. Spurs win game-3 113-77, Miami's worst playoff loss of all-time. Here's the box score.

Box scores via ESPN

Spurs 1 - Heat 0

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Game 1 of the 2013 NBA Finals went down last night, and boy was it a doozie! In one of the best Finals games I've ever seen, both teams played very solid basketball, and neither team led by double digits. After the Spurs went up by 7 very early, Miami would take control, and lead for most of the first half. Actually they would lead for most of the game, but only by a handful of points. Each team would make runs, and show superior energy, and then the other would counter with something just as exciting. Kawhi Leonard did a great job on LeBron for most of the night, as he only had 18 points on 7 of 16 shooting, but amassed 18 rebounds as well. Completing his third career Finals triple-double, he also had 10 assists. The problem is no other Heat player had more than 5 boards, nor more than 4 assists.

Shots fell for them for a while, but when it came down to the 4th quarter, well.. the Spurs defense cranked it up a few notches, and Tony Parker seemed to take over the game. Wade had 17, and Allen & Bosh each scored 13, but Miami critically turned it over 4 times in the 4th quarter, as well. The Spurs on the other hand had only 4 turnovers all game (tied an NBA Finals record), and along with Miami's 8, the total of 12 turnovers SET a new NBA Finals record.

San Antonio held Miami to 16 in the 4th quarter, and were able to score 23 themselves. So after trailing by 1 for a quarter, and then by 3 at both the half and 3rd quarter break, the Spurs were able to finally take the lead mid-4th. In back-to-back possessions a LeBron turnover led to a sweet Tony Parker spin move for a layup, to go up by 5. Then Ray Allen was fouled on a 3-pt. attempt by Danny Green, who had 4 threes of his own. Allen sunk them all, but on the ensuing possession, Tony dribbled-out the clock on a broken play, but hit a turn-around bank shot, under the block of LeBron, with less than half of 0.1 showing on the shot clock.

Literally by a fingertip, the Spurs led by 4 with 5 seconds to go, and held on for the 92-88 win. Tony Parker finished with 21 points on 9 of 18 shooting, 6 assists, and no turnovers in 40 minutes of Finals basketball. Duncan's hot 2nd quarter paved the way for 20 points of his own on 8 of 19 shooting, and he also grabbed 14 rebounds. Manu, Danny Green, and Kawhi Leonard added 13, 12, and 10 respectively.

Here's ESPN's game-1 box score..

Game-2 is Sunday night at 7pm - again in Miami.

The Stage is Set!

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...and I can't friggin' wait!

Yeah I forgot to come back and finish up the results of the Spurs/Memphis series, but it's only because that series seemed like a cake-walk compared to the Golden State series. Once we were up 2-0, I knew if we could stay in game-3, we'd have a great chance to win it. Likewise I also knew that if we stole game-3, it was soon to be over. There was no doubt in my mind, after what happened last year, that Pop and company was about to give them ANY chance whatsoever to come back.

Now, it's LeBron vs. Kawhi.   Wade vs. Green.   Chalmers vs. Mr. Tony Parker.   Bosh vs. Splitter.   Haslem and Birdman vs. Timmy Duncan.   Spoelstra vs. the King, Gregg Popovich.

Yeah the King in this series is not LeBron James, it's Coach Pop. He has an answer for everything. I think you'll see the key to the entire series is gonna be Pop's adjustments on the different things the Heat try to throw at us. In addition to that, I believe our team is deeper. Yeah they have several shooters. If there's one tiny achilles heel in Pop's system, it's that the one thing he has a hard time stopping is teams who shoot well from the outside. But isn't that just the way it is? Most coaches are gonna have a very difficult time stopping a team who has great games due to high-percentage outside shooting. Mike Miller, Ray Allen, Shane Battier, and perhaps Norris Cole could give us trouble for a few minutes. However there exists several Spurs players not named Parker-Ginobili-Duncan-Leonard-Splitter who will certainly contribute solid minutes.

Danny Green is a starter, anyway, not Manu, so there's that. Boris Diaw, Matt Bonner, Patty Mills, Cory Joseph, DeJuan Blair, Nando DeColo, Tracy McGrady, Aaron Baynes....... Let's just say Pop will have plenty of fouls, and fresh legs for the Heat. Oh yeah, and also plenty of threes.


Schedule source: ESPN.com

Let's Make It Five!

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Spurs Western Conference Finals Update

OK now we move the series to Memphis, up 2-0.

In the mean time the Heat and Pacers have played two incredible games in Miami. LeBron won the 1st in OT, after trailing a lot of the game, with a driving layup at the buzzer. Their heroics fell short in game 2, however, as Indiana held on for a game-2 win. Now they go to Indiana split.


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Spurs won game-1 pretty dominantly after leading by double-digits most of the game. Tony Allen tried to trip Tony Parker, but it wasn't even called a foul. Why is this important? I'll answer this later. Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard had super games. Matt Bonner hit 4 of 6 threes, as the Spurs established a playoff record, 14 of 29 shooting from three-point range. The Grizzlies came within 6 at one point, but that was as close as they would get. Spurs, 105-83.. 1-0. Here's ESPN's box score..

Game-2 saw pretty much the same basketball as did game-1. We led most of the game, although not by as much as in game-1. Seemingly culminating at half-time, a 46-31 Spurs lead wouldn't hold long. So far through 7 quarters, with the lead 76-63, my Spurs seriously played great basketball. But the 4th quarter of game-2 was terrible for the Spurs. With Timmy in foul trouble throughout a lot of the late 3rd quarter and early 4th, Memphis figured out a way to capitalize. So our shots didn't fall. We missed almost everything we put up in the 4th (too many threes).

With half a minute left, and a Spurs lead of 4... 85-81, Tony Allen had a break-away lay-up following a stupid Spurs turnover. Manu did what he should have, and fouled the shooter to put him on the line. Unfortunately, the refs ruled his foul was a flagrant-I. Allen made both free throws, and then Memphis scored on their ensuing possession. The game went to overtime, and Timmy ruled. Spurs win 93-89 (OT).. ESPN's Box score - HERE..

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Announced yesterday, Tony Allen was fined for "flopping" on the play. Here's the whole play:

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You be the judge! Here's a funny .gif I found


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What can we expect from this guy in game-3? Who knows. I'm not worried. I'll be back with my positive analysis of games 3 & 4. This could be a sweep, but I wouldn't feel bad at all putting all the money on 5 games.

Game-3 is in Memphis Saturday night. Spurs lead 2-0. Gonna be great! We just have to get one and come back to San Antonio to close it out.

Bring on the Grizzlies!

Courtesy Screenshots of ESPN.com Headline Story                                                                             Click for Clarity!

Our 8th time in the Western Conference Finals in the last 15 seasons. Yeah I'd say that's pretty impressive! What's even more special is this is gonna be our 5th Finals appearance, and first since 2007.

Game time in San Antonio is Sunday, May 19, 2013 at 2:30 PM Central.

Spurs Update: Western Conference Finals

Game-5 Thunder @ Spurs is probably the most hyped game of the last several years. It's 2-2, and the Thunder have all the momentum. But these Spurs have been here before.

And the organization has passed out white T-shirts - finally! Straight off the tip, the crowd was with us, and OKC only saw two possessions before it was 5-0 Spurs. Manu started the game, and both he & Tony got to the line before OKC knew what had hit them. Continuing drives, both Manu & Tony drew two fouls on Ibaka, and he had to sit down before 2 minutes were gone. 15-10 Spurs, both Timmy & Diaw would draw two fouls. SO Pop sent in a crazy-small lineup. It was just what the Thunder needed with Ibaka sitting. Blair & Manu kept us in it, but after 1Q Thunder led 26-21.

Splitter and Jack entered, but Ibaka and Fisher both hit incredible shots. Manu would then single-handedly keep us in the game. Enter DaeQuan Cook. He would hit 8 in 2 minutes, and a Manu three made it 40-36 OKC. As is consistent with the rest of the series, the Spurs would go cold for a lot of the 2nd, as a 10-0 run gave the Thunder the 50-36 lead. Jack, Tony, & Tim would then respond with an 8-2 run of our own to close the half down by only 8: 52-44.

Now I know my Spurs. We are going to launch this into a great game. So Tony & Timmy get the pick n roll right and Westbrook does what he does best - miss shots and turn it over. Manu hits a three, and then another, and then another... A Duncan jumper and 2 Kawhi FTs, and we're up 6: 62-56. No one can guard Kevin Durant, though, as he & Westbrook would nail everything they shot. After we had launched a nice lead late into the 3rd-Q (67-61), Perkins, Westbrook, Harden, and especially Durant burned us. After 3Qs OKC's 81 to SA's 72 was surprising - They ran off a bunch in a row.

Down by as much as 12, Tony & Manu brought us back. Jackson & Timmy too. But Durant & Harden were still making everything they put up. The Spurs then held them scoreless for almost 4 minutes.. 5:16 to 1:36. Meanwhile, Jack hit another three, Timmy scored 6, and Manu hit two FTs.

But it was a James Harden three at the :28 mark that was effectively the game-winner.

OKC 108 SA 103.

Here is ESPN's game-5 boxscore..

Oklahoma City Wednesday. My Spurs will come through. I guarantee we will win game-6!!!

Spurs Update: Western Conference Finals

The scene changed dramatically for game-3, as a seemingly half-dejected OKC Thunder crowd outside Chesapeake Energy Arena welcomed the San Antonio Spurs for game-3, and the feeling was that of confident reserve for Spurs' fans. I said it over a week ago that if we're gonna lose a game, it's gonna be this one. Barkley thought so too, but both Kenny and Shaq picked Spurs.

Priority #1 was withstanding the overwhelming crowd that is present in this Arena. As the game began, OKC went up 8-0 before Popovich had even sat down, it seemed like. So timeout Spurs, and now let's begin for real. Everyone would get quickly into the scoring mix. By the end of

The Sea of Blue - Img Source: 2012 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)

the 1st-Q 6 Spurs and 6 Thunder players had scored, and the score was 24-22, Spurs.

The advantage continued for the Thunder, however, as their shots kept going in, but ours were just a little off. After almost 8 minutes had gone by, the Spurs had only scored 8 (four from Manu), while the Thunder had scored just about every time down the floor. The lead grew quickly to 14, 46-32, and it would be all we could do with a few subs off the bench, to stay in it as best we could. Durant hit a bunch of FTs, and a difficult jumper, while Tony & Manu kept us in the game. But at the horn, the Thunder had outscored us 32-17 in the 2nd-Q. To me it seemed as if Pop wasn't realizing the adjustments they made after game-2 were working. So we all await Pop's own classic halftime adjustments, down 54-41. Thabo Sefolosha assigned to Tony Parker was one of the main adjustments - Tony only had 10 thus far.

Then Sefolosha began the 2nd-half hitting a three of his own - his second of the game. Then after Danny Green hit a three, and Tony nailed a jumper, OKC would go on a 16-5 run over almost 8 minutes. During this time Sefolosha's play was incredible: Steals, defense.. frustrating Tony with his length. ...And we were down 22!! 73-51 with 2:31 left in the 3rd.

Obviously the crowd was going INSANE by this time, and I think it was apparent on the faces of most of the Spurs that we were probably gonna take this one on the chin. Then Jack hit two straight threes - but Thabo came back with another one of his
Thabo was key - Img Source: 2012 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

own, and the 4th-Q stage was set with the Thunder up by 18.. 78-60.

Jackson opened the 4th with another three, closing to within 15, but then OKC would score 8-striaght. Wow. Now down 23, Pop appears to have given up WAYYY too early by putting in James Anderson (who had actually earned a few earlier minutes), along with Patty Mills and DeJuan Blair, who's been in the doghouse ever since Boris Diaw happened. Neal & Anderson pulled us to within 18 again with 8:52 on the clock, but then OKC ran off another 9-straight and pretty much putting all the nails in the coffin, 95-68. But there's still 6:35 left, and aren't we the top-scoring team in the league?

It didn't matter.. Tony, Tim, & Manu never saw another second. Sefolosha would continue to impress as he'd finish with 19 & 6 along with SIX steals. DeJuan Blair actually showed something most weren't prepared for - in 10 minutes, he scored 10 on 5 of 7 shooting, with 6 rebounds. Yeah, Pop, you should've tried him sooner.

The game was lost late in the 2nd-Q, but I give this one to Pop for not recognizing that all the adjustments they made were working, and working well. And it took him too long to make some changes himself. I guess when you win 20-straight games, you start to be a little reluctant to make changes. We had wayy too many turnovers (21), only 18 assists, but we failed to match their energy that lasted throughout 48 minutes. Here's ESPN's boxscore..

Game-4 Saturday night should be better.

Spurs Update: Western Conference Finals

Game-2 of the Western Conference Finals took place in San Antonio Tuesday night, as Oklahoma City would try to even up the 1-0 series.

The Spurs jumped out to a 6-0 lead as Danny Green finally made his first shot of the series. By the time half the quarter was gone, Tony had 6, Green had 5, and the Spurs' lead was 15-7. We got off to a MUCH better start this time around. Kevin Durant and Tony Parker would effectively trade buckets for a few possessions. Spurs would then hold OKC scoreless for two minutes, while Timmy got his stuff going. The last minute of the 1st-Q saw OKC pour in 7 to the Spurs' 6, and the break at 28-22, San Antonio. 1st-Q points: Tony-10, Durant-12. Wow!

After Derek Fisher opened the 2nd-Q with a three, the Spurs would go on a 14-4 run for the first half of the 2nd-Q (all 4 Thunder points by James Harden). Five different Spurs scored those 14 points, Tony Parker or Tim Duncan not included! So with the 13-pt. lead (42-29) most of both team's starters returned. The Thunder would slowly close this lead to 11 by the end of the half, but Tony netted 7 more, and then Tim Duncan did this on Serge Ibaka:


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So after a Durant three, Timmy would hit two FTs, and then close the half with a sweet block on a Westbrook layup attempt: 55-44.

The 3rd-Q saw the scoring-fest commence. Both offenses scored at will for a few minutes, including 3 Spurs' threes by Leonard, Green, and Diaw - and one from Westbrook. After only 3½ minutes had gone by, the Spurs had scored 13 to the Thunder's 8, and the score was quickly 68-52. The Thunder would keep fighting but it was getting quickly out of hand. With a 75-58 lead, and with 23 points already, Tony Parker lined-up one of the most wide-open threes in NBA history:


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This forced a Thunder timeout, but as soon as play resumed, Boris Diaw hit a layup to put the Spurs up 80-58, the largest lead of the game.

Kevin Durant & Manu would then begin demanding the ball, but after OKC closed the 22-pt. lead to 14, Hack-a-Splitter began. Tiago made 5 of 10, and OKC scored 6, so they made up 1 measly point. Timmy entered for Tiago, and we'd close out the 3rd-Q 92-76.

The Thunder are a good team, so no one expects them to crumble. They kept fighting, and went on their own 10-3 4th-Q run, despite a clutch Gary Neal three. With James Harden leading this charge, and down 95-86, Harden, Durant, and Westbrook
A rare growl from a charged Manu - Image Source (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

would get to the line time in and time out. But for most of the 4th-Q either Manu, Tony, or Timmy would respond to the Thunder closing the lead to within 7 or so, and then extend it back to 9, or 11. Tony & Manu continued to get their way when in charge of creating shots. Eight is as close as the Thunder would get, and the Spurs did everything they had to to close it out 120-111.

Tony had 34-8-3 on 16 of 21 shooting! He owned this game, and no one has yet to figure out how to stop him, and our pick-n-roll when Tony's on his game. Duncan had 11 & 12, but Manu & Kawhi had 20 & 18 respectively. Kawhi also added 10 boards. The Thunder's big-3 all got theirs (88 points on 30 of 54 shooting.. Yeah that's 56%). Unfortunately the rest of the team shot 7 of 34 (21%). Here is ESPN's boxscore..

That's 20-straight. TWENTY! Game-3 is Thursday night in OKC at 8pm Central. One more win would tie the Lakers' 2001 record

Tony had a monster game-2 - Image Source (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

of 11-straight to begin the playoffs in any season. It's gonna be a MUST-win for OKC, and I think they could very well win it. But then again, I'll still be a little surprised if they can figure out how to stop us, and especially Tony Parker.

Spurs Update: Western Conference Finals

The WCF are finally under way! It's about time, as both these teams have been sitting around waiting - thanks to the NBA powers-that-be forced each of us to play a back-to-back in the playoffs, on the opponents' home court, while both these teams had respective home court advantage in each series. OK that's the last time you'll have to hear that rant from me.

The Oklahoma City Thunder brought their young & talented squad to the AT&T Center for game-1 Sunday night. As usual the hype was sort-of overblown. That doesn't mean I wasn't excited - I just try to stay away from any & all media bias, especially when it comes to my Spurs. For the last several days Spurs fans
Durant & Westbrook are two young NBA stars - Image Source (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

have come out of the woodwork, from under rocks, and from universes far away, but it happens every single season that we do really well. This is the 11th time the organization has been to the conference finals, and the 7th time during the Gregg Popovich/Tim Duncan era, and have a record of 4-2 in WCF's during this era. Obviously the 4 wins were '99, '03, '05, and '07, and the losses were the Lakers sweep in '01, and another loss to the Lakers in '08. The other four prior to this year were '79, '82, '83, and '95, when we were up 2-0 on Houston (without home court advantage), only to lose four-straight as Hakeem Olajuwon completely & embarrassingly schooled MVP David Robinson.

Aside:
This is something worth noting (and is something I've been wanting to make public, under my pen, for a long time). In the 2004 playoffs, 2nd-round series with the Lakers was tied 2-2, and Tim Duncan hit an amazing shot to put us ahead in game-5 at home. We all know what happened right after that. Lakers go up 3-2, and win the series the next game. They then go on to beat the T-Wolves in the WCF, only to get their asses handed to them in the Finals by the Detroit Pistons. Derek Fisher doesn't hit that lucky 0.04 shot, we win the title that year.

Two years later in the 2006 playoffs, following our return to title holders in '05, and with the #1 seed, we go head-to-head against the Dallas Mavericks in one of the best series in recent memory. Game-7 in San Antonio with the 3-pt. lead, Dirk drives and gets to the bucket with 0:25 left, and Manu pulls his most bone-headed move of all-time, fouling Dirk as the ball rolls in for the "and-1". Of course, Dirk hits the FT, the game goes to OT, and the Mavs pull it out. They then go on to get beaten pretty badly in the Finals by the Miami Heat. Manu doesn't foul Dirk on that play, we win the title that year.

So, if those two tiny little exclusive events don't happen, we win FIVE straight championships from '03 to '07.

OK now that I've gotten that off my chest, the 2012 WCF began with 5 straight from Sefolosha and Durant, followed by 8 straight from Tony, Diaw, and Duncan. Then after Russell Westbrook made an easy layup to put the Thunder up 11-10, Spurs call timeout. Teams would trade a basket, and then defenses and sloppiness took over for a few minutes. Kawhi Leonard made a layup, and then a solid three. After a couple Kevin Durant FTs, Manu made a sweet layup to put us ahead 21-18. Then this happened in the last possession of the 1st-Q:


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Beginning the 2nd-Q down by 6 (24-18), the Thunder had already racked-up several blocks, and a few steals. Derek Fisher, Sefolosha, and James Harden all would hit early jumpers, but Manu & Tiago Splitter would put down 7 of their own. Gary Neal would enter at this point and immediately make his presence known, but too much Derek Fisher, and too many Spurs turnovers would mar the 2nd-Q. Durant, Westbrook, and Fisher were getting most of what they shot (Fisher hasn't missed yet), and 14 Spurs turnovers led to a halftime deficit of one: 47-46.

So the Spurs had to feel OK with the fact that we were down only 1 despite 14 TOs, 6 blocks, and 6 steals, and Derek Fisher was their leading scorer, right?

Well things only got worse. Serge Ibaka began the 3rd-Q with a powerful dunk, and a FT. Our offense came out stagnant, and guys were settling for jumpers, which of course they missed. Four minutes into the 3rd, and with only a Timmy FT so far, Tony hit a three in the corner to close a 7-pt. Thunder lead to 4. With 5:00 left in the 3rd, Durant would hit a nice jumper, which led to a 61-56 OKC lead. Enter Manu Ginobili again. We would close to within 2 again, but just like that Harden would hit a three, and Durant - two more FTs - taking the lead back to 7. After a Manu three with 2:30 on the clock, OKC would run off 5 more for a 71-62 lead going into the 4th-Q. Yikes!

Splitter layup. Harden jumper. Splitter hook. Now down 7 at this point, Gary Neal would enter, and give the team a huge boost while the big-3 rested for a couple minutes. OKC would be stuck on 73 - from right after Harden hit their only 4th-Q shot, at 11:18, for a full 4:07, while Neal had 4, Tiago had 3, and Tony 2. And just like that the crowd was as loud as I've heard a Spurs' crowd this season. This 4th-Q was INTENSE! I think a lot of fans probably felt like this was finally

Neal provided a huge spark for the Spurs - Image Source (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)

gonna be our first loss in 7 weeks, but near the end of the Thunder cold-streak (when Tony tied it up at 73) the entire arena had exciting new life! Tied up at 73, Perkins would hit 1 of 2 FTs, followed by another layup from Tony to take the lead. It was at this point that Manu was not to be denied. After he created his own little layup for a 3-pt. lead, and Fisher replied with a jumper of his own, Manu got to the line and hit both. Then Fisher finally missed a shot, and Gary Neal followed it with a clutch three. It was now 82-76, Spurs - culminating an 18-3 San Antonio run over the last 6:13.

Up 82-76 with just under 5 minutes left, Spurs withstood 8 straight OKC FTs with 4 of their own, a Duncan layup, and a gigantic Stephen Jackson three with 3:01 left to put us up 7, 91-84.

Then with 1:57 remaining, Manu did this. Watch Kevin Durant bite on this fake. SICK! 94-84 after the Manu FT. They then began fouling, and while we hit all but one of our FTs, OKC would hit 3 threes (Westbrook, and 2 by Harden) in the last 16-seconds to make the

Manu took over the game - Image Source (AP Photo/Darren Abate)

score appear much closer than the victory actually was. San Antonio takes game-1 101-98!

We did a good job on their big-3. Durant's probably gonna get his, and he did with 27 & 10. However, we held Westbrook & Harden to 14 of 38 shooting (36.8%). Manu was the man tonight with 26-5-3 on 9 of 14 shooting in 34 minutes. Timmy had 16 & 11, and Tony had 18 & 6 plus 8 rebounds. Here's ESPN's boxscore..

That's 19 in a row! Game-2 is Tuesday night at 8pm Central. Look for several changes from the Thunder, but a lot more of the same from my Spurs. One thing I know - we won't have 14 first half turnovers!

ESPN's "Expert" Picks - Western Conference Finals

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I'll just give everyone a few days to take all of this in..

For now, here is a good synopsis of my opinion of Israel Gutierrez, written by Big50 at Pounding the rock dot com. (By the way he was the only one of these "experts" who picked the Lakers to beat the Thunder, but he also picked Heat over Pacers in 5, Celtics over 76ers in 5, Spurs over Clippers in 7, and (gulp) Spurs over Jazz in 7).

I'll be back with more..

Western Conference Finals are Set!

Thanks to the Oklahoma City Thunder closing the Lakers 4-1 a little bit ago, the Western Conference Finals are now set. Sunday night it will all begin. Not sure why they are waiting until Sunday, but I don't make the schedule. As always games 1&2 are in SA, and 3&4 are in OKC. Then 5&7 if necessary would be in SA, and 6 if necessary would be in OKC.

Last night the Clippers gave us everything they had - taking us right down to the wire. I was actually glad the Spurs got to experience a close game for the first time in quite a while. Spurs had SIX guys in double figures, and Chris Paul had his best game of the series, with with 23pts., 11 asst., and 6reb.! Griffin had another strong game with 21, and a few spectacular dunks, but CP3 had TWO chances at the end, but didn't get it done either time. Spurs pulled it out 102-99 for a second straight 4-0 sweep, and our 18th straight win. I'm not gonna write a review, but I'll certainly post ESPN's Spurs/Clippers game-4 recap, as well as EPSN's boxscore..

Bring it on OKC - See you Sunday!

Click for clarity!

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