Dream Theater - San Antonio - 2012

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My wife had a private birthday party to go to on July 6th. I had already flirted with the possibility of going to see Dream Theater on their current tour - either in San Antonio, or the next night in Austin. I checked out the setlists that were being uploaded, and also made it known that I'd love to go.

Amazingly she surprised me with a ticket for my upcoming birthday. Since her party was two blocks away from the Majestic Theater in downtown San Antonio, it was a perfect opportunity.

So we met the birthday girl and her friend at Texas Land & Cattle for an awesome steak dinner before the festivities. My wife had a $25 gift certificate from about 2 years ago. So we had an amazing steak dinner for about $15.

They went on without me, and I walked over to the venue. The Majestic Theater is a super place to see a concert. They provide a full bar. They allow smokers to exit, and re-enter. There is really no bad seat when it comes to your view. It has pretty good acoustics, and it's a nice & tight intimate setting. I had a great seat in the lower mezzanine. This was my view:

The best one of only 7 pics I took..   Do click to enlarge!!


The set list was as follows:

Intro: Dream Is Collapsing (Hans Zimmer song)
1 - Bridges in the Sky
2 - 6:00
3 - The Dark Eternal Night
4 - This is the Life
5 - The Root of All Evil
6 - Lost Not Forgotten
7 - A Fortune in Lies
8 - Surrounded (preceded by Jordan Rudess Keyboard Solo)
9 - On the Backs of Angels
10 - War Inside My Head
11 - The Test that Stumped Them All
12 - The Spirit Carries On (Preceded by John Petrucci Guitar Solo)
13 - Breaking All Illusions
Encore:
14 - Metropolis Pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper

I thoroughly enjoyed myself (small $5 beers not included). This was my 7th time seeing Dream Theater. I so-o-o looked forward to "The Test That Stumped Them All," and it was absolutely incredible live, as I expected it would be.. even though it wasn't my drumming idol, Mike Portnoy behind the set. "The Spirit Carries On" blew my mind as well. It's been many years since I've heard them do this one live. John Petrucci has officially cemented himself in my mind as one of the top-3 guitarists AND musicians ever.

It was my first DT show post-Mike Portnoy. I must say that Mike Mangini is a super-talented drummer, but things just didn't seem the same without MP. I reflected on how sad I was when he decided to leave the band back in the summer of 2010.

• This guy was way in the back left, but he captured most of Petrucci's solo, and the sound quality is VERY good.

But here is a great video of the encore song, "Metropolis Part 1", captured by Gabriel Macias:



Then I was off to join my wife's party. It was a fun night!

Spurs Update - Western Conference Finals And More

I have a lot of stuff to post, but right now my heart is broken. And for the second time in three nights. I'll try my best to keep this one short, but it will probably be straight to the point.

I've been a Spurs fan since as long as I can remember. I loved watching George Gervin as a child, and was even blessed enough to attend one of the highest scoring games of all-time at Hemisfair arena. Spurs 172 Milwaukee Bucks 163 I think it was, and 3 OTs, even. It was February, 1982. George Gervin had 50, and Mike Mitchell had 40.. I got a bunch of autographs, and at the age of 10 I was suddenly a fan for life.

I watched the sad years.. the rely on Alvin Robertson years, and the Artis Gilmore years, the Terry Cummings years.. The years Rod Strickland was half-committed. Then we somehow won the lottery with the 3rd worst record in the league at 28-54, and were able to snag David Robinson with the 1st overall pick in 1987. He had to serve two years yet in the Navy, and then after a terrible season in '88-'89 in which David was hurt most of the season, we were lucky enough to draft Sean Elliott 3rd overall..

I watched all of these next few years as Robinson blossomed into the league's best Center, and we would go through other personnel like they were socks. Then the 1993-1994 season was the breakthrough season that everyone forgets, because we pooped out in the playoffs. But we'd be back strong in '94-'95 with a 62-20 record, and we advanced all the way to the Western Conference Finals against Houston. Jordan's Bulls had just won three straight, and the Rockets won it all in '94. But everything pointed to this being our year. Jordan had been retired for a year, David got the MVP, and we were up 2-0 in the WCF against Houston. Then Hakeem Olajuwon schooled Robinson for 4 straight games, and they went on to win their 2nd straight title.

Ewww.. wow.. Yikes!!

1996 playoffs, after an incredible 59-23 regular season, Utah's Stockton & Malone manhandled us, only to lose to Seattle in the WCF, who would then go on to lose to the Bulls in the finals because his majesty Michael Jordan was back.

1996-1997 was terrible for Spurs fans because David suffered a back injury while playing for the Olympic team in the Summer of '96, and after FINALLY returning, he broke his foot in his 6th game back. We couldn't win without him, and our record was 2nd worst in the league that season.

My father and I were on the golf course when we heard that the Spurs had won the lottery again - giving us the rights to probable pick Tim Duncan from Wake Forest. That day was a big day for both of us! We knew the ramifications of this guy joining our team, who's been dominant when David & Sean were both healthy.

Right off the bat we would go 56-26 in Duncan's 1st season, but it was only good enough for the West's 5th-seed in the playoffs. We took care of Phoenix, but Malone-Stockton & company would take care of us yet again in the 2nd round. This dominant Utah team would again sweep the Lakers but lose in the Finals to the Bulls.

1998-1999 was little different. A lockout had screwed a quarter of the season, but once action began, the twin-towers were in full force. With a 37-13 regular season record, and the #1 seed we lost the first playoff game to Minnesota, and then swept our way through the next two rounds. Through Lakers and then the Memorial Day miracle - Sean Elliott's three late in game 2 of the Portland series, after having trailed by as much as 18 that game. We go on to beat the Knicks 4-1 in the Finals, and the Dynasty has officially begun - if not before. That night I went to downtown San Antonio to celebrate. It was incredible as people were celebrating on every downtown street.

So now we were champions, and the Lakers were making moves like crazy. Phil Jackson has the nerve to call it an asterisk championship just because there was a damn lockout.

The next three seasons would be a trial of whether or not we could "get through the Lakers".

2000 playoffs sucked because Tim Duncan messed up his foot in one of the last games of the regular season. So then Phoenix beat us 3-1 in the 1st-round as a 4-seed.

Then two straight seasons (2000-2001 -- 2001-2002) My Spurs had incredible regular seasons, but simply could not get past an extremely dominant Lakers team of Shaq & Kobe. They won three straight, 2000-2002.

The 2002-2003 season we went 60-22, and finally were able to defeat the Shaq/Kobe Lakers in round-2 after a successful early series vs. Phoenix. We would take down a hot Dallas Mavericks team 4-2 in the WCF and then beat the New Jersey Nets in the finals for our 2nd Championship.

The next season was another beautiful 57-25 regular season, in which as a #3 seed we would sweep Memphis, and then face the Lakers again in round-2. With the series tied 2-2 at home, Duncan hit one of the most incredible shots in team history to put us up with .04 left, and then we all now what happened next. Lakers would then beat Minnesota 4-2 before getting beaten badly in the finals by the Detroit Pistons. If Derek Fisher doesn't make that shot, I truly believe we win the title that year.

2005, we have again won our division 59-23, and beat Denver 4-1 and Seattle 4-2, before a match-up with #1 seed Phoenix. Up 3-0, Phoenix won game-4, and then Spurs won game-5 to advance to the Finals yet again. This time against Detroit. And it was an epic finals in which the home teams would win the first 4 games, but the Spurs would win game-5 in Detroit on a Manu three. The Pistons came back to our arena and kicked our butts to tie it up. But game-7 in Detroit featured one of Tim Duncan's best games of all-time. Championship #3, and this was SWEET!

In defense of our Championship the next season (2006) we would do very little wrong compiling a Spurs' record 63-19 regular season, and the highest my hopes had been since two season ago - when the 0.04 shot happened. We had a deep team, and were destined, I felt. We beat an overachieving Sacramento team 4-2, and then had to host a Dallas Mavericks team who had won just 1 fewer game than we had for the regular season, in the second round.

This was one of the best series in recent basketball.

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Up by 3, Manu fouled Dirk on his drive to the basket (:25 left) the last play of game-7 in San Antonio. The ball fell in, and Dirk hit the FT. The game went to OT, and somehow the Mavs won the game. They then went on to beat Phoenix, but get their asses handed to them by Shaq, Dwyane Wade, and the Miami Heat in the finals. Once again if Manu doesn't foul Dirk on that play, I honestly believe we win the title that year as well.

2007 Yeah Spurs went 58-24 again. We rolled Denver (4-1), Phoenix (4-2), and then Utah (4-1) in their last appearance for a while... We would meet LeBron's Cleveland Cavs, and well... He was good, but we swept them for title #4.

The 2008 regular season was 56-26.. a stupid non-called foul against Brent Barry cost us game-2. Lakers go on to lose to Celtics in the finals.

2009 playoffs we get solidly beaten in round-1 by a great Mavs team. We never came to play, and it ruined another division title.

2010 playoffs - our worst seed (#7) in a long time due to tons of injuries, we got revenge on the Mavs, but then got swept by Phoenix who simply wanted it more. This was the Suns' last triumph for a team who was likely to be broken up later. They would then (of course) lose to the newly reconstructed Lakers. In Phil Jackson's final season, the Lakers would then beat the Celtics in their return to the finals.

2011 was a year in which San Antonio would once again create a new standard with a 61-21 regular-season record. The "old team" beat everyone until it came time to face the Memphis Grizzlies, who had won a ton of their late regular season games to snag the 8th playoff spot. They were peaking at the right time, and took us out in six games, before taking OKC to 7 games. OKC would then go on to the WCF and be defeated by the Mavericks in 5 games. Dallas would then win their first-ever title against Miami in six games.



The 2011-2012 season for my Spurs was the best season in a long-long time. If you've followed this so far, you know that we finished-off the regular season with a 10-game win streak. This is after already posting two separate 11-game win streaks. Both of those were nullified by Pop sitting starters.

So we sweep Utah.. Then we sweep the Los Angeles Clippers. At home against an OKC Thunder team that we beat 2-1 this season, we kick their butts for two games. We've won 20-straight now, and are up 2-0 in the WCF.

Thunder then win both games on their homecourt, and I'm not really surprised, but upset. Being certain we'd win game-5, this young-talented team finds a way to get it done, even after we had a substantial lead.

So I drink beers.. and am pretty distraught that our best team in years is facing elimination.

Game-6.. Here we are. Spurs come out and prove who is the better team. 34-20 after 1Q. Tony Parker, Timmy, and Stephen Jackson were on fire.. Spurs were up 15 at halftime, and Tony Parker was having another one of his incredible games with 21 points and 10 assists at halftime.

Our guys remained active on offense, but our defense broke down.. Stephen Jackson would go 6 for 6 from three, but Kevin Durant showed why he is the best player on the planet. Despite all the offense we could offer, the Thunder scrambled it to within 1 after three. We had this game.. We totally had it, and it was evident it was coming back to San Antonio for game-7. Then as Durant, Harden, & Westbrook hit just about everything they put up, my Spurs have gone completely cold.

Up 1 going into the 4thQ, Pop's confidence was as high as ever. But he apparently had a little too much faith in Gary Neal who went 2 for 7, and missed crucial FTs down the stretch. In the mean time we went scoreless for almost 4 minutes. The Tony & Timmy pick-n-roll worked almost every time, but defense lacked when so many of their threes went down. Down by 4 Fisher found a spot to hit a three to put them up by 7.

Via

Tons of calls down the stretch of this game has made me realize that Joey Crawford just had to get his revenge on Tim Duncan. I have already gone through the sadness. I knew it would take an enormous effort to win game-6 @ OKC.

Our season is done - just like many others. The .04.. The '06 Manu foul on Dirk in game-7.. The refs in the second half of this game totally screwed us over.

Game-6 @OKC - the Thunder and the refs closed us out.

Here is ESPN's boxscore...

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

Yeah I know I'm way behind. But I'll post two games right here right now. The way my Spurs are playing it's not gonna make me lose any sleep for doing so.

Game-4 in OKC was totally different than game-3 as I'm sure my Spurs welcomed the challenge of finally losing a game. Game-4 began with a lot of great interior play from the OKC big-men. But we would take the early lead 13-5 after some key jumpers by Tony, Kawhi, and Danny Green. We would then go up 19-12, and then the Thunder would hold us scoreless for almost 3 minutes. With 2 minutes to go in the 1st-Q, the Thunder led 22-19. Captain Jack and Manu had something to say, though, as the 1stQ would up tied 26-26.

Serge Ibaka opened up with a couple jumpers, as our offense took a dump. After another Ibaka dunk, and a Westbrook three, it was 43-33 with 4:43 left in the 2ndQ. Timmy, Jack, and Diaw kept us in it while Ibaka and Durant netted 4 more each. Once again our 2nd quarter performance lacked .. well, everything. At the half, we were down 12... 55-43. Jeeeez! As Pop always does at halftime, the guys get in gear, and Leonard, Diaw, and Duncan combined for 10 right quick. But Ibaka would hit two FTs, followed by another surge from both Ibaka and Durant.

Again down by 12, Duncan, Jack, and Manu would pull us back to within two! It was a massive, and necessary 10-0 run and it certainly quieted the OKC crowd. Manu has been Manu and he not to be denied. After 3-Qs OKC led 75-71.

Ibaka continued his perfection, and Harden would net 5 straight. The Spurs resolve appeared.. we would do everything we could possession to possession to stay in the game. Duncan. Leonard. Jackson.

But then Kevin Durant did this:


Enlarge!                                                                                                     Source

16 straight for OKC, and what a beast! James Harden then hit a critical three, and just like that we were down 9. Timmy, Neal, and Green would hit key shots in the last minute, but OKC hit enough FTs down the stretch to take it. Ibaka had a perfect game: 26 pts. 11 of 11 shooting 5 rebs. 3 blks. Perkins had 15-9. We did well on Durant, except for the dominating 4th-Q, and additionally on Westbrook & Harden. They were a combined 6 of 23.
Ibaka went 11 for 11 - Image Source (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Kawhi was our player of the game, but Timmy had 21-8. Thunder D seriously did a number on our offense. Here's ESPN's boxscore..

No doubt game-5 is gonna be one of the best games in recent memory!

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!

Spurs Semi-Finals Update

I totally should've posted my review of game-2, which was Thursday night, on Friday night, since -duh- our game-3 was early Saturday afternoon. Nevertheless, I'll just do two right here right now.

So in Thursday night's game-2 in San Antonio, the Clippers played us pretty close for most of the 1st half, or at least for the last 15 minutes of the 1st half. It was a half of runs. With the score 10-9, Clips, at around the 7:00 mark, the Spurs went on a 14-0 run, during which the "big-3" scored all 14. So with a 23-10 lead, the Spurs stretched it to 27-12, at which point LA would go on their own 9-2 run to close the 1st-Q 29-21. But this little run continued for 3 more minutes into the 2nd-Q, as it was 29-25 before Splitter finally scored for the Spurs at 9:11 mark - effectively a 13-2 Clippers run.

The 2nd-Q as a whole simply wasn't good period for the Spurs, as we shot 8 of 21 (38%) with several turnovers, while the Clippers put up another semi-solid 21 points. So we took a 46-42 lead to the break.

Similar to game-1, the Spurs came out on all cylinders to begin the 3rd-Q, and everyone was involved. The first 4½ minutes was a 16-5 Spurs' run. Yeah, 16! Our defense was fine as well, but LA shots were also starting to fall (notably Paul & Butler). But it didn't seem to matter, as Spurs felt confident enough to score almost every time down the floor. Danny Green had 10 3rd-Q points as the Spurs put up 32 to 25 from the Clips. The score going into

TP finally got going in game-2 Image Source (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

the 4th-Q was 78-67.

This is when the energy and defense were both taken up a notch. Neal, Splitter, and Diaw would lead another mini-run for most of 5 minutes, at which time the scoreboard read 92-76. Griffin and Evans were getting it done inside, but they had nothing to stop Tony & Tim in the 4th-Q pick-n-roll. Isn't that kind of a common theme this season? The combo would score 8 straight for SA during a 3-min. stretch that saw the lead increased to 19! Patty Mills closed it out for Tony, after a scary late foul Tony took. No idea why he was still in with 2:05 left in what was then a 17-point game.

Spurs beat the Clippers 105-88, after trading baskets a few times, and now lead the series 2-0. And we have now won 16-straight! Griffin had 20 points, but was held to 1 rebound. Chris Paul had another lackluster game with 10 pts. & 5 assts. Tony Parker led the Spurs with 22 on 8 of 19 shooting, with 5 boards and 5 assts. in 37 tough minutes. Timmy had 18 pts., 5 reb., 3 assts., and 2 steals in 33 minutes. Here's ESPN's boxscore..

Games 3 & 4 are Saturday 2:30 & Sunday 9:30 in a DUMB back-to-back in LA..

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Game-3 between Spurs & Clippers was at 12:30 Los Angeles local time in Staples Center, beginning a stretch of absolute craziness involving the Lakers, Kings, and themselves. Who didn't think this out clearly enough?

I knew game-3 in hostile territory was our best chance to lose, and as the game began, what I was seeing wasn't really anything I didn't expect. While the very beginning went pretty normal - Tony scores his 3rd bucket to bring the Spurs to within 4 at 13-9, with 7:00 showing on the clock. Over the next SIX minutes none of our shots went down. We had a mere 3 turnovers, but when you combine 9-striaght missed shots with the Clippers' 6 of 9 shooting, the result is a 14-0 run that no one really saw coming. But then again I think we might have. Blake Griffin was getting almost anything he wanted,

Griffin had a career-game Image Source (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

and everyone was feeding off the crazy crowd. So when a couple mid-run Pop-timeouts didn't work, the end of the quarter would have to. But by this time it was 33-11.

When the 2nd-Q got underway, Manu & Neal would hit a few shots, but so would Mo Williams and Nick Young. The lead ballooned to 24 at 40-16 with 9:17 on the clock. So down 24 (DOH!) Pop brought in many new guys, and for us that makes things happen. In just 2 minutes the lead was down to 18. Two minutes later it was 15. Then holding the Clippers to 5 pts. in the final 3:47 of the 1st half, Spurs would get 5 from both Manu & Tony, and 5 more from Diaw & Duncan, and the Clippers' halftime lead was only 10 at 53-43.

So now that it appeared the Spurs were going to, in fact, make it a game, the crowd was much less of a factor to begin the 3rd-Q. Paul hit a jumper, and then after a nice Duncan layup, Griffin would follow it up with his own layup. With 9:38 showing on the clock, and the Clippers leading 57-45, something happened.

For the next 8:13, the Spurs would hold the Clips completely SCORELESS, while themselves netting 24 straight!   During this stretch the Spurs would shoot 10 of 15 (68%), but the Clippers went 0 for 12. And just like that, we now had a 12-pt. lead, 69-57.

Spurs 24-0 run was legendary Image Source (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

They were stuck on 57 for a long, long time. After 3-Q's it was 69-61.

So now that we've outscored them 32-20 in the 2nd-Q, and 26-8 in the 3rd-Q, the crowd wasn't about to let us run away with it. The first 3 minutes or so of the 4th-Q saw back-to-back buckets for both teams.. Leonard's 3rd three, Manu, Splitter, Neal, and for LA it was Griffin & Mo Williams. Pop would take a critical timeout with our lead cut to 7 and 9:14 on the clock. Following the timeout, both defenses were superior, as more than 3 minutes later, our lead was still 8 (scoring was 8-7 for these 3+ minutes).

Tony & Manu were pretty much scoring at will by this point, and neither team could manufacture a serious run. As is often the case late in games against these Spurs, time would simply run out on the Clippers, and five straight FTs would cement the Spurs' win 96-86.

As improbable as it seemed at the time, now that I'm looking back at the stats & play-by-play, it's no surprise that Vinny Del Negro just apparently didn't have any changes to make during his team's 8 minute 3rd-Q drought. He did call one timeout, and there were two substitutions (KMart for DJordan, and later Foye for Butler), but neither of these are moves to initiate an offensive spark for your team. Similar numbers as game-2 for San Antonio, as Tony, Tim & Manu led us again, but this time Kawhi Leonard also had a great game with 14 pts. & 9 reb.

Blake Griffin possibly put together the best game of his short career on this night - he had 28 & 16 on 13 of 24 shooting in 43 long minutes - most of it early on. Chris Paul had 12 pts. & 11 assts., and Mo Williams had a very nice 19. Here's ESPN's full boxscore..

Spurs can end the misery later tonight in game-4 at 9:30 CDT. That would be 17-straight!!

Spurs Semi-Finals Update

Tuesday night the second round series between the Spurs and Clippers finally got underway. I only say finally because we've been resting for 7 days now. And now I find out we have a back-to-back this weekend? Such a crock! Its like "Way to go Spurs & Thunder! For sweeping your 1st-round series, we're going to reward you with back-to-back games. But wait.. there's more! It's going to take place on the home court of the team who doesn't have home court advantage!"

So game-1 began, and it was obvious that we were a little rusty. We missed several layups, and were allowing way too many points in the paint early on. But with all the shots we were missing, the 1st-Q score of 29-29 was actually acceptable. K-Mart would hit a few jumpers, which he doesn't usually do, and Eric Bledsoe was beginning to make a mark as well. Then Manu & Neal would hit back-to-back threes. After the game had been pretty tight throughout, the Spurs finished off the half with a 16-7 run: Our halftime lead was 57-49.

Two quick Caron Butler jumpers opened the 2nd half, but right after we would respond with 7 of our own, the Clippers took a timeout (65-53). Spurs would

Timmy dominated.. Image Source (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

proceed to score almost every time down the floor - responding to Caron Butler's 13-pt. 3rd-Q, but by the 1:54 mark, our lead had ballooned to 19.. 83-64, thanks to Manu & Diaw. Manu's 9-pt. 3rd-Q led us to the 87-72 3rd-Q lead.

After Jack extended the lead to 18 again, the Clips would go on a 10-0 run to close within 8 (90-82). Then our defense tightened-down like always for a 4th quarter playoff game. An 11-3 run combined with solid defense on Chris Paul resulted in a 101-85 lead with just 2:33 left. And the Spurs would close out the 108-92 WIN with perfect execution down the stretch.

1-0. I don't think they knew what hit them. Here is ESPN's boxscore..

Manu came through with 22 in 27 minutes. Kawhi & Danny combined for 31 and 12 boards, too! Boris Diaw is so important to us: 7 pts. 12 reb. 5 assts. and a +/- rating of (gulp) +24. Tony's was +26 even though he had a bad game - that goes to show you his stats don't have to be good for us to win. Then there's Timmy, who turned the clock back yet again with 26 & 10 on 12 of 20 shooting in 35 minutes.

That's 15-straight wins - and counting. We haven't lost since April 11th! APRIL 11.

Game-2 is Thursday night - again in San Antonio.

Spurs Update

This was Manu's game - Image Source (AP Photo/Colin E Braley)

"If the Spurs don't win game-4, it will be a waste of effort, time, and energy." --Me, Sunday.

Game-4 in Salt Lake City saw a sloppy shooting performance by both teams. Then Manu, Jack, and Neal scored 7-straight to take the early 1st-Q lead 22-19. And then our 2nd-Q lead would swell to 12, before the Jazz closed it to 8. At halftime it was 50-42, Spurs.

The 3rd-Q was pretty close throughout, as Devin Harris continued what he began with 9 first-half points. He has been mostly non-existent in this series, though. Derrick Favors started this one, and rightfully so, as he, too, was torching us. Then Manu hit two straight threes - his first two of this this series! Up 10, 68-58 at the end of 3-Qs, Manu, Splitter, and Green continued to pour it on - outscoring the Jazz 15-0 for 8:08 (including the end of the 3rd-Q and the first 7+ minutes of the 4th-Q). Jefferson would finally put a halt to it, but we were then up by 21, 81-60, with 6:00 left. So the Spurs relaxed. Players took their foot off the gas, and thought the Jazz were in "white flag" mode.

The Jazz played inspired b-ball from then on, and forced Pop to bring back Tony & Timmy. But it didn't help. It appeared we had already put the game on "coast". Jefferson, Harris, and company would dominate us for 5 minutes, and come within 4! It's the 1st time we've been challenged in weeks, here. But a critical Jazz turnover with :49 left led to the clinching lay-up by Manu , and then a few fouls & FTs later, the game was ours, but barely. The 87-81 Spurs WIN marks our 14th straight. We close-out Utah, and await the winner of Memphis and the Clippers. Here's the boxscore, and here's ESPN's recap.. Bench scoring: Spurs 56, Jazz 10. Jazz 3-point shooting: 0-13.

Yeah it's a sweep, as noted in my post last night, but the last two games were not pretty by any means! We now get some rest, and more importantly, some practice time, and then - bring them on. Whoever it is. Memphis might just pull it out.

Spurs Update

The San Antonio Spurs had two more days off between Wednesday's game-2 and Saturday's game-3. Of course there was travel time in there, and also a couple of practices. They took the court in Salt Lake City to face the Jazz just following an odd release of a sea of navy, gold, green, and white balloons. Doing this before a game is a new one for me.

At any rate - calming down their crowd must've been the #1 priority, because within the first 30 seconds, Timmy drew an "and-1", and another foul for 2 FTs, and then before a minute was gone, he had 6, and it was 6 to nothing. Offenses were both ready as it was 30-28 after the 1st-Q. Gary Neal capped it off with two-straight threes in the last 2-minutes.

Image Source

Alec Burks and Enes Kanter would carry the Jazz for a while, as our shots weren't really falling. The game was very tight throughout most of the 2nd-Q, as Manu showed signs of a shooting slump. Not only that, but Matt Bonner got 3 quick fouls in 4 minutes - the 3rd of which was total BS. No biggy, though, we have plenty of players. Danny Green, Tony, and Timmy carried us to the last play of the half. Cue Matt Bonner for a designed last-second play, and his only points of the game. Spurs 52, Jazz 50 at the half.

The game remained tight for most of the beginning of the 3rd-Q. Devin Harris was going off for the first time in this series, but Danny Green responded with 9 3rd-Q points. Jack also hit two key threes in this late 3rd-Q run that was 15-8.. from 60-60 to 75-68, where the time ran out in period-3. It was a span that saw the Spurs D hold Utah to 3 of 12 shooting, 2 blocks, and 2 key turnovers.

Before 75 second had expired in the 4th-Q, our lead was 81-68, thanks to Tiago's incredible post-play. The Jazz would then score 6-straight, prompting Pop to take a well deserved timeout.

TP dominated again in the 4th-Q - Image Source (AP Photo/Colin E Braley)

Derrick Favors came back with another layup, and our lead was just 5 at 81-76. But Tony Parker started to take control, as he often does in the 4th quarter. He and Manu would assist Jack and Green for layups, and our D would shut them down for the most part. At 5:09 remaining, and the score 90-78, Utah would come alive again down low. Millsap, Jefferson, and Favors were seemingly scoring at will, but so was Tony Parker, as my man had 16 4th-Q points, including the last 12 for San Antonio. We hadn't played a good game, but the game was never in doubt during the late 4th-q, as the closest the Jazz would get was 8. Spurs rolled to a 102-90 WIN. Here's the boxscore..

Utah responded very well, and Al Jefferson & Devin Harris had good games, as they should have in their 1st playoff game at home. We were even out-rebounded 49-41, but Favors, Millsap, and Hayward shot a combined 10 of 36 (28%), and the Jazz missed 12 of 26 FTs!

Game-4 is Monday night at 7 CDT again in Salt Lake City. No team in NBA history has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a 7-game series. If we lose game-4, it will have been a waste of effort. Let's get it over with!!

Here's your complete NBA playoffs update, if you're behind. All series are listed at the top for your convenience!

Spurs Update

Gregg Popovich - 2011-2012 NBA CoY - Image Source

Just prior to game-2 against the Utah Jazz Wednesday night, the Spurs head coach and general manager was presented with the 2011-2012 NBA Coach of the Year award by David Robinson and Tim Duncan. A nice little humble ceremony to precede game-2, it was. However, game-2 against the Jazz is the only game of the 2011-2012 season that I missed entirely, so since I can't really provide my own review without cheating, I'll just link you to the Associated Press's recap of Spurs/Jazz game-2, which is exactly the same at both ESPN's and NBA's websites.

What was so important that I missed it? Well, the Mass Chaos Tour with Godsmack, Staind, Halestorm, and Man Made Machine. But that's for a later post. Believe me, I was very UPSET when I found out the NBA had scheduled the first three games of this series Sun-Wed-Sat.. rather than say Sun-Tues-Thu, or Sun-Tues-Fri.. knowing that the concert, for which we had bought tickets several months ago, was on this night.

At any rate, I expected to be able to hang out in the foyer of the Alamodome's Illusions Theater from tip-off (6pm) to about 8:25 when Staind was supposed to begin. Would you believe that despite nearly 11,000 residents of the San Antonio area at this concert, there wasn't ONE friggin TV with the game on?

So I called my Mom a couple times, and found the game-center on my "stupid" smart phone. I noticed the 20-0 run because I had just noticed it was 31-26 before going outside to have a smoke, and check again. Upon my 2nd call to my Mom, it said 46-26, and we talked while Danny Green hit a three. So when I hung up it was 53-28. I checked a few more times, while waiting in line wayyy tooo
Kawhi gets my game ball (17pts. on 6 of 7) - Image Source (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

long for beer, and once I saw 101-66, I stopped worrying about it. I took solace in the fact that I missed a sweet blowout - rather than a sweet nail-biter.

No Jazz player had more than 10 points, although they did have 7 players with 8+. On the other hand 7 Spurs scored in double-figures, plus one with 9 points. Looking at the stats and the play-by-play, it was obvious that we were determined to prove our defensive abilities, as the Jazz shot just 34% for the game, and only 1 of 6 from three. The Spurs' dominating 114-83 WIN was our 12th win in a row! Here is the boxscore..

Game-3 is Saturday in Salt Lake City at 9pm CDT, and game-4 is Monday, with tip-off time still TBA. I expect much more energy from the Jazz, as well as a hostile crowd. It's always tough to win in Utah.

Spurs Update

Image Source

The Spurs begin the 2012 playoffs against the Utah Jazz. We have the home court advantage against every team except the Chicago Bulls, who lost reigning MVP Derrick Rose to a torn ACL yesterday. I learned today that we hadn't won a series opener in 6 straight series. Gulp!

It was the usual starters for the Spurs, except Boris Diaw started at center - rather than DeJuan Blair or Tiago Splitter. It didn't matter because Diaw had 5 early points. Jack and Manu had 4 each off the bench as 8 different Spurs players scored in the quarter. Both teams appeared a little rusty after 1-Q: 28-22, Spurs.

Having a highlight dunk already, Manu came out and did it again, but after building an 8-pt. lead, the Spurs allowed the Jazz 6-straight to come within 2, 32-30. Jack would then nail a three, and it was now that we would finally see Tony get going. He would have 12 2nd-Q points to lead us to a 54-47 halftime lead.

Both defenses were tighter as the 3rd-Q began, but the 7-pt. halftime lead was quickly extended to 11 about halfway through the 3rd, as Tony, Timmy, and Kawhi all earned it at the line. Gordon Hayward, Al Jefferson, and Paul Millsap were really the only ones scoring for Utah, so Pop was in the process of changing his focus well away from Devin
It's what he does - Image Source (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Harris, who seemed non-existent. For the next four minutes, we would see some serious brilliance out of the Spurs' big three. Pick 'n' rolls galore, and all three continuing to create scoring opportunities in the paint, including this beautiful Manu assist to Timmy. Then with a 74-66 lead, Neal, Jackson, and Bonner would all hit threes, and along with a super lay-up by DeJuan Blair in his limited minutes, the lead became 15! Bonner's aforementioned three happened late enough that it was a GIGANTIC crowd boost as the quarter wound down.

Leading 85-70 through 3 quarters, Tinsley, Carroll, and Burks were the guys scoring for the Jazz. Then Jefferson & Tinsley made 5-straight to pull within 8 at 89-81 with 7:31 left. For the next 6 minutes, Tony, Manu, Bonner, & Jackson would outscore the Jazz 15-6 with a few
MVP Tony Parker, again - Image Source (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

key steals, and bad shooting by Devin Harris. Tony would follow-up his 12-point 2nd-Q with 12 more in the 2nd-half, leading the team with 28 pts., 8 assts., and 4 reb. on 10 of 19 shooting in 37 minutes. Time ran out on the Jazz, and the Spurs grabbed the 106-91 WIN, and while it wasn't our best, I'm not worried. We were out-rebounded 45-39, we shot only 35% from three (6 of 17), and we missed 8 FTs (20 of 28). But with only 10 turnovers compared to Jazz's 16, and their 6 more fouls, we were able to pull out a game that wasn't our best - by 15. Here's ESPN's boxscore.. Spurs lead 1-0.

Game 2 is Wednesday at 6 CDT, again in San Antonio.

Highlights of the first weekend were Durant's game-winner against Dallas, and an incredible Clippers comeback from 27 down in Memphis.

Spurs Update

Finishing out the 2011-2012 NBA regular season with 13 games in 19 days, and 4 games in the last 5 days (geeeez), the Spurs traveled to both Phoenix and Golden State for the final two games. After complete warm-ups prior to Wednesday's game in Phoenix, it was decided that Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili would fly back to San Antonio, and not play these two games. However, We're also missing Gary Neal due to a sore shoulder from a great pick set by Kurt Thomas Monday against Portland. What was the most surprising, however, is that Gregg Popovich decided to fly back with them. So without four of our top players, and our head coach, Assistant Coach Mike Budenholzer would take the reigns for these two.

Both games were close most of the way, as the Suns were set finishing up with a winning record, but the Warriors were set on giving the youngsters some serious experience.

Wednesday the Suns even gave Nash a final hoorah late in the 4th-Q, down by only a few. It could be his last game in Phoenix, but who knows. At least the home crowd was prepared. So he came in the game, and promptly turned it over, after a pretty decent 8 pts., 7 asst., and 3 reb. in only 17 minutes. Shannon Brown and Sebastian Telfair led them in scoring with 21 & 20 respectively, but our energy was too high, and the Spurs pulled out WIN #9 in a row, 110-106. Patty Mills & Tiago Splitter both registered career-highs with 27 & 26 respectively, while FIVE others contributed 10 or 9 each. Here's the boxscore..
Splitter was huge - Image Source (Photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images)

Thursday night in Oakland, the Warriors started 5 rookies - marking the first time in NBA history any team has ever done so. They had started 4 rookies against us just 10 days ago, but this was unprecedented. Close all the way just as it was the
Mills had back-to-back career games - Image Source (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

previous night, the Spurs would capitalize on a few too many Warriors' late mistakes, despite being out-shot 52% to 44%. Patty Mills was again the hero as he bested his new career-high from last night by 7. He had 34 pts., 12 asst., and 5 boards in 43 solid minutes. DeJuan Blair & James Anderson followed with 22 & 19. It was Mills' two straight threes with the score tied at 95, and about 5 minutes left, that would ultimately do in the Warriors on this last day of the regular season. The Spurs' 107-101 WIN was the 10th straight win, as we were not only the only team with a double digit winning streak this season, but we wrapped it up in style with THREE of them (11, 11, 10). Here is the boxscore..

The San Antonio Spurs finish the 2011-2012 regular season with a record of 50-16, and will have home-court advantage over everyone except the Chicago Bulls, who also finished at 50-16. Thankfully, our first game is Sunday at Noon. I'll be back with more amazing regular-season stats later! WooHoo!

Here are the FINAL NBA standings for 2011-2012:

Click for clarity..

Source (ESPN.com)

Spurs Update

Wednesday night, the Spurs wrapped-up their second B2B2B of the season vs. the Kings in Sacramento, but they would do it without Tim Duncan (resting). I'm a little surprised at this decision by Pop, but I'm also happy that he's allowing Tony & Manu to go. So rather than Timmy & Tiago, DeJuan Blair would reclaim his usual starting slot back, along with Boris Diaw. As one would expect out of a team who has been playing SO many games lately, we came out a little flat & lazy. But the defense was there, and the shots started to fall. As soon as Manu entered the game at about the 7 minute mark, his impact was instant. We would go from down-4 to up-1 during his 5 minutes on the floor, and it was a tight 29-28 game after 1-Q.

The contest would stay pretty tight throughout the 2nd-Q, as our bench was shooting well, and the Kings' crowd was feeding their high intensity. It's hard to believe this team hasn't won more than 20 games, actually. Both teams were seeminlgy scoring at will near the end of the half, as Tiago, Jack, and Mills were leading our charge, but Isaiah Thomas and DeMarcus Cousins were surely responding. Halftime: 58-57, Spurs.

Thankfully, our hot shooting continued out of the halftime break. Not 4 minutes went by and we had already strung together a 12-4 run, thanks to points by all-5 starters! The back-to-back scoring-fest returned with Manu now in the lineup. Our growing advantage at the free throw line was starting to pay off, as we would close out
Neal dominated -Image Source (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

the 3rd-Q 97-86, with eight different Spurs scoring. The bad news is Manu would collide with Tyreke Evans, not to return. As terrible as it looked (Source), Manu would only suffer a laceration.

The Spurs opened the 4th-Q extending the 3-0 run they were on, to a 16-4 run that blew the game wide open. With the lead now 21, and Gary Neal hitting everything he's putting up, we look unstoppable, yet again. After a Kings bucket, we had another 5-straight (115-91), and from then on, all we had to do was not turn it over. It was a close one for a half, but our shots continued to fall - even through the final seconds. The 127-102 WIN was simply a second-half domination 69-45 that was too much for Sacramento (or most teams, for that matter) to overcome. Spurs had SEVEN guys in double figures, and no one had more than 17. Here is the boxscore..

We just went 6-0 in two separate B2B2B's - something no other team has done this season.. Not to mention it's 5 wins in 7 nights.

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Friday night the Spurs played the LA Lakers for the 3rd time in 10 days. This time it was back in San Antonio, where we were dismantled inside by Bynum's 30 boards, (60-33 overall) a week ago Wednesday in a 98-84 loss. Of course we countered with revenge this past Tuesday 112-91 in LA. But the "best 2 outa 3" would feature Kobe Bryant's return from a 7-game shin injury. Once again Timmy would have Tiago starting along with him, and yes - we like this very much.

Spurs' starters were solid to begin - especially in defense as we were up 15-7 half way through the 1st-Q. Kawhi was super on D, holding Kobe to just 5 1st-Q pts. on 2 of 4 shooting. Meanwhile Manu would come off the bench to score 7. But it was old-school Tim Duncan whose strong early 10 led us. Our 1st-Q lead was 32-25.

Not 3½ minutes were gone and the score was tied, however. Gasol & Barnes led their initial charge, but just as soon as we were down 3, our defense would tighten down. Already exhausted chasing Kobe around, Kawhi would hit a huge 3 to spark us on 9-5 run that included a sweet steal and
Bynum frustrated all night long -Image Source (AP Photo/Bahram Mark Sobhani)

following assist to Manu for a crowd-rearing three. The half would end with a lot of good defense, and a 56-52 Spurs lead.

The return to action saw Kobe come to form, somewhat, as he would score 9 in just over 4-min., but our offense was just getting warmed-up. Spurs would score almost every trip down the floor: Tony, Timmy, Tony, Diaw, and then Manu would score 10 3rd-Q points, while guarding Kobe for this stretch. After the opening 3rd-Q bucket Kobe hit, the 14 of 18 Spurs 3rd-Q shooting (78%) brought the score to 91-73. And just as Sean Elliott was beginning to point out how the Lakers' players were reacting to our domination by not getting back on defense, hanging their heads, and a flat-out folding with their attitudes, Matt Bonner and Gary would open the 4th-Q with 7-straight to open up a 98-73 lead.

Just one of our many pieces, Gary Neal, always seems to find a way to shoot late nails in coffins with his play. He would score 6 in the 4th. But halfway through the 4th, the Lakers would wave the white flag, and put in Jordan Hill & Andrew Goudelock. DeJuan Blair, with 6 4th-Q pts., Jack, and Mills would bring it home, with our stars resting. For the 4th straight game, we win by 21+. The 121-97 Spurs WIN effectively proved to the national media, and more importantly to the Lakers themselves, that the road to the 2012 Championship certainly goes through San Antonio! For the first time in almost a year, the Spurs' big-3 all scored 20+! San Antonio's pts. differential in our last NINETEEN games is +12.6, and that includes our 7 and 14 point back-to-back losses at Utah and at home in that terrible Lakers game, respectively! Here is the Spurs/Lakers III boxscore..

Spurs have 4 games remaining, and of course, they are two back-to-backs with a day of rest in between: Home games vs. Cleveland & Portland Sunday & Monday, followed by road games at Phoenix & Golden State. Yeah we can still win 50 - in a season with 16 fewer games than usual.

Here are the west standings through all games of April 21, 2012:

Click to enlarge! Source: ESPN

Spurs Update

The Spurs visited the Golden St. Warriors on Monday night to start a B2B2B, knowing this game would probably be just a formality in the grand scheme of things. Warriors would start 4 rookies. Doh! Spurs were at full strength. Very similar to the last game vs. Phoenix, we came out hot, and determined. In our highest scoring 1st-Q of the season, 39-24, there probably wouldn't be much doubt with this one.

That lead would be extended to 21 by halftime (70-49), a lead that would continue, with the Spurs' big-three on the bench resting - awaiting tomorrow night in LA - toward the 3rd-Q score of 96-72!
Neal leads the Spurs Image Source (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Golden St. would actually make a run to come within 18, but the excitement was never as high as it was in the final few seconds of the game. Apparently the fans get free food if the team scores 100 points. So they did what they had to do.. foul.. as if it were a game they were trying to win. But those terrible Spurs prevented it from happening. The final was 120-99, and a good WIN on the road, with the big-3 playing 41 minutes TOTAL. Already given that stat, we shot 39%, no Spur had more than 17 points, and we still scored 120. You gotta believe it. Here's the boxscore..

As it turned out, OKC lost to the Clippers while we were beating the Warriors, so as of now, we own the #1 seed in the West going into the game against the Lakers tomorrow night! And don't let the media mislead you - We were really already in first because we own the tiebreaker with OKC. Now they are effectively behind by two games.

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The very next night in LA, Spurs fans were delighted to hear that Tiago would start the game along side Timmy! It's about time, Pop! Seeking revenge @ the LA Lakers Tuesday night, it felt like a playoff game. The game was very tight for most of the beginning. Early large leads were 6 by LA (very early), and 6 by SA (mid 2nd-Q). Bynum was scoring pretty much at will, but so was Tony Parker. Spurs were also competitive on the boards this time, as this one had the look of a nail-biter so far.

Then something happened. With a 41-39 lead, and 5:41 left in the 2nd-Q, the Lakers would turn it over 5 times and miss 2 shots in 7 possessions, while my Spurs capitalized on 8 straight shots, and an 18-0 run. Our halftime lead was 16: 63-47.

In less than 2 more minutes, Tony & Timmy increased that lead to 23, and the rout was on. It's great when we come out and increase a big halftime lead in the early 3rd-Q, while so often we drop our guard and come out flat. Tony schooled Ramon Sessions most of this game, and our bigs held Bynum off the boards for the most part. Manu
Tony dominated - Image Source (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)

was also a force, as he shot 6 of 13 for 15 pts., with 6 boards and 4 assists. When Tony wasn't in charge of creating - Manu was. The end of the 3rd-Q was a scoring fest - 91-70 going toward the 4th.

Lakers brought this to 91-77 quickly with our stars resting. Manu & Gary Neal would continue the aggressiveness, and with an 18-pt. lead Pop brought Timmy back to action. This, along with starting Tiago, and resting the young guys, was a clear sign it was very important for us to get our revenge for the other night's loss to this team. Success.. we ran away with it. Tony Parker's performance, and Pop's coaching were HUGE statements in this nationally-televised game that we aren't screwing around - and beating the Lakers is just as important to us as being helthy for the playoffs. OK maybe not, but we certainly succeeded with our 112-91 dominating WIN.

We shot 60% to their 50%.. Tony had 29 & 13.. Duncan had 19 & 8.. Manu had 15-6-4. Bynum had 21 & 7. Rebounds were 37-37. So yeah.. this was VERY pleasing. Now the other guys are rested to go take care of bidness tomorrow night in Sacramento! Here's the boxscore..

Here's a TINY game review from ESPN:

And their resulting article from their Daily Dime. But the way ESPN configures their links, you won't be able to see this DAILY DIME after the next DAILY DIME is posted, so you may have to look around.

Here are the current NBA Standings after Tuesday night's games.