Dex
04-17-2015, 09:55 AM
As February grew old in San Antonio, the Spurs were returning from a Rodeo Road Trip which had handed them a four-game losing skid and their first ever losing record for the annual cross-country gauntlet. The team was finally healthy after having key cogs out for maintenance all season, but the machine still just wasn't working right. The offense was out of sync, the defense was late, and overall players just weren't trusting the player behind them. Months of turning the key had resulted only in sputters, leaving the Spurs clinging to the 7th seed with Oklahoma City and Phoenix both nipping at their heels.
Fortunately, SPAM always rolls into town right around tax time. Four glorified scrimmages against the Kings (twice), Suns, and Nuggets seemed to finally grease the gears and get the engine to flip, and the motor started purring as the Spurs reeled off 21 wins in 24 games to claw and climb back into the Division throne and 2nd in the West. Not only were the Spurs winning games, they were obliterating good teams (11 off their last 17 wins were against potential playoff teams with a 10+ point differential) and playing with Top 2 offensive and defensive efficiency.
Most importantly, the glimpses of the Beautiful Game were there. The Spurs were winning with pace and space, and starting to slowly resemble that team that reached basketball nirvana against Miami last June. With one game left on the season slate, everybody penciled them in for the 2nd seed and started looking forward to the track meet that would be Oklahoma City vs. Golden State.
Then a strange thing happened Wednesday night. In the biggest game of their season, the Spurs stumbled for half of the first quarter, and a hungry Pelican smelled blood and swooped in from the wings to turn the playoff picture on its head. Give credit to Anthony Davis, Tyreke Evans, and the rest of the Pelicans: they saw their opportunity for playoff life and they deservedly seized it. In doing so; they also changed just about every match-up in a treacherous Western Conference which was just finally seeming to take some form.
Now instead of a rematch against the rival Mavericks, the defending champs are headed to Los Angeles and sitting in a position they have not faced since 2010: the bottom half of the playoff bracket. They are facing a Clippers team which has much to prove (particularly Paul vs. the Spurs), and who come as close to an offensive juggernaut as the NBA has to offer. They are going to need to be ready for a fast and physical series, and they need to come out with that same focus and trust that we saw at the end of the season when they tip off in L.A. so that we can steal back home court advantage.
Everyone assumes that the Spurs don't care about the accolades and awards and attention. They play the tune of approaching every game and every season and every series the same way. But let's be honest: we all know that Tim, Tony, and Manu want this repeat bad. They are already in plenty of debates for best trio to play the game, and defending a title is the one ding that remains on their resume. Another banner in San Antonio would help cement their place in history, and put the San Antonio Spurs in the same rarefied air as the Chicago Bulls.
Then, of course, there is Kawhi Leonard, a young and budding star who has never seen anything less than the Conference Finals. Something tells me he wants to go back to the big stage and take a run at a second consecutive Finals MVP (which could arguably be a third if he himself hadn't missed one of the Spurs biggest free throws of all time). And he will be the key.
They'll be ready, and they have all the tools they need to cement this franchise in the dynasty conversation, home-court advantage be damned. They just need to rekindle that faith and focus and fire that drove them last season. If they do, they can beat any team, any time, anywhere. The road will not be easy, but the rock does not crack on the first blow.
Let's bury one last demon and make 6 something to celebrate.
16 wins. Let's do this.
Fortunately, SPAM always rolls into town right around tax time. Four glorified scrimmages against the Kings (twice), Suns, and Nuggets seemed to finally grease the gears and get the engine to flip, and the motor started purring as the Spurs reeled off 21 wins in 24 games to claw and climb back into the Division throne and 2nd in the West. Not only were the Spurs winning games, they were obliterating good teams (11 off their last 17 wins were against potential playoff teams with a 10+ point differential) and playing with Top 2 offensive and defensive efficiency.
Most importantly, the glimpses of the Beautiful Game were there. The Spurs were winning with pace and space, and starting to slowly resemble that team that reached basketball nirvana against Miami last June. With one game left on the season slate, everybody penciled them in for the 2nd seed and started looking forward to the track meet that would be Oklahoma City vs. Golden State.
Then a strange thing happened Wednesday night. In the biggest game of their season, the Spurs stumbled for half of the first quarter, and a hungry Pelican smelled blood and swooped in from the wings to turn the playoff picture on its head. Give credit to Anthony Davis, Tyreke Evans, and the rest of the Pelicans: they saw their opportunity for playoff life and they deservedly seized it. In doing so; they also changed just about every match-up in a treacherous Western Conference which was just finally seeming to take some form.
Now instead of a rematch against the rival Mavericks, the defending champs are headed to Los Angeles and sitting in a position they have not faced since 2010: the bottom half of the playoff bracket. They are facing a Clippers team which has much to prove (particularly Paul vs. the Spurs), and who come as close to an offensive juggernaut as the NBA has to offer. They are going to need to be ready for a fast and physical series, and they need to come out with that same focus and trust that we saw at the end of the season when they tip off in L.A. so that we can steal back home court advantage.
Everyone assumes that the Spurs don't care about the accolades and awards and attention. They play the tune of approaching every game and every season and every series the same way. But let's be honest: we all know that Tim, Tony, and Manu want this repeat bad. They are already in plenty of debates for best trio to play the game, and defending a title is the one ding that remains on their resume. Another banner in San Antonio would help cement their place in history, and put the San Antonio Spurs in the same rarefied air as the Chicago Bulls.
Then, of course, there is Kawhi Leonard, a young and budding star who has never seen anything less than the Conference Finals. Something tells me he wants to go back to the big stage and take a run at a second consecutive Finals MVP (which could arguably be a third if he himself hadn't missed one of the Spurs biggest free throws of all time). And he will be the key.
They'll be ready, and they have all the tools they need to cement this franchise in the dynasty conversation, home-court advantage be damned. They just need to rekindle that faith and focus and fire that drove them last season. If they do, they can beat any team, any time, anywhere. The road will not be easy, but the rock does not crack on the first blow.
Let's bury one last demon and make 6 something to celebrate.
16 wins. Let's do this.