Why can't this team seem to hold on to double digit leads?

[TDfan2007]

It's mind-boggling and unbelievably frustrating to see the Spurs play Spurs ball for one half, go ahead by 10+ points, then inevitably it all up in the 2nd half. It's been like this for as long as I've been a fan (2003) and I'm having a hard time realizing why. The worst part is that this problem seems to rear its ugly head in the playoffs even more frequently than in the RS. Here are some examples:

03 WCSF game 4: Spurs build a huge lead (16 pts in the 2nd and 10 in the 3rd) only to lose eventually by 4.

03 WCSF game 5: Spurs build a HUGE lead only to see it trickle to two in the final seconds and luckily win after Horry's 3 rims out.

03 WCF game 1: Spurs go up by as much as 18 in the 2nd and 14 in the 4th, but lose by 3 to Dallas.

03 WCF game 5: Spurs go up 66-49 in the 3rd, but lose 103-91 against a Mavs team playing without Dirk Nowitzki.

04 WCSF game 4: Spurs finish the first half up 10 only to be outscored 31-16 in the 3rd quarter and eventually lose by 8 to the Lakers...again.

07 WCSF game 4: Spurs outscored 32-18 in the 4th quarter and lose 104-98 to the Suns.

08 WCSF games 1,2, and 5: The Spurs were up at halftime in each of these games and seemingly playing well only to falter in the 2nd half (3rd quarter specifically) in each of the games.

08 WCF game 1: Spurs up by as many as 20, but lose 89-85 against the Lakers.

08 WCF game 5: Spurs up 28-15 after the 1st quarter, but lose 100-92.

Looking through recaps of the games I noticed that the 3rd quarter was the deciding factor in most of these games. It's also interesting to note that the 05 championship team didn't have setbacks like this.

With all this said I'm still at a loss as to how these meltdowns happen. Any ideas/guesses?

[sabar]

Every team goes through them and it is because basketball is a game of runs, it rarely is an even contest to the end. Teams exploit mismatches to run up the score and when the other team responds (or the winning team goes away from it), the other teams goes on a run.

A few blown rotations by a defending team can instill a lot of confidence into a shooter and send them on a hot streak. A good defender can get fatigued and have to be benched for rest. The other team might send an unexpected match up to start a quarter. The Spurs have been victim to them all, especially when it comes to giving opposing role players career nights against us.