Golden: Spurs didn't see this one coming
Cedric Golden, Commentary

It was a rare sight outside the Spurs locker room.

There in the hallway, on the floor, sat a devastated Tim Duncan — all 6-foot-11 of him — being consoled by the man who brought him to San Antonio.

Coach Gregg Popovich stood over the cornerstone of this league power, softly speaking words that were inaudible to those who stood just a couple of three-point jumpers away.

They were trying to make sense of what had just happened, somehow seeking an answer for an 18-point first-half lead that got away — and how a team they owned in the postseason over the last decade could get the best of them not once, not twice, but in three straight games.

These are sobering times for a proud franchise. The Spurs have run into a Phoenix fireball and like many observers — including me — they did not see it coming. An 0-3 deficit in the NBA playoffs is death, and the San Antonio funeral procession is forming. No NBA playoff team has come back to win a series after falling behind 0-3.

It's happened twice in the NHL playoffs, in 68 years. The Yankees blew a 3-0 lead against the Red Sox in the 2004 American League Championship Series, but that's the only time it's ever happened in Major League Baseball.

So the Spurs will come out and play hard and try like the ens to keep from being swept on their home floor. Even if they win and retain a faint glimmer of hope, they will board that plane to Phoenix knowing the odds of playing another home game are slim.

"This team has a lot of character," Duncan said. "We're going to come out here in Game 4 and try to do it one game at a time."

By the way, that wasn't Drazen Petrovic coming back from the grave to drop 26 points in 13 minutes on the Spurs in Game 3. The kid's name is Goran Dragic, just in case we never hear from him again.

As for what's left of this series: it doesn't really matter if the Spurs get swept, lose in five, or lose in six. They're going to lose eventually, unless history is made.

It may sound clichι but the 3-0 bulge is not indicative of how close this series has been. The Spurs trailed by three in the final four minutes of Game 1 and enjoyed leads of nine and 18 points, respectively, in the next two games. No wins to show for it.

The Spurs will have to answer some tough questions this offseason. The biggest: How much longer will Duncan play?

He has two years remaining on a contract that will net him $40 million through the 2012 season, but the best power forward in league history has little else to prove. He has looked every bit of his 34 years at times in the series, while playing great at others. What's missing is consistency on defense. He isn't the cleaner-upper he used to be on the glass when teammates get beat to the bucket, but he is far from washed up.

Look for him to be back for at least another year.

Another question: Do the Spurs stand pat and keep this aging roster intact — the signing of Manu Ginobili to a three-year extension suggests the answer is yes — or do they make major moves in a free agent market that includes big names LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki?

History suggests the Spurs aren't in the market, because they rarely overpay for someone outside the family. The current nucleus is older but still effective, even if it's obvious the Western Conference is awash in young talented teams and players. The signing of Richard Jefferson has to be considered a flop — he's on the books for $15 million next year — so the Spurs need another impact player to stay in the top half of teams in the West for the next couple of years.

Those questions aside, Spurs fans should show that they love their team as much as I think they do, by packing the AT&T Center today. They should cheer as if this was Game 7 — because the reality is the Spurs won't see a Game 7 this season.