Dynasty : The San Antonio Spurs' Timeless 2014 Championship 9781633191334, 9781600789540

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S P E C I A L

C O M M E M O R A T I V E

B O O K

THE SAN ANTONIO SPURS’ TIMELESS 2014 CHAMPIONSHIP

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Though he usually possesses a low-key demeanor, Kawhi Leonard, the NBA Finals MVP, celebrates exuberantly with his teammates. (AP Images)

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Copyright © 2014 by Triumph Books LLC No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher, Triumph Books LLC, 814 North Franklin Street; Chicago, Illinois 60610. This book is book is available in quantity at special discounts for your group or organization. For further information, contact: Triumph Books LLC 814 North Franklin Street Chicago, Illinois 60610 Phone: (312) 337-0747 www.triumphbooks.com Printed in U.S.A. ISBN: 978-1-60078-954-0 Content packaged by Mojo Media, Inc. Joe Funk: Editor Jason Hinman: Creative Director Front cover photo by USA TODAY Sports Images Back cover photo by AP Images This is an unofficial publication. This book is in no way affiliated with, licensed by, or endorsed by the NBA or the San Antonio Spurs.

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CONTENTS

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Introduction........................................................6 NBA Finals vs. Heat.................................... 10 Season in Review......................................... 32 Western Conference Quarterfinals vs. Dallas............................. 44 Western Conference Semifinals vs. Portland.............................. 58 Western Conference Finals vs. Oklahoma City........................... 76 Tony Parker................................................. 100 Tim Duncan................................................. 106 Gregg Popovich......................................... 112 Manu Ginobili.............................................. 116 Kawhi Leonard........................................... 120 Boris Diaw.................................................... 124

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INTRODUCTION

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A Fictional Look at the Spurs’ Battle With Mortality

eary from an intense five-hour film session, San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich sat alone in his office. He’d sent the rest of his coaching staff home long ago, allowing himself some time to sort through their recommendations and game notes on the Miami Heat. Glancing at a clock that read 1:00 am, Popovich wondered if it wasn’t time to head home to his own family. The time-consuming responsibilities of an NBA coach might be understood by loved ones, but they’re not always greeted with enthusiasm. Organizing his notes, Popovich caught the sight of his breath in the air as the temperature dropped precipitously. He knew then that he would not be leaving anytime soon, not with his “guest” arriving. “I know you’re here,” Popovich said as he pulled out an old chessboard, two glasses, and a bottle of wine from his personal Rock & Hammer collection. He poured a glass for himself, sliding the empty one across his desk as had become his custom. “Have a seat and a drink. If you insist on keeping it so damn cold in here, this bottle does a pretty good job of warming your bones.” A shrouded figure appeared before Popovich, tall and lanky. The shadows cast by his oversized hood masked most of its face, its arms reaching out as far as Kawhi Leonard’s. In one pale hand the figure carried an oversized scythe, in the other, a large hourglass.

Death, or Father Time, whatever label one might affix to this figure, accepted the seat but not the wine. He never did. In a way, he knew Popovich’s offer was as much subtle jab as hospitality. Wine, after all, is a substance that gets better with age. This reaper rarely likes to make his presence known, content to allow the wild imaginations of men to build up his stature. But he liked bad publicity even less. So when reports of a basketball team defying age began to reach him, he had to investigate. He’d seen many superstar athletes wrestle with their own mortality, dragging frayed ligaments across the court trying to regain the stature they had when their opponents watched them years ago as children. It was always easy for an athlete to hang on too long even as time had taken a knee, ankle, or back. The Spurs were different. In some ways they appeared to be openly mocking him, garbed in black—his colors—while shrugging off his best work. The tallest one even adorned his bulky knee brace with a skull, death’s sigil. But few men ever gave his work the proper respect or appropriate fear. They paid tribute to him in the form of time and sweat during the offseason. Unbeknownst to them, Death would drop by to marvel at the amount of work and preparation they put in to offset the limitations he would impose on their bodies. They stretched more, worked out, ate better, made adjustments to their games.

Prior to Game 1 of the NBA Finals, coach Gregg Popovich takes in the scene of what would become his fifth NBA title. (AP Images)

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They didn’t try to beat age, they simply worked around it. In Popovich’s office, he and his guest were an hour into their game of chess. They’d been playing over the past few years, with the results always the same. Death never lost a game; Father Time is undefeated after all. But each time they met, the games lasted a little longer, that final move proving that much more difficult to execute. Death had a way of setting his opponents in traps, feigning a weakness in order to strike at an overambitious opponent. This false hope was among his favorite strategies, and it was both frustrating and curious that Popovich never fell for them, no matter how enticing the opening. Popovich’s goal was never to win, he had too much respect for his opponent to believe this were possible. His aim was merely to delay. In doing so he drew out information, picking up on strategies and tells from his opponent. Taking lessons from the chessboard to the basketball court was never difficult, he’d been doing it for years. Manu Ginobili worked like a bishop, slashing his way through defenses at impossible angles. Tony Parker a knight, weaving his way in and out of traffic. And of course, Duncan operated like a Queen on a chessboard, incorporating many different moves into his attack. Duncan was often the most powerful piece on the board, but one willing to sacrifice himself when the opportunity for a greater good arose. But what separated the Spurs was Popovich’s ability to extract as much value as possible from his pawns. From Danny Green to Tiago Splitter, Popovich has a way of coordinating each role player to augment their abilities. As the clock struck 3:30 am, Death finally cornered Popovich into a checkmate. Death removed his hood and shook hands with his opponent, who poured another glass of wine. Popovich flashed a victorious

smile, as he did after each of these meetings. It was something that always puzzled Death. “No one loves chess enough to be so happy after this many losses, yet you smile every time,” Death said. “My company is rarely welcome, and with the time spent here you could have been preparing for your basketball game.” Popovich poured some wine in the second glass and slid it, along with his game notes, across the table. Death picked up the packet, flipping through empty page after empty page, again puzzled. “I might never win, but these games are never wasted time,” Popovich said. “If you’re here, I can rest easy knowing where you’re not. And every minute you’re not with my players is another one I can put them on the court.” Looking over his notes had been a rouse. The Spurs opponent was never the Dallas Mavericks, or Oklahoma City Thunder, or Heat. They can’t control what teams rise and fall around them, they’ve seen so many come and go that they’re all the same anyhow. The Spurs can’t control when their time is up either, but they can try to delay it. In that, the only real opponent in these playoffs was their own bodies and time. Victories then cannot be measured in titles— the Spurs have already won a good share—but in opportunities. Another season playing at a high level is a small victory in a game everyone will ultimately lose anyways. With the night done, Popovich put his glass up and jacket on, turning to his seated friend as he walked out the door. “Thanks for another game. I have to go, but you should have a drink. No one will be around to think any less of you.” With that, Popovich left Death seated alone in the office, a packet of blank pages in one hand and a glass of wine in the other. Death took a sip and smiled. One day he would miss this. n

Patty Mills, who scored 17 points and nailed five three-pointers during the clinching NBA Finals victory, celebrates the NBA championship with his coach, Gregg Popovich. (AP Images)

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NBA FINALS GAME 1 JUNE 5, 2014 • SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS SPURS 110, HEAT 95

HEAT CAN’T HANDLE THE HEAT

Duncan’s Play, Green’s Late Threes Help Spurs Overcome Adverse Conditions

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nside a sweltering AT&T Center during the 110–95 San Antonio Spurs win, an exhausted LeBron James looked on from the bench, powerless to help his teammates stem a 23–7 run the Spurs used to close the game. James remains the most remarkable athlete in the NBA, if not the entire world—an unparalleled combination of size, strength, speed, and explosiveness. But like the Achilles of Greek mythology, the basketball gods that blessed James with such an impressive physique also built in one weakness, which he often wears emblazoned across his chest: Heat. Shortly before Game 1 tipped off, the air conditioning in the arena went out, pushing temperatures around the court upwards of 90 degrees. The body heat and sweat generated by the 18,581 in attendance turned the building into a sauna, which in turn caused James’ leg muscles to seize, forcing him to ask out of the game twice in the fourth quarter. The Heat superstar has suffered leg cramps throughout his career, previously most notably during the 2012 NBA Finals, but none as severe as when he had to be carried off the court for good with 25 points, six rebounds, three steals, and three assists following a layup to pull Miami within two with just over four minutes left. “I tried, and any little step or nudge, it would get worse. It would lock up worse, and my muscles spasmed 10 out of 10,” James said. “It sucks not being out there for your team, especially at this point in the season.” Immediately after the game a noticeably gassed Tim Duncan called the game conditions a definite factor, though

one that seemed to have little effect on his 21-point (on 9-of10 shooting), 10-rebound performance. “I don’t think I’ve ever played in anything like this since I left the islands,” Duncan, a St. Croix native, said. “It was pretty bad out there.” Not that Duncan had any sympathy for his ailing opponent. “In this situation I’m not worried about it. I’m worried about trying to get that lead back and trying to get that win,” he said, still gasping for air. “Obviously you don’t want anyone to get hurt, but all we’re focused on is getting back on the other end and scoring.” The high-scoring victory speaks to how the Spurs’ organizational philosophies propel the team past adversity. “We just kept pounding that rock like Pop says and fought through it,” Danny Green said. “Guys were tired, guys were dragging. We knew eventually they would get tired too.” It took three quarters, but Green finally managed to crack the Heat defense. Because of his reliance on others to create shots for him, Green operates as a barometer for the offense. When the ball is moving around freely, as it was during the first five games of last year’s NBA Finals, Green’s shooting can have a profound impact on the game. Through three quarters, the Spurs had amassed 18 turnovers (finishing with 22 for the game) and Green was 0-for-5 from the field with just two free throws made. “For us that’s the Achilles heel,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “When we have a game like that turnover-wise, invariably it’s a loss for us.”

Despite the broken air conditioning system that caused temperatures at the AT&T Center to soar above 90 degrees, Tim Duncan was able to manage the heat, scoring 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting. (AP Images)

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Eventually the Spurs started taking care of the ball, and when Green broke through, it wasn’t just the three three-pointers and transition dunk to blow open the fourth quarter that did it but all the work that had gone before. If Duncan hadn’t played in game conditions like this, he’d at least put in some work under more duress. During the lockout in 2011, Duncan organized workouts at a San Antonio high school, running sprints under the 100-plus degree South Texas sun. Among those that joined Duncan that summer was Green, earning Duncan’s respect and trust. “Honestly, the way he shoots the ball, I assume every time he shoots it, it’s going in,” Duncan said. “I think Pop has instilled a lot of confidence in him in the fact that when he has a crack, he can shoot the ball.” While Duncan and Green were used to steamy conditions from their summer work, a few of their teammates were also accustomed to the warm and humid temperatures. “It didn’t bother me. It felt like I was playing in the European Championship,” Tony Parker said, shrugging off an ailing ankle to contribute 19 points and eight assists. “We never have A/C in Europe, so it didn’t bother me at all. “ Manu Ginobili and Tiago Splitter likewise have similar experiences in Europe, but they entered the series facing a different kind of heat, having turned in such disappointing performances in the 2012-13 NBA Finals loss. “I played a couple of good games last year,” Ginobili said. “Maybe not really well in the losses, actually pretty bad, and that hurt me.” Ginobili entered the game and quickly set out for redemption, hitting his first three three-pointers and threading a few passes through Heat defenders, finishing with 16 points and 11 assists. Overwhelmed a year earlier by Miami’s speed, Splitter provided a solid 14 points and even managed to exact a small amount of revenge, blocking James at the rim. As the pressure and temperature rose, so did Ginobili’s performance, finding Splitter for back-to-back layups to open the fourth quarter. “I’m very happy to have played a pretty good game. I felt that I helped the team win,” Ginobili said. “But at this point, we are the same exact spot as last year. We are up 1–0, and they always come back.” n

Manu Ginobili had 16 points, 11 assists, and five rebounds off the bench in Game 1 against the Heat. (AP Images)

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NBA FINALS GAME 2 JUNE 8, 2014 • SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS HEAT 98, SPURS 96

WITH AC ON, MIAMI HEATS UP LeBron Scores 35 as Miami Evens Series

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coring 35 points and pulling down 10 rebounds, LeBron James finally found his comfort zone in the AT&T Center to lead the Miami Heat to a 98–96 victory to even the series, and it had little to do with the air conditioning making its NBA Finals debut. The heat that marred playing conditions in Game 1 never truly dissipated, it was merely internalized within James after the Heat star spent three nights simmering over nationwide cramp jokes and a missed opportunity. “My body just shut down. Basically my body said, ‘okay, enough jumping for you for the night.’ Nothing I could do about it,” James said. “I was so disappointed in myself. Angry at myself that I couldn’t be out there where I knew my team needed me the most. That was frustrating for sure.” Gregg Popovich often speaks of only worrying about what the Spurs can control, and for a night LeBron James wasn’t within their grasp. After a rough start, shooting 1-for-4 with three turnovers to put his team down 26–19 at the end of the first quarter, James got rolling. The same body that failed James in the Heat’s seriesopening loss was used to bludgeon the San Antonio Spurs in Game 2. In the second quarter James used his physicality to overwhelm the Spurs, pushing the ball off of rebounds for transition layups, throwing Kawhi Leonard around like a ragdoll on an offensive rebound and put back, and sealing his defender off for quick post opportunities. He overwhelmed Leonard with his physical play. The

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Spurs forward fouled out for the first time in his career, totaling just nine points, two rebounds, and a steal. “However the flow of the game is going, I just try to impose my will in some kind of way, either scoring or rebounding or assisting or defending,” James said. “Put myself and my teammates in a position to succeed, and I was happy in the fact that I was able to make some plays to help us get the victory tonight.” For all James did that the Spurs had no control over, the Spurs ultimately lost because of their failure to capitalize on the things they could. In a two-point loss, the Spurs shot just 12-for-20 from the free-throw line, missing four consecutive crucial free throws in the fourth quarter. Worse, they abandoned the ball movement necessary to counter James’ individual brilliance. Through three quarters Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili were attacking the paint without hesitation, scoring 18, 21, and 19 points respectively. But when James scored eight points in less than a minute midway through the third quarter, the Spurs inexplicably stopped moving the ball. “LeBron with the ball did a pretty good job at his end and we had to be really perfect at the other end and we [weren’t],” Popovich said. “We didn’t take advantage of things. We made bad decisions.” While the air in the AT&T Center was circulating once more, both offenses grew stagnant, which works in the favor of the team with the best player on the planet. After attacking

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inside through the first half, James started connecting on a series of long jumpers off jab-steps in isolation, pulling up for three in transition, and step-back jumpers off the bounce. “He was getting to the rim a lot,” Tim Duncan said. “I think we’d rather him shoot the ball although through a stretch he made four or five in a row, and he really kind of opened it up for himself and was feeling good.” Despite James’ performance, the Spurs held a two-point lead with 6:43 left to play when Tony Parker was elbowed in the ribs by Mario Chalmers for a flagrant foul. Parker missed both free throws, and Duncan followed with two missed free throws of his own as James hit a pull-up three on the other end to take a one-point lead. Parker answered with a three-pointer of his own a few possessions later to give the Spurs a 93–92 lead with 2:26

remaining in the game. It would be the last points they scored until a meaningless Ginobili three-pointer as time expired. “I think it’s a 48-minute game and we didn’t move it enough of those minutes, basically,” Popovich said. “It’s how we have to score. We can’t put it in somebody’s hands and have them create everything for us. It’s got to be a group effort and we didn’t do that enough. That puts a lot of pressure on everything else. It means we’re going to have to be perfect on defense, we can’t miss four [free throws] in a row, those sorts of things. You move it or you die.” Slowing down enough for James to take over, the Spurs did just that in Game 2. n

Though Kawhi Leonard is an excellent defender, he could not slow LeBron James, who scored 35 points on 14-of-22 shooting. (AP Images)

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NBA FINALS GAME 3 JUNE 10, 2014 • MIAMI, FLORIDA SPURS 111, HEAT 92

AGGRESSIVE AND EFFECTIVE

Spurs Dominate First Half, Stun Heat to Take 2–1 Series Lead

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uch was said between Games 2 and 3 as the series shifted to Miami, where the Heat had yet to lose in 11 playoff games. Some of it was public, as when San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich decreed, “move it or die.” Some of it was private, notably the “family business” conversation the Spurs had with struggling forward Kawhi Leonard. All of it worked. Boris Diaw replaced Tiago Splitter in the starting lineup —adding spacing and an extra facilitator—and the Spurs came out in swarms, moving the ball swiftly from side to side, leaving the Heat defense chasing ghosts. Hampered by foul trouble the first two games, Leonard scored 16 of his careerhigh 29 points in the first quarter and the Spurs hit an NBA Finals record 75.8 percent of their shots in the first half (25of-33) to stun the Heat 111–92 for a 2–1 series lead. “Oh, they jumped on us and were the aggressor tonight, they had us on our heels from the beginning,” LeBron James said. “This is something that at this point in the season shouldn’t happen, but they were more aggressive than us and they got off to that 41–25 lead at the end of the first.” Not known for creating their own offense consistently, Leonard and Danny Green are often good barometers to gauge how the Spurs are playing on any given night. When the ball is moving, open three-pointers and driving lanes present themselves and the each are capable of big nights. On this night the rising mercury shattered its casing as

the Spurs shot 86.7 percent in the first quarter. Aggressive from the start, Leonard caught the ball on the move in the Spurs’ third possession, immediately driving to the rim for a pair of free throws. As the Heat brought the ball down, Green stripped Wade from behind, racing down the other end for a fast-break layup. Two possessions later Leonard got the ball at the top of the key, blowing by Dwyane Wade on a jab-and-go move, driving right into the body of Chris Bosh for a three-point play. Green then poked the ball loose from Wade again, finding Leonard streaking for a fast-break dunk. Leonard scored from all over the court, at the rim, on pull-ups, hitting three three-pointers and six free throws. Green, meanwhile, scored 15 points in uncharacteristic fashion—going 7-for-8 with only one three-pointer. “They were the keys to the game, they took over the game,” Tim Duncan said. “Kawhi was aggressive. He’s been getting—we’ve been on him about continuing to play. And Danny’s been shooting the ball well. They really got up and tried to make him do something else and he made some great decisions there. Those guys were huge for us, they were the difference in the game tonight.” Both teams started out scoring at ease, each team hitting its first nine shots combined to start the game. Miami never really cooled down, shooting 55.9 percent and converting half of the team’s 14 three-point attempts in the

Kawhi Leonard drives to the basket against Miami’s Chris Bosh in the first half. Leonard scored 16 of his career-high 29 points in the game’s opening quarter. (AP Images)

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first half. But between Miami’s turnovers (20) and the Spurs producing perhaps the greatest half of offense in NBA history, the Heat simply couldn’t keep up with the pace. “We did it to ourselves,” Bosh would say, not wanting to give the Spurs credit. To be fair, Popovich wasn’t completely prepared to credit his team with everything either, calling their first half unsustainable. “I don’t think we’ll ever shoot 76 percent in a half ever again,” Popovich said. “That will never happen again. I mean, that’s crazy.” The Spurs shooting would regress in the third quarter. Coming out far more physical in the second half, the Heat stifled drives with a crowd of bodies at the rim on defense while attacking the basket at the other end. The Spurs were still moving the ball, but without the requisite edge behind it. As each of these teams has proven in the past, letting up just a little can spell disaster. Wade scored 11 of his 22 points in the third quarter, and the Heat used an 11–2 free throw disparity in the third quarter to cut the lead down to seven before Belinelli hit a critical three-pointer to maintain a double-digit lead headed into the fourth quarter. Not burdened with fouls, Leonard took over in the fourth quarter—scoring 9 points and holding James to just four points in the fourth quarter, forcing three turnovers. If James was guarding Tony Parker, as he had so successfully at the end of Game 2, Leonard simply drove by Wade for a layup. If James started to roam, Leonard made himself available for a pass and quickly attacked for a baseline dunk before James could recover. “He was sharp, he was very attentive,” Ginobili said of Leonard. “He had a great game on both ends of the floor. It’s really hard to make LeBron score under 25 and score 30 in a Finals game is really hard to do. So an unbelievable game by Kawhi, and one of the main reasons was the ball movement we had.” n

Part of a dominating offensive effort, Tony Parker goes to the hole for a layup during Game 3 of the NBA Finals. (AP Images)

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NBA FINALS GAME 4 JUNE 12, 2014 • MIAMI, FLORIDA SPURS 107, HEAT 86

TOTAL DOMINATION Spurs Shoot 57.1 Percent While Pounding the Rock (and the Heat)

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racking the trajectory of an errant Patty Mills corner three-pointer from the top of the key, Kawhi Leonard saw the sea of defenders part, leaving him a clean path to the rim like a runway clearing a jet for takeoff. Sprinting down the middle of the floor, Leonard launched himself into the air, extending his massive wingspan towards the heavens high-arching carom. In that moment, catching the ball at the apex of its flight path, the sky was the limit for Leonard, who threw down the thunderous dunk in the San Antonio Spurs’ 107–86 victory over the Miami Heat. The basketball world is still trying to figure out what Leonard can be as he continuously expands his game on the biggest stage for a second year, providing the signature play in perhaps the most beautiful display of basketball in the past decade. Making a claim for Finals MVP, Leonard finished with 20 points (on 7-of-12 shooting), 14 rebounds, and three blocks, steals, and assists. That he is doing this without so much as cracking a smile speaks to the Spurs’ mindset after blowing a 3–2 lead last year. “There’s no reason to celebrate yet. We are 3–1 in a great situation,” Manu Ginobili said. “They’ve been here, they won two championships in a row. If you think about it last year, we had two opportunities to win.”

After two tightly contested games in San Antonio, the Spurs stunned the basketball world by destroying the Heat in back-to-back games, the first consecutive playoff losses Miami has suffered since 2012. Game 3 brought a half of near basketball perfection, and yet somehow they came out even better in Game 4. “Yeah, they just…they played great,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “And I can honestly say I don’t think any of us were expecting this type of performance. Our approach coming into the game and everything was great. You do have to give them credit for that.” Truthfully, no one could have expected this from a Spurs team who appeared to have had their last great shot at a fifth championship ring in each of the last two years. But true to their mantra, they simply continue to keep pounding the rock, somehow getting better with each passing year. “It’s coming together,” Danny Green said. “This is the result of us working on this all season long, to become one of the best teams or last teams standing.” Few players work harder than Green, who prepared for the series by watching extensive footage of Dwyane Wade, trying to time his patented Euro step. Green only scored nine points, but his defense was crucial in slowing Wade (10 points on 3-of-13 shooting), even disrupting Wade’s signature move.

Part of a staggering offensive display, Tony Parker drives on Mario Chalmers during the Spurs’ Game 4 win. (AP Images)

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NBA FINALS

If the game appeared much more dominating, it’s because it was much more balanced. The Spurs’ defensive rotations were precise all night, cutting off dribble penetration, deflecting interior passes, and assessing the proper threats as they scrambled out to shooters. LeBron James may have scored 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting, but Leonard’s defense also managed to make that production manageable, holding him to just two assists and forcing three turnovers. “They’re both unbelievable players,” Duncan said of Wade and James. “They’re both very good at getting to the rim, very good at finishing around the rim, and we just wanted to stay in front of them and make their shots tough. “So we’re sending more than one defender against them. We’re asking Kawhi and Danny and the rest of our perimeter guys to do a very tough job in pressuring them and making their life difficult, and we’re using our team defense to make everything as tough as possible.” On the other end, things have rarely been easier for the Spurs offense, which exploded once Boris Diaw entered the starting lineup. The Spurs once again moved the ball faster than the Heat’s ability to keep up, hitting 57.1 percent of their shots and dishing out 25 assists. Leonard led the Spurs in scoring once again with 20, and Tony Parker had 19 points on 15 shots as every Spurs player scored with Mills contributing 14 points off the bench. A year ago the difference was the Heat’s ability to dictate the matchups, going small with four and five shooters on the court at all times and forcing the Spurs to get out of their comfortable Duncan-Tiago Splitter alignment. But Diaw has served as the Spurs’ trump card, bending every possible matchup back in the Spurs’ favor. Against the likes of Chris Bosh and Chris Anderson Diaw spaced the floor, acting as a release valve when the Heat trapped Parker or Ginobili. When Miami tried to go small,

they simply sent Diaw into the post against Wade. Diaw finished with a solid eight points, nine rebounds, and nine assists, but his ability to create and identify mismatches was just as significant. “You know, Boris does the same thing every night as far as helping us to be a smarter team at both ends of the floor,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “He knows what’s going on most all the time. He understands mismatches, he knows time and score. At the defensive end, he know when to help, he’s active. So he just helps the whole team have a better IQ.” If the impact that Diaw has seems surprising, considering where he was in Charlotte just a few years ago, just look at the entire team. Duncan appeared on his way out in 2011, suffering the worst season of his career at a time Green had been cut multiple times by the Spurs. Ginobili considered retirement last summer, when Mills was little more than a towel waver. Recovering from one of the most devastating losses in NBA history to come back and put a 3–1 stranglehold on a two-time NBA Champion with the best player in the world might seem improbable to the rest of the world, but for the group that pounds the rock, it’s just another day of the week. “I just think we’re playing Spurs basketball,” Parker said. “We’re just moving the ball and we’re just playing the way we’ve been playing all season. We’d like to do ‘good to great,’ making the extra pass, we preach that and right now we’re clicking. n

Tim Duncan puts an exclamation point on San Antonio’s impressive victory with an emphatic dunk over Chris Bosh during Game 4. (AP Images)

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NBA FINALS GAME 5 JUNE 15, 2014 • SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS SPURS 104, HEAT 87

REDEMPTION

Spurs Overcome Slow Start to Claim Fifth Championship “When nothing seems to help, I go look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before.” — Jacob Riis

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t had been seven years since the stonecutter last split his rock in two to be fitted into an NBA Championship ring for the San Antonio Spurs. Sometimes the rock takes more than 101 blows to do the job, and sometimes the hammer breaks, as it did a year earlier in Miami. In Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals the Spurs were just 5.2 seconds from winning an NBA championship. The Larry O’Brien trophy had already been wheeled out and the Finals MVP ballots cast. The Spurs would memorably lose that game behind a slew of missed free throws, rebounds, and a Ray Allen three-pointer. “Last year’s loss was devastating. I’ve said many times, a day didn’t go by where I didn’t think about Game 6,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “So I think in general, for the group to have the fortitude that they showed to get back to this spot, I think speaks volumes about how they’re constituted and what kind of fiber they have.” San Antonio would face no disappointment in 2014, finally breaking through behind a 22-point, 10-rebound

performance from Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and 19 points and four assists from Manu Ginobili to win their fifth NBA Championship with a 104–87 victory over the Miami Heat to win the series 4–1. “I’m not skilled enough to explain properly how we feel. Not only me, but I’m sure Tony and Tim and Pop feel the same way,” a jubilant Ginobili said. “Last year was a tough one for all of us. We felt like we had the trophy, that we were touching it, and it slipped away. We all felt guilty. We got to this spot and we didn’t let it go.” Following the words of Jacob Riis is easy when the team finds success every other year, but these Spurs are a team that has known pain in recent seasons. Memphis. Oklahoma City. Miami. Each heartbreaking loss over the previous three seasons felt like the end, and each time the team returned to the framed Riis quotes hanging on the locker room walls, printed in every language spoken on the Spurs’ diverse roster. The Spurs needed to be reminded of that quote early in the first quarter when the Heat stormed out of the gate on a 22–6

At 22 years old, Kawhi Leonard, the youngest NBA Finals MVP since Tim Duncan won it in 1999, celebrates by embracing his mother, Kim Leonard. (AP Images)

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NBA FINALS

run to start the game, putting San Antonio back on its heels. “We were a little impressed, intimidated by the way they started,” Ginobili said. “You know, LeBron being a bull and scoring 17 points.” It would take a collective effort to whittle the lead away with a 25–11 second quarter, and after the win those languages hanging from the wall were now represented by colorful flags draped around celebrating teammates. They hailed from all over the world—Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Italy—from different backgrounds and cultures united under one banner that will hang from the rafters of the AT&T Center with the words “2014 NBA Champions.” “It will be easy to remember from what we went through last year to every little step that we took this year,” Tim Duncan said, the image of him hugging Parker and Ginobili still fresh in everyone’s mind. “This will be a very easy team to remember top to bottom. We had a lot of guys that really laid it on the line, gave of themselves. We had guys that could have scored more, could have done more, could have been more this and more of that, but they gave it all up to be a part of one of the best teams in basketball, and that’s what we’ll remember them for.” We will forever remember moments from this team, just as we remember the previous four. In 1999, franchise cornerstone David Robinson happily ceded the spotlight for Duncan’s NBA Finals MVP coronation, the youngest to win one since Magic Johnson. On this night an elderly Duncan took Robinson’s role, watching Leonard win the honors at the same age Duncan first did. After a rough first two games with foul trouble, Leonard made up for lost time, averaging 23.6 points and nine rebounds over the last three games, all blowouts. With each game Leonard gained confidence, and by Game 5 he was palming the ball using Michael Jordan’s old signature one-handed fake, pulling up for three-pointers off the dribble in transition, and flushing alley-oop dunks. “He’s been unbelievable. He came in here after a lockout seasons, worked hard with us during that summer, and

I can’t say that I saw the player that I saw tonight at that point.” Duncan said. “He comes in here and we don’t know a thing about him. He works hard and continues to improve year after year. “He wants to do it all, and he plays with a confidence that is just amazing. I’m honored to be on this team right now because he’s going to be great for years to come, and I’m going to hold on as long as I can.” Watching Leonard’s teammates mob him after he was named Finals MVP, one couldn’t help but recall the 2007 Championship and how everyone reacted to Tony Parker winning the award. Then, Parker was a young kid still seeking validation, only a few years removed from Speedy Claxton playing crunch time minutes in the 2003 NBA Finals. Parker’s a respected veteran now, comfortable in his own skin. Like Claxton back in 2003, backup point guard Patty Mills caught fire and played a significant role with 17 points off the bench and a couple of charges drawn in 18 minutes while Parker missed his first 10 shots. A year after vying for another NBA Finals MVP, Parker spent most of this series patiently allowing his teammates make plays instead of forcing the issue against the Miami traps. “When you want to win a championship, you know your role players have to play well and our bench has been playing well the whole season,” Parker said. “Patty came in and made some big shots for us in the third quarter, and then he gave us a good lift to try and keep the lead in the fourth.” Mills has flourished in the second unit playing alongside Ginobili, who acts as the de facto point guard off the bench. Ginobili entered the series seeking redemption for a horrible Finals appearance in which he cost the Spurs with missed free throws and critical turnovers down the stretch. Ginobili no longer has the long, flowing hair from the 2005 championships, or the explosive scoring bursts, but he still has a sense of when he’s needed and enough magic left in his legs to provide game-changing plays. The Argentine shooting guard entered the game with the Spurs down 22–6 and promptly scored 14 of his 19 points in

Manu Ginobili, who looked spry throughout the NBA Finals and scored 19 points during Game 5, elevates over Chris Bosh in the NBA Finals. (AP Images)

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the first half, capped off by an explosive dunk over Chris Bosh reminiscent of a 2005 slam over the Detroit Pistons. “In the heat of battle with the adrenaline pumping and the situation really, I don’t know what happened,” Ginobili said. “I went hard and once I was in the air I felt like I had a shot and I tried. I think it helped me, and it helped the team too to get pumped up.” None were more pumped than Duncan, who entered the playoffs acknowledging his career was nearing its end. In 2007 Duncan sought out and embraced a young LeBron James after sweeping an overmatched Cleveland Cavaliers. “This is going to be your league in a little while,” Duncan said. “I appreciate you giving us this year.” That was seven years ago and now James is in the middle of his prime while Leonard, the future face of the franchise, just collected his first NBA Finals MVP trophy. It’s been 11 years since past and present of the Spurs played side-by-side in the NBA Finals, and with the long-retired Robinson watching in the crowd, Duncan walked over to his children on Father’s Day as David had done years earlier, carrying them with more pride than he ever did his MVP trophies. “For whatever reason it is sweeter than any other, whether it be because of the timeframe, because I’m coming towards the end of my career, because I have these two here and really remember it and enjoy the experience,” Duncan said. “It’s amazing to think about having done this five times. The kind of company I’m in, the people who have had such amazing careers and having had the ability to have one, and for the stretch, and the span between them, to still be in a situation where we can win or I can win another championship is just an amazing blessing, and it’s not to be taken lightly.” n

After averaging 17.8 points on 61 percent shooting in the series to earn NBA Finals MVP honors, Kawhi Leonard meets with the media. (AP Images)

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With the trophy sitting in front of him, Tim Duncan celebrates the franchise’s fifth NBA championship with his Spurs teammates. (AP Images)

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REGULAR SEASON

SEASON IN REVIEW

TIMELESS

Spurs Winning Culture Produces Fifth NBA Title

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ow do you define a franchise run that spans 15 consecutive 50-win seasons and 17 straight playoff appearances, with the 37–13 1999 NBA lockout championships team standing out as the only non-50-win anomaly? Greatness is too vague a descriptor, and one that doesn’t do enough to differentiate the Spurs from any other multiple-championships team. Dominant? No, the Spurs have had some dominant stretches, but this run has been one of sustained success more than overwhelming foes. With five championships spread across 15 years, there’s only one suitable word for this Spurs dynasty—timeless. For 16 years Tim Duncan has been the rock upon which the San Antonio Spurs have built their foundations, and Gregg Popovich the architect. The landscape around the organization has changed drastically in that time, with longtime rivals falling into cycles of decay and rebirth while new landmarks emerge and whither. But Duncan and the Spurs have persisted, their

consecutive 50-win seasons remaining a fixed point of success for other teams to reference, like the North Star in the night sky. The face of the franchise hasn’t changed much over the years, though his stoic façade— once famous for expressing nothing—now reveals the slightest lines of age. Not even Mount Rushmore is immune to the weathering effects of time, after all. Next to him, Manu Ginobili’s bald spot is significantly more prominent, but the eyes still reflect the fiery competitiveness present a decade earlier. The French kid that Duncan once ignored for Tony Parker’s entire rookie season has matured into the team’s best player and a respected peer. It would be fair to wonder how long they have left, or where the Spurs go from that point, except in recent years they’ve added a new face in Kawhi Leonard, who promises to be the face of the franchise for the decade following the Duncan era. Fittingly, his is a face that never smiles either, ensuring that even as things change they’ll continue to remain the same.

Gregg Popovich, the 2014 NBA Coach of the Year, guided the Spurs to an NBA-best 62–20 last year. (AP Images)

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RISE OF THE FOREIGN LEGION

The San Antonio Spurs were 22 seconds, five points, and two rebounds away from securing their fifth NBA Championship a year ago. No one has ever come closer without actually holding the Larry O’Brien trophy in their hands. Lesser defeats have crumbled equally talented teams. But the Spurs, with their ethos steeped in Jacob Riis’ pounding the rock mantra, are uniquely insulated from the negative aspects of success or defeat. On their first day back, Popovich showed his team film of Games 6 and 7, putting them face-to-face with their biggest failure. Then the team got back to work. On film the Spurs watched the greatest player in the world figure out and unravel their schemes, an injury to Parker lower their ceiling, and Duncan and Ginobili taxed to the limits of their aging

bodies. Conquering LeBron James would need more than any individual on the team could give, it would have to be a collective effort. Over the years the Spurs have collected talent from around the world, cultivating a mini-United Nations on their bench that would collectively come to be known as the Foreign Legion. The lineup consisting of Patty Mills (Australia), Ginobili (Argentina), Marco Belinelli (Italy), Boris Diaw (France) and an additional big man—normally Tiago Splitter (Brazil), but sometimes filled by Aron Baynes (Australia) or Matt Bonner (who is as Canadian as an American can get). The rise of the Foreign Legion began with a bet between Mills and Diaw over the summer, with Diaw challenging Mills to get his body fat below 7 percent. Mills came in at roughly

Opposite: Patty Mills (8) celebrates hitting one of his three three-pointers against the Grizzlies during the Spurs’ 101–94 home victory in October. Above: Coach Gregg Popovich rallies his troops during the second half of San Antonio’s 122–105 win against the Thunder in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. (AP Images)

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5 percent; Diaw of course refused to enter the bet himself. The difference was immediately noticeable. On opening night Mills entered the game against the Memphis Grizzlies and quickly blew the game wide open with a reverse layup and three straight three-pointers. A sleeker Mills also asserted himself on defense, pestering opponents the length of the floor and using his energy to disrupt offenses. In the best shape of his life, Mills averaged 10.2 points per game, providing a much-needed supply of scoring bursts and energy off the bench. “He was a little fat ass, he had too much junk in the trunk,” Popovich joked when asked why Mills didn’t play the previous season. “His decision making wasn’t great and he wasn’t in great shape. He changed his entire body, he came back svelte and cut and understood you have to make better decisions, point guard type decisions. He did all those things better and he earned it. He’s been real important to us.” Diaw’s contributions extended well beyond weight loss challenges. No one has ever questioned Diaw’s basketball IQ, but not since his breakout season in Phoenix had he used that IQ to be a constant threat from everywhere on the floor. Buoyed by a European championship Gold Medal over the summer, Diaw returned aggressively seeking catch and shoot opportunities, backing down overmatched, smaller defenders, and using surprising mobility and craft to attack the basket, all of which have helped complement his unique passing ability. “He’s a very versatile player. Some players have a feel for the game that is better than others, he’s one of those,” Popovich said. “And on defense, although he’s carrying around a bit of luggage, he does his work early and positions himself pretty well.” Tying the entire bench together was Ginobili, who rebounded from a disastrous

To honor the servicemen and women of the Armed Forces, the Spurs wore military-inspired camouflage uniforms for their 92–79 victory against the Wizards in November. (AP Images)

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NBA Finals to reclaim his spot as one of the NBA’s best sixth men. No longer an explosive scorer, Ginobili’s playmaking remains an integral part of the second unit, creating plays for teammates and rapidly integrating players like Marco Belinelli—the NBA’s three-point champion this season—into the system. “For me, playing with him is a dream. He helps me a lot in my transition to becoming a better player,” Belinelli said. “I really love to play with guys that love to move the ball, like Boris and Manu. And the system that we play is all about ball movement and great shots.” With the foreign legion, the Spurs led the NBA in bench points and bench assists, passing the ball more than any other team in the league. Over the course of an early season 11game winning streak they helped open up leads of 37, 29, 25, 12, 19, 16, 43, and 32, providing much-needed rest for their aging stars. “They’ve proven that they bring that energy and they really change the pace of the game when they get in there,” Duncan said. “They’ve been great all season long. We sit there and we’re excited for them”

GOOD TO GREAT, HOW THE SYSTEM BECAME A STAR

Popovich’s system gets a lot of credit, but it’s largely been a vehicle driven by its stars who generate its momentum and then ride the waves of perpetual motion. But with the rise of the Foreign Legion, the hardware (players) might have caught up enough with the programming to mark this as the year the Spurs’ system became completely selfsustaining, like the Terminator or Matrix machines of science-fiction, gaining sentience and wondering why the hell it had to cater to the whims of such flawed individuals. Originally designed around the dominant inside work of Duncan, Popovich’s system has

After Kawhi Leonard and the Spurs lost to Carmelo Anthony’s Knicks to begin the 2014 year, San Antonio rattled off six consecutive victories. (AP Images)

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evolved to accommodate new players and skill sets, and the new realities of his aging players. “It’s a motion offense, it’s malleable. It’s ever-changing in the sense that when players are moving and the ball is moving, sometimes things happen on offense that you didn’t even plan on, that players just do, and it becomes part of the offense,” Popovich said. “But basically, back in the late 90s, [Brett Brown], [Mike Budenholzer] and I and coach Hank Egan decided how we wanted to play, what kind of offense we wanted to use and we decided on a motion offense and put in the basics. And each year we would tweak it a little bit ourselves, we’d add something we saw the players do. So it evolved and continues to evolve. It doesn’t stay exactly the same but the base is always there.” Those basics are predicated on moving the ball and bodies from side-to-side, shifting the defense around until a clear driving or passing lane presents itself. What makes it so dangerous is they expertly space the floor with a diverse range of skills sets, with Popovich designing enough wrinkles for anyone to drive the offense for stretches. Danny Green may not be a threat off the bounce, but he’s proven quite proficient at cutting against the grain of defenders to create open passing lanes. Leonard is an emerging slasher with good range, a reliable post game, and a solid pull-up jumper. Mills is a blur and marksman, but isn’t dynamic with his dribble, so the Spurs run him off a series of curls and handoffs, using his speed and the threat of his shot to bend the defense. And Diaw is an amorphous ball of clay, shaping his game to suit whatever his team needs that day. The key to the Spurs offense, however, is getting the defense into its initial rotations to put scrambling defenders at their ball movement’s mercy. A year ago, Parker and Ginobili were the only consistent sources

Serge Ibaka of the Thunder, a team that went undefeated against the Spurs in the regular season before falling in the playoffs to them, tries to block Kawhi Leonard’s shot during an April game. (AP Images)

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REGULAR SEASON at breaking down the initial defense. But on a team where no player averaged 30 minutes a game, and key players sat stretches of time, the Spurs marched on. No one player was all-important, and yet, the development of one would push them over the top.

KAWHI LEONARD AND THE SPURS’ 19-GAME WINNING STREAK

As good as the Spurs were in the win-loss column all year, through the first few months of the regular season a definite fog or malaise persisted, perhaps a hangover from their Finals loss. Duncan opened up the season struggling, averaging just 13.5 points per game on 43.5 percent shooting the first month of the season. Expectations of Kawhi Leonard emerging as an All-Star met early disappointment, averaging a little more than 11 points per game over the first three months of the season. He and Green struggled with their three-point shots early, and the Spurs starting lineup declined from 106 points per 100 possessions (a measurement used to adjust for pace) the year before to 91.4 points per 100 possessions before temporarily moving Belinelli in the starting lineup for Green. The starters’ defense and the bench was usually enough to carry the day, but through the end of January the Spurs were just 1–11 against the elite teams in the NBA (Miami Heat, Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers, and Los Angeles Clippers). To make matters worse, Danny Green and Leonard each suffered fractured metacarpals towards the end of January, leading to this blunt assessment from Ginobili: “When it happens the first three times, four times, five times, then you say, ‘okay, things happen,’ but now it’s eight losses, so there has to be a tendency now,” Ginobili said early in the season. “I guess at the moment we’re not ready to beat them. They’re very talented, everybody is more athletic than us. To beat these types of teams, we’ve got to be even sharper, more precise, and at this point, we are not.” Leonard watched as his teammates struggled without him, going a mediocre 8–6 in his absence, dropping three consecutive games to the Heat, Rockets and Bulls. Being forced to sit and watch isn’t easy for a player who practically

lives in a basketball gym, but it wasn’t without its benefits. “I feel like I just took the negative of me being hurt and watched the team to see how things run and just seeing how I could help,” Leonard told USA Today. “When they won the games or lost the games, it was about just seeing how I can help and just work off our top three guys—Tim, Tony, Manu— just to see how I can help them out on the floor.” When the Spurs returned home from their annual Rodeo Road Trip after dropping a game to the Phoenix Suns, Leonard was waiting. Applying what he learned, Leonard had 16 points, six rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and two steals in his return in a 120–110 win over the Detroit Pistons, along with praise from Duncan. “He made a huge difference for us on both ends,” Duncan said. “Just having his length in there, especially in situations where they’re very good on the offensive glass, it was just great all around to have him back.” With Leonard back in the fold the Spurs would win 19 straight before losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder 106–94, with notable victories over the Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, Portland Trail Blazers, and Golden State Warriors (twice). “I think that the biggest component right now with what the Spurs are doing is because of Kawhi,” Bruce Bowen—the man who once provide the lockdown component that Leonard’s defense now draws comparisons to—said. “He is long and can play defense. He gives you more of a complete player as far as someone who can have a complete impact on the game.” After his return from injury Leonard averaged 14.7 points per game on 53.1 percent shooting (44.4 percent from three), 6.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.2 blocks, closer in line to the NBA Finals numbers that caught everybody’s attention a year ago. When people wondered what more the Spurs might have left to give, the most obvious answer was Kawhi Leonard. After years of pounding the rock, and half a season of stalled development, the Spurs found their new hammer in Leonard, who carried himself much like their previous one in Duncan. As one era draws towards its close, the playoffs would serve as a launching point for another. n

Coach Gregg Popovich talks to forward Kawhi Leonard, who had 17 points during the Spurs’ 110–108 overtime victory in January. (AP Images)

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WESTERN CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS GAME 1 APRIL 20, 2014 • SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS SPURS 90, MAVERICKS 85

A WINNING FORMULA

Duncan Leads Spurs to Victory from Double-Digit Deficit

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ven 17 years into Tim Duncan’s career, the formula remains remarkably effective. Duncan anchored a strong inside game with 27 points and seven rebounds, a “stops on demand” defense held the Dallas Mavericks to one field goal over the last 7:45, and the San Antonio Spurs rallied from a double-digit deficit for a 90–85 Game 1 victory. Perhaps the most appropriate way to start this championship run was against the one longtime rival who had stood the same test of time as Duncan himself. “We’ve had some great games,” Duncan said of Dirk Nowitzki. “We’ve put up some classics against each other, playoff games, regular-season games, whatever it may be. It’s been a lot of fun.” Neither is at the top of his powers anymore, though downgrading from legendary to merely great makes the term “decline” relative. Nowitzki struggled in the opening salvo with 11 points on 4-of-14 shooting, felled by solid defensive work from Tiago Splitter and some unfortunate bounces. But the threat of Nowitzki, combined with coach Rick Carlisle’s schemes, kept Dallas resourceful enough to nearly take the first game. In picking their poison, the Mavericks chose to switch all pick-and-rolls, staying at home with shooters and daring Tony Parker and Duncan to beat them one-on-one. For a quarter it looked like a foolish proposition as Parker zoomed past Samuel Dalembert and Nowitzki for 17 of his 21 points in the first half.

But the tactic stagnated the ball movement that had been the bench’s lifeblood all season, and with Devin Harris pulling a 19-point, five-assist performance from his 2006 archives, the Mavericks’ bench outscored San Antonio’s 46–23. A knee-to-knee collision suffered by Duncan late in the third appeared to portend disaster, and Dallas seized momentum while trainer Will Sevening tended to Duncan. The formula was familiar, with Carlisle’s schemes doing just enough to turn things over to Nowitzki for a big finish in the fourth—only that finish never came. Duncan returned to stop the bleeding and Kawhi Leonard and Splitter locked in on the Nowitzki-Monta Ellis pickand-roll. Splitter’s length afforded him the ability to bother any Ellis pull-up without straying too far from Nowitzki; Leonard’s ability to recover and fight through screens assured Splitter didn’t have to. Behind Leonard and Splitter stood over a decade’s worth of defensive rotations and playoff battles, all ingrained into the muscle memory of Duncan, who called out defensive orders, settled the offense, and found the cracks in the Mavericks’ schemes. “I wish I had his four or five championships, however many he’s got,” Nowitzki said. “He’s probably the best power forward ever to play this game.” Through sheer persistence and reinvention, Duncan and Nowitzki seem destined to face-off forever, churning out one playoff classic after another. The opening round of the 2014 NBA playoffs proved to be no different. n

Tony Parker’s excellent shooting contributed to the Spurs’ decisive victory over the Mavericks in Game 1 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals; he went 7-for-10 before halftime. (AP Images)

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WESTERN CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS GAME 2 APRIL 23, 2014 • SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS MAVERICKS 113, SPURS 92

MAVERICKS STIFLE SPURS

Turnovers and Missed Free Throws Plague San Antonio in Loss

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n most nights the San Antonio Spurs are a highly sophisticated basketball machine, instantaneously processing countless basketball reads on any given possession. But like all complex machines, sometimes even the slightest misfire can reverberate throughout the entire system, crashing everything. In Game 2, that machine was brought to a grinding halt. Monta Ellis and Shawn Marion had 21 and 20 points respectively, pilfering three steals apiece to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 113–92 victory. The Spurs explored every conceivable way to blow a home playoff game, turning the ball over 24 times, leading to 33 points, and missing 11 of their 29 free throws. Though the Spurs shot 50 percent from the field and behind the threepoint line, they gifted an elite Mavericks offense 28 more field goal attempts. “They got almost 30 more shots than we did. We shot ourselves in the foot and didn’t play well,” Tim Duncan said. “For whatever reason, they just played harder than we did.” Consider it a glitch in the system, a random occurrence that popped up sporadically, reminding the Spurs what happens when fluidity meets carelessness. San Antonio started the game promising enough with a 13–6 lead, attacking mismatches produced by the Mavericks’ switchheavy schemes. But Danny Green was yanked after two quick turnovers yielded six points, and Kawhi Leonard joined him on the bench shortly after with two fouls and was sparsely heard from again.

Dallas fielded a porous defense all season, mostly due to roster construction that paired the inattentive stylings of Monta Ellis and the immobile feet of Jose Calderon. Carlisle mitigated their weaknesses by removing each from defensive help assignments, assigning them one task: shadowing a spotup shooter at all costs. The Spurs exploited this early in each of the first two games, but neither Parker nor Duncan could generate sustained offense in this fashion and the offense veered woefully off course. Manu Ginobili led the Spurs with 27 points, hitting his first five three-pointers and thriving on the chaos as he typically does, but for a second consecutive game the bench was atrocious. The Patty Mills-Marco Belinelli-Ginobili lineups were absolutely flammable on defense, and Ellis (21 points, three assists) and Devin Harris (18 points, five assists) expertly found the pockets of air between the Spurs big men hanging back in the lane and the guard trying to fight over the screen. They attacked poor closeouts, getting into the middle of the Spurs defense, sending rotations flying around chaotically and leaving San Antonio vulnerable on the boards, surrendering 14 offensive rebounds for 14 secondchance points. “It’s a bad combination to not play good defense at one end and give the ball up at the other end, and not shoot free throws very well either,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “That’s a bad combination at both ends of the floor. That means you get your butt kicked, and that’s what happened tonight.” n

The Spurs only had 64 shot attempts in Game 2 compared to 92 by the Mavericks, and with Tim Duncan only finding the basket for a total of 11 points, San Antonio was outshot and outscored. (AP Images)

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WESTERN CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS GAME 3 APRIL 26, 2014 • DALLAS, TEXAS MAVERICKS 109, SPURS 108

MAVERICKS EDGE PAST SPURS Carter Connects on Buzzer-Beater in Heartbreaking Loss

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ver the course of the Tim Duncan era, the San Antonio Spurs have had extensive experience in how quickly joy can turn to despair in the NBA Playoffs. In Game 3, Vince Carter delivered a vicious reminder, connecting on a fadeaway three-pointer as time expired for a 109–108 victory and a 2–1 series edge. All season the Spurs were reminded how quickly things unraveled against the Miami Heat in the 2013 Finals, so when Manu Ginobili connected on a corkscrew layup for a one-point lead, the only thought was of how much could happen in the 1.7 seconds remaining. “You never think it’s over, especially in here,” Ginobili said. “We’ve got experience on that. As long as you don’t see ‘zero zero’ over there, it’s not over.” Inbounding from the sideline, the Mavericks used Monta Ellis running to the top of the key as a decoy to clear out space for Carter along the left corner. Carter caught the ball with Ginobili trailing, using the 1.7 seconds to fake his defender off his feet and deliver the game-winning three-pointer. “2001. May 20th. Game 7,” said Vince Carter, instantaneously recalling an agonizing missed shot from the same spot on the court over a decade ago against Allen Iverson’s 76ers. “I thought about

that as we were coming out of the timeout.” For some, these peaks or valleys can define a career. But the Spurs traverse the rollercoaster of the playoffs in a straight line, looking past the gut-wrenching moment to get a better view of everything else. The offense looked more like itself, doling out 26 assists to 14 turnovers, and the Spurs found ways to exploit switches with Tim Duncan (22 points, five rebounds) and Tiago Splitter (14 points, 13 rebounds) inside, but Parker once again disappeared in the second half, scoring just two of his 19 points. “In the second half, I didn’t play,” Parker said. “They were doing the same thing.” If Parker’s aggressiveness waned as the game progressed in each of the first three games, Ellis remained perpetually in attack mode for better or worse. Dirk Nowitzki had perhaps his best outing of the series, scoring 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting, but it was Monta Ellis who stole the show, slicing up the Spurs defense for 12 of his playoff career-high 29 points in the fourth quarter. “It was a heck of a game. Both teams made mistakes, both teams did some things well,” Gregg Popovich said. “It came down to one shot. We made a shot, then they made a shot.” n

Kawhi Leonard’s forays to the basket and his five steals couldn’t turn the tide in the Spurs’ favor in Game 3 against Dallas; the Mavericks won by one point on a buzzer-beater shot. (AP Images)

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WESTERN CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS GAME 4 APRIL 28, 2014 • DALLAS, TEXAS SPURS 93, MAVERICKS 89

BENCH STEPS UP Depth Steers Spurs to Game 4 Win

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hrough three games the Dallas Mavericks pushed the San Antonio Spurs to the brink. In Game 4 what elevated the Spurs in their 93–89 win was their bench’s ability to keep their heads in a chaotic third quarter, even as DeJuan Blair lost his when he was ejected for kicking Tiago Splitter in the head. Manu Ginobili led the Spurs with 23 points and five assists. Boris Diaw added 17 points and four assists as the Spurs bench outdueled their counterparts for the first time all series 50–30. “Manu and Boris changed the entire game, they were the guys that stepped up,” Tim Duncan said. “They kept us from blowing a big lead and giving the game away. They stepped up, made shots, and made plays.” Duncan and Ginobili combined for 27 points in the first half, and the Spurs defense locked in for the first time since Game 1, holding Dallas to 12-of-41 (29.3 percent) shooting and just three assists through the first 24 minutes and an early 20-point lead. Patty Mills scored 10 points off the bench and provided a surge of energy, tracking down and diving to save a loose ball off a Kawhi Leonard block and swiping two steals. With Duncan having his way inside and the bench finally contributing, the Spurs outscored the Mavericks 32–13 in the second quarter. “We did a good job of defending the three, and we kept

Monta from having a straight line to the basket,” Duncan said. “I thought he had really clean looks the first couple of games, and we were just more active and into it. Our effort was really good.” It almost wasn’t enough. Tony Parker struggled throughout the game with an ankle injury and Blair enacted a measure of revenge on his former team, scoring 12 points on five shots and 11 rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench. Blair spent his first few years in the league as a valuable regular season rotation piece for the Spurs, but was deemed too sporadic to be trusted in the playoffs. In the midst of perhaps his finest game to that point, Blair lost his composure following a collision with Tiago Splitter chasing down a loose ball, kicking Splitter in the head, earning an ejection and suspension for Game 5. “It’s real disappointing because with me in the game our momentum was going great and when that happened and that got me out of there, that was a big deal,” Blair said. In contrast to Blair’s sporadic emotions, Diaw and Ginobili were calming influences. Diaw scored eight points in the third quarter on five shots, Ginobili got to the free throw line seven times in the fourth quarter, hitting six, and the Spurs forced Ellis into a difficult shot to clinch the game. “We knew we could do better,” Diaw said of the bench’s performance. “We didn’t play the same like we did during the regular season.” n

Tiago Splitter was on the receiving end of a kick to the head from his ex-teammate DeJuan Blair in the Spurs’ 93–89 victory. The incident late in the fourth quarter got Blair, who had scored 12 points on 5-for-5 shooting, ejected and possibly saved the Spurs’ lead. (AP Images)

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WESTERN CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS GAME 5 APRIL 30, 2014 • SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS SPURS 109, MAVERICKS 103

SPURS EXPLOIT MAVS DEFENSE Parker Leads Adrenaline-Fueled Spurs to Win

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laying on one good ankle and precious few hours of sleep, having witnessed the birth of his first son the previous night, Tony Parker came out on pure adrenaline and helped the San Antonio Spurs gain their footing with 23 points and five assists in a 109–103 Game 5 win over the Dallas Mavericks. The Spurs point guard started the game running Shawn Marion and Dirk Nowitzki through consecutive screens, turning the corner on both for a high-arching layup. Though limited health prevented him from being his usual blur, he came off screens with purpose, hitting the pull-up jumper or driving past the switching big man before the Mavericks knew what hit them. “I told him, ‘This is perfect for you;’ this is what he does,” Tim Duncan said. “Situations like this where he doesn’t get a lot of sleep, or he’s in a stressful situation, he always seems to play better. I expected it from him.” Parker went 5-of-8 in the first quarter for 11 points, but perhaps the best sign was watching him pull out one of his signature spin moves midway through the opening quarter for what seemed like the first time all series. “When I made that move I was like, ‘I think I’m going to be fine for the game’,” Parker said. “It definitely gave me confidence on the ankle to go full speed.” The first round was a trying series for Parker, whose

impressive first quarter starts belied second half disappearing acts. Credit Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle’s switch-heavy schemes that disconnected the symbiotic relationship between Parker and the Spurs’ shooters. In Game 5, Parker and Manu Ginobili (19 points, five assists) turned that strategy on its head. If Dallas was going to separate the likes of Danny Green and Marco Belinelli from the Spurs drive and kick game, the Spurs were going to use that to isolate Nowitzki and attack his lack of mobility. San Antonio got into their sets early, allowing them to manipulate the Mavericks defense late into the shot clock, often challenging Nowitzki to make multiple hedges and rotations on a single possession. With three defenders staying near the three-point line, the Spurs turned possessions into a two-man game, where years of shared experience created perfect lanes for pocket passes and quick-hitters at the rim. It may have taken a game or two too long for the Spurs to find out how to exploit Dallas, but once they did, the game turned into a virtual layup line with 54 points in the paint and 24 assists. “Obviously they’re a little smarter with it now,” Nowitzki said. “We’ve been doing it for five games. That roll is tough, you can’t give Duncan or Splitter those easy, uncontested layups.” n

Tony Parker played in Game 5 with a grade 1 sprain in his left ankle after the birth of his first child, a son, earlier in the day, and still put up a huge performance for San Antonio, with 23 points. (AP Images)

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WESTERN CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS GAME 6 MAY 2, 2014 • DALLAS, TEXAS MAVERICKS 113, SPURS 111

SPURS FALTER IN FINAL QUARTER San Antonio’s Mistakes Force Game 7

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eJuan Blair returned from suspension to contribute 10 points, 14 rebounds, and four steals, Monta Ellis shot 11-of-22 from the floor for 29 points, and Dirk Nowitzki had his best game of the series with 22 points to force a Game 7 with a 113–111 Dallas Mavericks victory over the San Antonio Spurs. Ellis, a criticized addition for the Mavericks due to questionable shot selection and unquestionably bad defense, scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead three-pointer with five minutes to go. Blair, a discarded rotation piece from the Spurs a year ago, gave the Mavericks an edge, grabbing four rebounds and two steals in the fourth quarter. He set hard screens, knocking Tony Parker to the floor at one point, and was generally a disruptive force for the good of the Mavericks. “He clears out a lot of space in there,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “He made two great plays at the end of the game to come up with balls. One was a steal, one was a rebound, and he hit some big free throws. We need all of our guys and we need all of them to be ready on Sunday.” Manu Ginobili, who along with Tiago Splitter proved to be the Spurs’ most consistent player in the first round, struggled in Game 6, scoring just six points on 1-of-8 shooting from the field and four free throws. The bench once again faltered, being outscored 37–25 by the Mavericks’ second unit.

Tony Parker had 22 points and six assists, Danny Green showed signs of life with 17 points after being absent all series, and the Spurs entered the final quarter up five, only to have the Mavericks score 37 points in the final quarter to force the second Game 7 between these two franchises. “I thought we made too many mistakes tonight,” Tim Duncan said. “Giving up 37 points in the last quarter is just too much for us. Defensively we’ve got to be a little more solid than that. With creative schemes, an aging power forward, and depth that rivals the Spurs, the Dallas Mavericks were only a handful of plays every game from stealing the series outright, something they were hoping to do in San Antonio. “Winning on their court would be the best revenge,” Blair said. “It’s the ultimate thrill,” Nowitzki said. “Nothing matters anymore, just this one game.” n

Kawhi Leonard can’t get a shot up past DeJuan Blair, who returned from suspension and led the Mavericks to force a Game 7 against San Antonio. (AP Images)

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WESTERN CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS GAME 7 MAY 4, 2014 • SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS SPURS 119, MAVERICKS 96

SPURS TAKE GAME 7 EASILY

San Antonio’s Big Three Shine in Decisive Win over Dallas

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hen it was finally over, Tim Duncan embraced Dirk Nowitzki and paid his longtime rival the respect he was due before sending him on his way to his offseason pursuits. That the Dallas Mavericks stretched this series to seven games was far more indicative of where these two teams stood than the 119–96 drubbing the San Antonio Spurs delivered in Game 7. “I’m certainly glad it’s over,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “This series kept many of us up night after night, trying to figure them out. We’re thrilled. We played very, very well, and I think one of our best games of the year.” There was no specific “aha!” moment that helped everything click into place for San Antonio, but rather a series of small adjustments that eventually caused Dallas’ defensive schemes to collapse. Duncan and Manu Ginobili figured out how to exploit the switches early, and by Game 5, Parker appeared to have done the same. In Game 6, Danny Green finally got loose and the momentum carried forward. The Dallas Mavericks’ defense was springing leaks, and Tony Parker was able to find all the cracks in the first quarter, scoring 14 of his 32 points. San Antonio’s Big Three combined for 24 of the Spurs’ 35 first quarter points, finally causing Dallas’ makeshift dam to burst.

“We gave ourselves a chance today, but we got hit by a tidal wave early,” coach Rick Carlisle said, calling the Spurs’ first quarter an “onslaught.” “They had their best game today and we just weren’t able to do quite enough to stay in it early.” For weeks leading up the playoffs, the Dallas Mavericks were a team fighting for their playoff lives. Over that time, the Spurs were simply trying to get to the playoffs in one piece. It took time to completely match their combination of focus and intensity, but faced with their basketball mortality in yet another Game 7, the sleeping giant awoke. “That was a great warm-up, if I can call it a warm-up,” Parker said. “It was tough to play them because you know that Dirk is one of the best ever, and Monta Ellis played great in the series.” After turning in stellar seasons once more, it only seems like Duncan and Nowitzki could go at this forever. In reality, the list of epic clashes they’ve already shared far outnumbers those yet to come. Given the uncertainty of any future for two late 30-something year-old basketball players, there’s a chance this postseason meeting was their last. If so, this series holds its own with any from the rivalry’s storied archives, replete with buzzer-beaters and heroic performances. If the Spurs were to conquer the demons of their past toward redemption, the Mavericks offered the perfect foil. n

Manu Ginobili came off the bench to score 20 points in the Spurs’ series-winning Game 7 blowout against the Mavericks. (AP Images)

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WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS GAME 1 MAY 6, 2014 • SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS SPURS 116, TRAIL BLAZERS 92

PARKER BLAZES THROUGH PORTLAND’S D

San Antonio’s Point Guard Leads the Way Early in Romp

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earing down on Mo Williams in the open court at full tilt late in the third quarter, Tony Parker executed a sharp crossover to his left to shift the defender and then used his back pivot to generate enough centrifugal force to spin away from his helpless opponent and finish the layup through the foul. The teardrop floater might be Parker’s signature shot, but it’s this spin move that so perfectly encapsulates all the fantastic nuances of his game and truly conveys that all is right in the point guard’s world. And in the San Antonio Spurs’ 116–92 Game 1 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, Parker could do no wrong. He set the tone early, scoring 13 of his game-high 33 points in the first quarter, showcasing his entire repertoire of pullup jumpers, floaters, and Eurostep layups to bury the Trail Blazers 29–16 in the first quarter. “He’s been doing that for a lot of years,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “It’s nothing different. He’s the guy that is our attack guy and creates for everybody and gets the offense going.” In Game 1, Parker’s years of experience manifested themselves in a thorough trouncing of playoff neophyte Damian Lillard. There isn’t a defense Parker hasn’t seen, including the switch-heavy schemes that bogged the Spurs

offense down at times against the Mavericks. Whether it was Lillard, Williams, Wes Matthews, fellow Frenchman Nicolas Batum, or navigating a series of traps, Parker made quick work of the defense. “I’m used to that,” Parker said of the cross-matching. “Every team I played in the playoffs my whole career, they put a bigger guy on me.” Only in his second playoff series, Lillard has yet to go through the same battles, even if he has already accomplished much in his short time. One thing he had yet to experience before Game 1 was the full brunt of a Spurs defense with time to prepare. Tiago Splitter continued his stellar work, seamlessly moving from stifling Dirk Nowitzki to LaMarcus Aldridge. Splitter only had five points and five rebounds, but he held Aldridge to 1-of-5 shooting out of the gate, refusing to surrender any space, and the Spurs were able to live with his 32 points without having to send much help. Dynamic as Lillard is, it’s Aldridge who bends opponent’s schemes and opens up the three-pointer on both sides of the court. With Splitter making Aldridge work, the Spurs could focus on Lillard with Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green, or even Parker, choking off the three-pointers that fueled Portland’s offense all season. On the evening Portland shot just 37.8

Tony Parker goes toward the basket during the second half of Game 1, though he did much of his damage during the first quarter when he scored 13 of his 33 points. (AP Images)

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percent from the field and had nine assists to 20 turnovers. “They knew what we were going to do,” Aldridge said. “They tried to deny guys on certain sets, they tried to force guys to their weak hand. They did what good teams do. I think guys are going to learn from it.” Lillard has been learning from Parker for years, studying the Spurs point guard as he developed his own game. “He’s a point guard that, when I was in high school and college, I used to watch his videos,” Lillard confessed. “The biggest thing I tried to take was his game in the paint. Him not being the most athletic guy and going in there and he’s still crafty enough to finisher over these big guys with floaters, reverse layups, and different finishes.” Parker still ranks amongst the quickest in the world with the ball in his hands, but to hear Lillard tell it, he’s an aging veteran to be commended for his craftiness as much as anything else. And he’s not entirely wrong. Today, Parker’s star and speed remain intact, if a little faded. But the dynamic has shifted. The rise of Russell Westbrook, John Wall, and even Lillard have shifted our conceptions of what a point guard can do. “I’m more of an athletic point guard, where I like to challenge bigs and go over the top of them,” Lillard said. “For me, it’s trying to adapt my game to where I can do the things that he can do and the things a more athletic point guard can do.” Parker’s speed might be diminished some, but this attribute was never his greatest strength. It’s his command of that speed, how he shifts gears and change directions at breakneck speeds with subtle adjustments in pace and footwork. Basketball is a game of nuance and misdirection, both of which Parker has mastered at high velocities. If Lillard wants to learn, he can replay the tape. Parker’s spin move will tell everything anyone needs to know. n

Trail Blazers guard Mo Williams fouls Tony Parker, who demonstrated his full array of pull-up jumpers, floaters, and Eurostep layups during Game 1. (AP Images)

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WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS GAME 2 MAY 8, 2014 • SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS SPURS 114, TRAIL BLAZERS 97

ENERGETIC SPURS WEAR DOWN BLAZERS Leonard, Bench Key Balanced Home Victory

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he postgame podium is supposed to serve as a spotlight for those with the top performances of the night, but under the wrong circumstances, the glare and heat from the cameras can just as easily feel like an interrogation room. Following Game 2’s 114–97 San Antonio Spurs victory behind a hyper-efficient 20-point performance from Kawhi Leonard, and a suffocating team-wide defense, the Portland Trail Blazers’ Nicolas Batum experienced the latter. Batum was one of the few Trail Blazers to find success, scoring 21 points on 13 shots and nine rebounds. But when pressed for answers to Portland’s shortcomings, Batum turned to empty clichés and platitudes like energy and intensity. “It’s interesting that, when a team loses, everybody says they didn’t have enough energy. And when you win, you had more energy,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said when asked if he expected Portland to come out with more intensity. “I’ve always wondered, if you lose a game, I think my guys have energy. They just maybe didn’t do some things as well as the other team on that night.” The Spurs have done so many things well through two games that they’ve made the Trail Blazers look downright listless, though not through lack of effort or focus on Portland’s behalf. The Spurs simply attacked from so many angles it was

hard to figure out where Portland could plug the leaks, so the default answer became to just do everything harder. Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker combined to shoot just 19-of-47 (40.4 percent), but Leonard scored his 20 points on just nine shots and the bench supplied its second consecutive 50-point outing. One of the counters the Spurs came up with to the opponent’s switching and cross-matching schemes was to simply run Parker through screen and rolls with Leonard or Danny Green to get the defense back into favorable matchups. With Wesley Matthews guarding Parker from the opening tip, the Spurs ran multiple pick-and-rolls between Parker and Leonard designed to get Kawhi an isolation that allowed him to just shoot over the top of the shorter Matthews. Leonard’s always capable of filling up the box score in different ways, and his five rebounds, two steals, and two blocks are a testament to that. But in Game 2, Leonard was also aggressive in seeking his own offense, connecting on all four of his three-point attempts and attacking mismatches zealously in the post. “We tell him to be more aggressive and don’t worry about us, we will find our own shots,” Parker said. “When he plays well, we usually win. It was the same thing when Manu and I

Kawhi Leonard, who scored a team-high 20 points during Game 2, elevates past Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard. (AP Images)

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first arrived with Tim in his prime, and David Robinson and Steve Smith pushing us to be more aggressive.” Explosive as Leonard was in the first quarter, it was the bench that blew the game open as it had all season. In the first five minutes of the second quarter, Boris Diaw scored seven points and pulled down two rebounds, finding Green for a three-pointer after tearing an offensive rebound away from Robin Lopez. In the first five minutes of the second quarter, the Spurs bench turned a three-point advantage into an 18-point lead. “We play nine, 10 players each night,” Diaw said. “And everybody’s able to come in the game and bring something to the team.” Portland lacks such depth, which was said to matter less in the playoffs when star players can afford to expend more time on the court. But it’s not the energy that depth brings so much as the variety. Portland spaces the floor well, moves the ball, and is athletic and dangerously explosive when LaMarcus Aldridge or Damian Lillard draw enough attention. But Tiago Splitter effectively checked Aldridge one-on-one, holding him to 3-of-14 shooting when guarding him, and with Lopez a non-factor, Duncan was free to deter any dribble penetration by Lillard. The Trail Blazers’ struggles in the series weren’t due to lack of effort; if anything. they might have been too aggressive seeking shots. In the playoffs every team comes with energy. The difference was the Spurs have a seemingly infinite number of more ways to channel their energy into something useful than Portland did. Playoff series are rarely decided by who wants it more, but rather who can channel that desire in a way to execute better on the court. n

Part of a balanced defensive effort by San Antonio that held Portland to 43 percent shooting in Game 2, Danny Green rises to stop Trail Blazers guard Mo Williams. (AP Images)

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WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS GAME 3 MAY 10, 2014 • PORTLAND, OREGON SPURS 118, TRAIL BLAZERS 103

SPURS TAKE COMMANDING 3–0 LEAD Parker, Spurs’ Depth Wear Down Blazers

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he setting shifted from San Antonio to Portland, but the script for the Spurs’ 118–103 win remained exactly the same. Tony Parker pushed the Spurs to a large halftime lead, scoring 20 of his 29 points in the first half, their depth wore down their opponent’s thin roster, and the Spurs held off a frantic third-quarter surge from Portland to beat the Trail Blazers by double-digits and take a commanding 3–0 lead. Parker began the game aggressively, weaving through multiple screens, stopping on a dime to free the helping big man, only to accelerate past them towards the rim. The Trail Blazers never found an answer for him, and the cross matching needed to hide Damian Lillard opened up opportunities for Kawhi Leonard (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Manu Ginobili (14 points, five assists). “Tony’s been the engine for us. He started out really well tonight, he made shots, he involved everybody else, he played great defense,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “He’s really playing a complete game.” Complete games were hard to come by for the Trail Blazers throughout the Western Conference Semifinals. Their lack of depth made it difficult to sustain their torrid pace over the course of the regular season, and was repeatedly exposed over the course of each game this series.

The Spurs outscored Portland 32–22 in the second quarter, getting five points each from Patty Mills (who scored 10 points in less than 13 minutes) and Boris Diaw (nine points) off the bench, continuing a trend established in the first two games in San Antonio. Through three games the Spurs had a combined 109 points in the second quarter to just 70 for the Trail Blazers. “I think it just happened,” Parker said of the Spurs 20-point halftime lead. “We just wanted to come in and have a good start, take care of the ball, and play good defense like we did at home.” For roughly half the season, Saturday’s home team, the Trail Blazers, stood atop or near the top of the Western Conference standings thanks to an elite offense generated by a balanced starting five. But they lacked depth, with only one consistent bench performer in Mo Williams, and faltered down the second half of the season. Their starting lineup of Robin Lopez, LaMarcus Aldridge, Nicolas Batum, Wesley Matthews, and Lillard played the second most minutes of any lineup in the NBA per NBA.com, trailing only the Indiana Pacers starting five. From top to bottom, the starting lineups between the Trail Blazers and Spurs stood on relatively equal footing in terms of talent. But the Spurs’ experience and depth meant

Tony Parker, who had a game high 29 points, shoots over Portland big man Robin Lopez. (AP Images)

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that even the slightest letup from Portland inevitably led to damaging San Antonio runs, creating insurmountable leads and pushing Coach Terry Stotts’ team beyond their limits. “I think the biggest thing that we have to understand about [the Spurs] is that they never stop playing,” Aldridge said. “If you guard their first option, they’re going to have a second option. If you guard their second option, they’ve got a third option.” Four members of the Trail Blazers’ starting five scored at least 20 points with their fifth starter, Lopez, scoring 13 to match the Spurs with five players in double figures. The difference was Portland only got six points from a punchless bench made worse by the absence of Williams, who was out with a groin injury suffered in Game 2. “Mo is big for us, he creates offense off the bench, he gets guys easy shots,” Aldridge said. “He’s a big part of this team and this offense, so not having him, other guys had to do a little bit more.” Portland shot just 42.9 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from three with Tiago Splitter once again making Aldridge work for his points, taking 23 shots for his 21 points, mostly in single coverage. By not doubling Aldridge, the Spurs help schemes could key in on Lillard, who took 21 shots to score 21 points. “I think we’re making them work hard. The goal is not to make anything easy,” Popovich said. “They’re really talented, they can really shoot it. So making them work to get their shots is a real key for us and I think we’re doing it to the best of our ability.” Portland made a run of things in the third quarter, as Batum hit three three-pointers, banking one in, and scoring 11 fourth-quarter points. The Trail Blazers pushed the pace, hitting a few quick-hitting shots to cut the deficit to seven. But Batum airballed an open three-pointer, and Lopez missed a layup off a pick-and-roll, ending their last serious challenge. “We played hard and competed in the second half, but the hole was too big,” Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. “We made it interesting in the second half, but against San Antonio, if you put your guard down they take advantage of it.” With no depth, Portland simply couldn’t sustain the level of play needed to compete with San Antonio for a full 48 minutes. Down 0–3 the only question remaining was whether they’d have more than 48 minutes left in their season. n

San Antonio’s super sub, Manu Ginobili, drives between Trail Blazers big men Robin Lopez and LaMarcus Aldridge. (AP Images)

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WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS GAME 4 MAY 12, 2014 • PORTLAND, OREGON TRAIL BLAZERS 103, SPURS 92

LILLARD, BATUM BOOST BLAZERS

Fellow Frenchman Slows Down Parker During Spurs’ First Loss in Series

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ith a chance to sweep the Trail Blazers and move on to the Western Conference Finals, the Spurs fell on the road, and Portland’s season continued for at least another night as it defeated San Antonio 103–92. The Trail Blazers limited Spurs stars Tim Duncan and Tony Parker to a combined 26 points. “The energy was weird tonight,” Parker said. “You have to give a lot of credit to Portland. They played great.” The Trail Blazers not only outscored the Spurs 62–44 in the paint Monday, but they also held the Spurs to their lowest offensive efficiency in this playoffs. Entering the game the Spurs had been averaging an impressive 113.2 offensive efficiency. “It was about wanting it more,” Damian Lillard said. “The Spurs are a championship team, but we didn’t want to be that team to get swept, or the team facing the uphill battle that gave up. We weren’t ready to go home.” Lillard led all scorers with 25 points, scoring 15 points and four assists in the second half to pull away and ensure the Trail Blazers would be returning with the Spurs to San Antonio for a Game 5. “We’re going to come out and have a great effort on Monday night,” Coach Terry Stotts said. “That’s the most important thing. We’re going to show our character, we’re going to show our pride, and we’re going to come out and play our asses off.” Portland came out of the gates with a frenetic pace, and Lillard repeatedly found the soft spot in the Spurs pickand-roll defense near the free throw line, pulling up from mid-range just between the trailing Parker and sagging big men. LaMarcus Aldridge scored seven of his 19 points in the

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first quarter, making quicker decisions with the ball before Tiago Splitter could get into his space. And the Trail Blazers played with pace, moved the ball from side-to-side, and finally utilized their length, shooting, and athleticism in the manner everyone thought would cause the Spurs problems coming off their seven-game series with Dallas. Their collective pace bordered on reckless, their seven turnovers in the first quarter kept the Spurs within striking distance in the first quarter, trailing only five despite shooting just 38.5 percent from the field and 25 percent from three compared to the Trail Blazer’s 60/40 percentages. But the chaos injected into the game was what Portland needed against a San Antonio team not prepared to match their desperation. “They came out of the gates,” Parker said. “Batum was great tonight. He gave them a big boost.” Long ago the Spurs had their sights set on Batum, only to have the Trail Blazers leapfrog them in the draft, leaving them to settle for George Hill. Though Gregg Popovich and general manager RC Buford are happy with the way events turned out—with the Spurs eventually trading Hill for Kawhi Leonard—for a night Batum showed why the Spurs were so high on him. Offensively, the Blazers put the ball in Batum’s hands more, getting him the ball off dribble handoffs and having him operating as the primary playmaker in pick-and-rolls without Lillard. He responded by threading perfect pocket passes to diving teammates and skipping the ball across the court to open shooters on the opposite side of the court for eight assists. The move wasn’t without repercussions, as Batum’s

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increased workload also led to five turnovers from him, but it was a small price to pay for a fully-engaged Batum that barreled to the rim and shot over the top of the shorter Danny Green and Manu Ginobili and hit the boards for 14 rebounds to go with his 14 points. “I thought with Nico playing the way he played, the game came a lot easier. He was attacking, he was making plays,” Lillard said. “I didn’t have to bring the ball up a lot, he was pushing the ball, [Wesley Matthews] was pushing the ball. We made shots. Once we started to make shots, the lane opened up, and I just started to attack. It could have been our last game so I wanted to leave it all out there.” Invaluable as Batum was to Portland regaining its aggressive pace on offense, it was perhaps his defense that proved most instrumental to the Trail Blazers victory. Parker’s fellow countryman was given the task of shadowing the Spurs point guard from the start, and Batum was able to use his length to recover and bother Parker’s pull-ups enough for Aldridge and Robin Lopez to drop back more and defend the rim. “He was very persistent on Parker,” Stotts said of Batum. “His length and the fact that he knows Parker well enough

where he can kind of get a rhythm as far as when he’s going to drive and when he’s going to pull up for a jump shot. But more than anything else, I thought he was persistent, he didn’t have any letups.” And neither did the Trail Blazers, who finally got some contributions from their bench with 17 points from Will Barton and nine points and four rebounds from Thomas Robinson, whose athleticism and activity helped hold off any Spurs run as Portland pulled away with a 12–2 run in the third quarter. “[Barton] gave a little bit of everything, but obviously his energy, his aggressiveness with the ball. He helped with the ball handling,” Stotts said. “He was relatively solid defensively, but for him to have 17 off the bench, that’s big for us. Because of [Barton and Robinson], we were able to keep the starters’ minutes at a decent number.” Portland showed on any given night they could beat any team in the NBA, but they’d proven that all season. But what would happen when everything wasn’t clicking together perfectly? The Spurs are a team that excels in taking away first and second options, and the Trail Blazers are a team short on contingency plans. n

Tiago Splitter (left) tries to set a pick against Nicolas Batum, but the versatile Trail Blazers forward helped contain his fellow Frenchman, Spurs guard Tony Parker, in Game 4. (AP Images)

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WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS GAME 5 MAY 14, 2014 • SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS SPURS 104, TRAIL BLAZERS 82

SPURS COMPLETE GENTLEMAN’S SWEEP

Leonard Helps San Antonio Crush Portland Despite Parker’s Injury “Gentleman’s Sweep (n.): An NBA playoff series that ends in five games. Defined as ‘sweeping the opponent, but giving them one, you know, to be polite.’ Preferably, but not necessarily, a series in which the series-winner wins the first three games, loses the fourth, then closes at home.” —Matt Moore, CBS Sports

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he term gentleman’s sweep entered the NBA vernacular several years ago, an invention of Graydon Gordian, creator of the Spurs blog, 48 Minutes of Hell, and CBS writer Matt Moore, creator of Hardwood Paroxysm. And the San Antonio Spurs executed it perfectly, dropping a game to the Trail Blazers in Portland before finishing them at the AT&T Center 104–82 in Game 5. San Antonio maintains too much of an appropriate fear to gift an opponent any game, but human nature dictates that any team is bound to let up, if only for a moment. “We were really concerned about them having the energy they showed last game,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “We kind of lost our way last game on the defensive end. I don’t know if we were just out of juice, lacked focus, or whatever.” The Spurs came out a little sluggish offensively in the first quarter, shooting just 33.3 percent en route to a 19–19 tie after 12 minutes. Parker particularly struggled, missing the only two shots he took, and turning the ball over in nine minutes after having his way with the Trail Blazers in first

quarters through most of the series. Any malaise San Antonio may have carried over from Game 4 quickly subsided when Parker left the game after playing just a minute in the second quarter with a hamstring injury. Suddenly San Antonio had cause to turn politeness into desperation on par with Portland’s—the need to finish the series as quickly as possible in order to buy a few days rest while the Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Clippers fought to advance to the Western Conference Finals. “It takes a toll on everybody,” Tim Duncan said after the win. “You want to get to the end. You’ve got to go through it. We’ll use this time to rest up and work on our bodies. Hopefully when the next series come around, we’ll be refreshed. It’s good to have a couple of days in there because it’s been bang, bang, bang so far.” Without Parker, San Antonio’s depth came to the forefront once more. Duncan was solid as usual, providing an interior presence with 16 points and eight rebounds while backup point guard Patty Mills pushed the pace, pressuring

Superb throughout the Western Conference Semifinals, Kawhi Leonard throws down two of his 22 points during the seriesending victory. (AP Image)

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Portland up and down the floor and picking up Parker’s scoring slack with 18 points on 8-of-17 shooting and three steals. As the Spurs increased their tempo, Danny Green got free for 22 points, hitting four three-pointers and grabbing nine rebounds. “We have a lot of guys that can get it done,” Green said. “A lot of character, a lot of guys that are capable. On any given night, anybody can get hot, regardless of who’s out and who’s not.” On this night it was Kawhi Leonard, sharing team-high scoring honors with Green at 22 points to go with seven rebounds and five steals, as well as a few demoralizing highlights. Leonard came to the Spurs as a slate almost as blank as his expressionless face, but he has rapidly absorbed everything that one of the NBA’s best player development staffs has thrown his way. Popovich even remarked that he’s exhausted them. It’s the one common thread between all great players, and in this closeout game against the Trail Blazers, he showcased a few more traits he has in common with legends past. Early in the first quarter of that game, Leonard caught the ball near the three-point line and turned his back to an overzealous Nicolas Batum, getting his defender to brace for contact so he could spin off it with an explosive display of centrifugal force. Leonard missed the layup against the second line of defense, but that’s hardly the point. The setup, the footwork, and the burst off the spin are all echoes of the tight baseline spin Duncan used to befuddle defenders in his prime. Showing newfound aggressiveness, Leonard rebounded above his position like Shawn Marion in his Phoenix Suns days, pushed the fast break in Parker’s absence, and like Manu Ginobili, somehow found daylight through a thicket of Trail Blazers’ arms under the rim to create passing lanes to Boris Diaw and Tim Duncan. Every aspect of his game was on display. On one play, chasing Batum off a three-pointer, Leonard recalled shades of Scottie Pippen, plucking a pocket pass midbounce, racing the length of the floor to split two defenders before finishing with a signature Michael Jordan dunk. “Whenever he just plays freely and takes what comes—catch and shoot it, catch it and drive it, don’t think about it, don’t try to make a great play, just play the game—then you get a game out of him like this,” Popovich said of Leonard’ performance. “It’s becoming more and more this kind of game than the defer kind of game.” Three years into his NBA career, Leonard has never known a season without at least a Western Conference Finals appearance. n

Guards Marco Belinelli (3) and Danny Green (4) double-team All-Star Portland guard Damian Lillard in Game 5. (AP Images)

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WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS GAME 1 MAY 19, 2014 • SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS SPURS 122, THUNDER 105

DEFEATING A SIMILAR FOE

Duncan Abuses Ibaka-Less Frontcourt for 27 Points

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eading into the Western Conference Finals, the biggest question was who would fill the massive void left when the Oklahoma City Thunder announced shot blocking extraordinaire Serge Ibaka would miss the remainder of the playoffs with a calf injury (though he would later return in the series). In Game 1 the answer was unabashedly the San Antonio Spurs, destroying the Thunder inside, scoring half of their points in the paint for a 122–105 victory. The ties that bind the Spurs and Thunder are well documented. Years ago Sam Presti left San Antonio with a wealth of corporate knowledge and blueprints of how to construct an NBA team. But for as much as Presti is lauded for adapting the Spurs model in Oklahoma City, each game between these two Western Conference Finalists represented a clash of philosophical and metaphorical differences, starting with the Spurs’ Game 1 victory. In MVP Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, the Thunder boast the most explosive duo in the NBA. There’s nothing subtle about the way Durant torches defenses with his scoring barrages or about Westbrook’s relentless forays to the rim. Even when Presti announced Serge Ibaka would miss the remainder of the playoffs with a calf injury just before the Western Conference Finals, the Thunder appeared to have enough firepower to make life difficult for San Antonio.

The strength of the Spurs under Gregg Popovich, Tim Duncan aside, has been their adaptability. Given Popovich’s military background, one wonders if he might appreciate Sun Tzu’s work in The Art of War which states, “water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows...therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions.” Like water, the Spurs offense flows around its opponents in continuous movement, filling the gaps. Heading into the series the biggest question was who would fill the void left in Ibaka’s absence. In Game 1 the answer was unabashedly the Spurs. Water flows downhill along the path of least resistance, and with Ibaka out the courted tilted in the Spurs favor with direct paths to the rim for 66 points in the paint. Water can crash or it can flow, something exemplified by the distinct styles of Duncan and Manu Ginobili. Duncan crashed into a wall of smaller Thunder defenders, spilling soft hooks over the top of them to score 27 points on 11-of-19 shooting. Duncan set the tone early, hitting six of his first seven shots over the hapless Kendrick Perkins and Kevin Durant. Shrugging off the effects of an ailing hamstring, Parker got in the lane early and often, finding teammates for four of his 12 assists in the first quarter. “We were taking what we were given,” Duncan said. “We knew we would be able to get into the middle and attack more

With Serge Ibaka out, Tim Duncan torched all of his defenders—including NBA MVP Kevin Durant—to the tune of 27 points on 11-of-19 shooting. (AP Images)

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than we have and we were able to make some shots tonight.” Through two and a half quarters, the Thunder were able to stand toe-to-toe with the Spurs despite Ibaka’s absence and zero points from starters Nick Collison and Thabo Sefolosha thanks to the explosive talents of Durant (28 points, nine rebounds, and five assists) and Westbrook (25 points, seven assists), some quality minutes off the bench from Reggie Jackson (13 points), and an unexpected 16 points from Derek Fisher. Durant and Westbrook scored 21 of the Thunder’s 23 points in the third quarter with a pair of Fisher free throws accounting for their only other points. Oklahoma City even took a 78–77 lead with a little under five minutes remaining in the third before Ginobili took over. If Duncan crashes, Manu flows, seeping in through the cracks of a defense towards the rim. Scoreless in the first half, he answered the brief Thunder lead with an eight-foot jumper. He worked high pick-and-rolls to get Thunder rookie big man Steve Adams in space, finding Aron Baynes for a layup and back-toback layups to cap a 10–2 run headed into the fourth quarter. “Sometimes it’s hard to focus on something like you’re going to shoot threes tonight, or you’re going to go in the paint tonight, or you’re going to do this,” Popovich said. “You take what’s given, play the game, respect the game, and whatever’s there, try to take advantage of that.” The Spurs were like water, and even when the Thunder created ripples with their scoring outbursts, the Spurs kept flowing, leaving everything calm and collected on the surface. n

Though his health was a concern in Game 1, Tony Parker looked more than able as he drove by OKC’s Nick Collison. (AP Images)

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WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS GAME 2 MAY 21, 2014 • SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS SPURS 112, THUNDER 77

TRIUMPHANT TRIO

Duncan, Parker, Ginobili Earn Distinction in Cakewalk over Thunder

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n the night the San Antonio Spurs trinity of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili became the NBA’s all-time winningest trio in playoff history with a 112–77 victory against Oklahoma City, the Thunder reminded how fragile such bonds can be. Parker scored 22 points and had five assists, Duncan continued his dominance inside with 14 points and 12 rebounds and two blocks, and no Spurs player logged more than 30 minutes in the 111th postseason victory for San Antonio’s “Big Three,” surpassing the Los Angeles Lakers’ Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Michael Cooper. Not that the team was celebrating after taking a convincing 2–0 lead in the Western Conference Finals. “We just did our job, we won our first two games at home,” Parker said, downplaying the significance of their accomplishments. Keeping three Hall of Famers together through the entirety of their careers is no small feat, however. It takes the sublimation of egos, the perfect combination of skill sets, and a little luck under even the best of circumstances, as the Oklahoma City Thunder can attest to. It was only two seasons ago that Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden appeared set to rule the Western Conference for the next 10 years, recovering from a 0–2 deficit to win four straight games against the Spurs and advance to their lone NBA Finals trip. Harden, of course, was

traded to the Houston Rockets for spare parts after refusing to accept the sort of hometown discount the Spurs have been privy to in building around Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili. The development of Ibaka blessed the Thunder with another iteration of a Big Three, though injuries to Westbrook and Ibaka the past two seasons have shown that success comes down to more than just finances and fit. The Spurs have also been blessed with relatively good health over the course of their careers. In building the Spurs, Gregg Popovich and RC Buford have valued consistency and stability above all else, coining the term “corporate knowledge” for their collective experience and knowledge base, and it goes beyond their three stars. Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, and Tiago Splitter were all members of the 2012 Western Conference Finalists whose production and minutes waned as the series wore on and the Spurs fell to the Thunder in six games. “I remember that series very well,” Green said. “It’s a series I won’t forget.” Green all but vanished from that series, ceding his starting job and minutes to Manu Ginobili, failing to log a single minute in the series-deciding game. His shooting may still run hot and cold, but Green has built upon that year and stands much more assertive, confident in where he can find his shots in the offense and trusted to take them. “If he’s open, I want him to shoot,” Popovich said of Green.

San Antonio’s bench was key in their dismantling of the Thunder in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals. Manu Ginobili and Boris Diaw each had 11 points off the bench. (AP Images)

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Missing Ibaka, the Thunder were helpless once again in deterring any shots around the rim. After hemorrhaging points in the paint in Game 1, they made a concerted effort to wall off Parker and still gave up 54 points near the rim while also losing track of Green at the three-point line. Oklahoma City actually had a lead in the second quarter, but the Spurs ended the half on a 25–8 run punctuated by back-to-back three-pointers by Green, who scored 21 point while tying a career-high seven three-pointers. Ginobili and Boris Diaw had 11 points each of the bench, Tiago Splitter finished with nine points, 10 rebounds, four assists, and three blocks, and the Spurs used a 33–18 third quarter to put away the Thunder, holding Durant and Westbrook to a combined 30 points on 13-of-40 shooting. “It’s about everybody. We’re a family, a brotherhood, whatever you want to call it. A fraternity,” Green said.” We’ve been together for a couple of years. I’ve grown very fond of a lot of my teammates and we’ve grown close friendships. I know how much it means to them, how competitive they are. As much as I want to win a ring, I know they want it too.” Two years ago these same Spurs appeared to have met their end in the Western Conference Finals. Looking across the court now to the absence of Harden and Ibaka, perhaps the 111 victories should be praised a little more. After all, if the Thunder have proven anything since those playoffs, it’s how things can change in an instant. n

Tony Parker is part of San Antonio’s “Big Three” along with Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili that made history in Game 2 against Oklahoma City when the three became the NBA’s all-time winningest trio in playoff history. Parker had 22 points and five assists on the night. (AP Images)

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WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS GAME 3 MAY 25, 2014 • OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA THUNDER 106, SPURS 97

IBAKA’S RETURN KEYS VICTORY Thunder D Limits Parker to 4-of-13 Shooting

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ews of Serge Ibaka’s out-for-the-playoffs prognosis before the Western Conference Finals was met with heavy skepticism by the San Antonio Spurs. Every reassurance that Ibaka would not be walking onto the court made by Oklahoma City was greeted with a “we’ll believe it when we see it.” For all the laughs the Spurs paranoia drew, for any comfort built up through the first two games, it was all quickly erased with an emphatic rejection of a Tiago Splitter layup by Ibaka. At some point during the series shift from San Antonio to Oklahoma City, the swelling in Ibaka’s calf subsided, revealing an overreach by the Thunder training staff on the extent of his injury. From out of the playoffs to series savior in a matter of days, Ibaka provided 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting, seven rebounds, and four blocks in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 106–97 victory. “After I saw his workout and doctors ok’d him to play, I knew we’d get a total commitment from him,” coach Scott Brooks said. “He’s energetic, he’s a great player.” The Spurs challenged Ibaka 13 times at the rim in Game 3, finishing only six. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich went so far as to call him the best defensive player in the NBA. “He’s a special player and a special person. The way he handles himself, the class that he exudes, I think he’s the best defensive player in the league,” Popovich said. “He’s been

overlooked to some degree in that regard. I think he’s one of the most gifted players in our league because he’s a dual player. He does it at both ends.” Operating in a small market, with financial constraints, the Thunder had to make a decision between Ibaka and rising star James Harden. Though many considered Harden the better player, his skill set was replicated by Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Ibaka is unique to the entire NBA, a spectacular athlete who anchors one of the NBA’s most disruptive defenses and space the floor with his shooting on the other end. After dominating inside for two games, Tony Parker (nine points on 4-of-13 shooting, four assists, and four turnovers) and Tim Duncan (16 points on 7-of-17 shooting) struggled to gain any traction in the paint, which limited the open looks their teammates were getting at the three-point line. “We didn’t play good basketball, and it starts with me,” Parker said. “I need to play better. I missed shots, I had bad turnovers, and I have to play better.” The Spurs were able to stay with Oklahoma City for a half thanks to Manu Ginobili’s individual brilliance, knocking down six three-pointers and scoring 23 points and four assists. But his shooting proved to be unsustainable and a sore foot forced him out of the second half. The Spurs collectively struggled, failing to make the

Against a Thunder defense, Tim Duncan struggled to get any traction in the paint in his 16-point, 7-of-17 performance in Game 3. (AP Images)

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“Maybe we thought that it was ok and we were going to win here playing so-so. It’s not going to happen. They showed us the reality, and hopefully we react for Game 4 and play a much better game.” — Manu Ginobili

proper defensive rotations, rebound, or chase down loose balls, thanks in part to another adjustment Brooks made. By inserting Reggie Jackson into the starting lineup for Thabo Sefolosha, Brooks infused his lineup with even more athleticism. Replacing two nonthreats in Sefolosha and Nick Collison with the dynamic Jackson and the floor-spacing Ibaka, respectively, Westbrook (26 points, seven assists, three steals) and Kevin Durant (25 points, 10 rebounds) found space to breathe once more, which in turn breathed new life into the series. “Hopefully we realize that if we’re not intense, if we’re not very sharp and hustle like crazy, we’re not going to win here,” Ginobili said. “Maybe we thought that it was ok and we were going to win here playing so-so. It’s not going to happen. They showed us the reality, and hopefully we react for Game 4 and play a much better game.” n

Kevin Durant was a thorn in San Antonio’s side all night in their Game 3 matchup, dropping 25 points on the Spurs. Boris Diaw (33) spread the ball with six assists, but the Spurs shot just 39.6 percent overall. (AP Images)

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WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS GAME 4 MAY 27, 2014 • OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA THUNDER 105, SPURS 92

ALL TIED UP

Russell Westbrook Dominates, Scores 40 for OKC

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ooking on from his spot on the bench with eyes wide and jaw dropped, Tim Duncan appeared stunned— and for the first time all night it had nothing to do with how easily the Oklahoma City Thunder dismantled the San Antonio Spurs on their way to a 105–92 victory to even the series at 2–2. Down 91–73 with a little more than seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, scarcely-used reserve guard Cory Joseph feigned a dribble towards an Aron Baynes screen, then split two defenders to get into the paint, and catapulted himself into the air to finish a vicious, one-handed dunk over the top and through the contact of Serge Ibaka. In awe, Duncan turned to the seat next to him as if to confirm the reality of what just happened, with the expression on Manu Ginobili’s face ranging somewhere between “not bad” and “perhaps we’re on to something.” The Spurs were grasping for anything positive to hold onto in a game they trailed by 27 deep into the third quarter and were so thoroughly outplayed that Spurs coach Gregg Popovich didn’t bother sending his starters out in the fourth quarter outside of a 49-second cameo by Danny Green. “I didn’t see any sense in it,” Popovich said of his decision to wave the white flag by not playing Duncan, Ginobili, Tony Parker, or Kawhi Leonard in the fourth quarter. It was the ninth consecutive victory for the Thunder over the Spurs in Oklahoma City, and their 12th overall win against San Antonio in their last 14 games, continuing a

series of disturbing trends that began in the 2012 Western Conference Finals. In the first two games of the series, San Antonio averaged 60 points in the paint, but with Ibaka now healthy, the Spurs managed just 36 in Game 4 on 18-of-40 field goals, shooting below 40 percent (39.8) for a second consecutive game. Ibaka was the catalyst once again, blocking three shots and creating enough indecision by the Spurs for Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant to run amok in the passing lanes with five and three steals, respectively. San Antonio turned the ball over just 13 times, but nearly all were of the live ball variety that directly led to the 21–0 Thunder edge in fast break points. “We just play well with Serge,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said, stating the obvious. “We can do things with Serge in the lineup that we can’t do with other guys.” With Durant and Westbrook in the lineup, the Thunder have two guys that can do things no one can do. Durant accepted the MVP award during the series, and his Game 4 performance certainly lived up to the title with 31 points, five rebounds, and five assists; but it was Westbrook who stole the show. Perhaps the most physically dominant player in the NBA outside of LeBron James, Westbrook was a wrecking ball in this game, scoring 40 points, hitting all 14 of his free throws, with 10 assists, five rebounds, and five steals. “Just his focus on every possession on the defensive end and his poise on the offensive end, I think that’s what’s fun

Though Tony Parker scored 14 points in Game 4 against the Thunder, his defense was lacking, and he turned the ball over three times. (AP Images)

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to watch,” Durant said. “People outside of our team don’t really look at that type of stuff, but that’s something we can really build on as a group is watching him wreak havoc on the defensive end and offensively playing with such patience.” Oklahoma City had a 15-point lead at halftime, and a Westbrook dunk in the midst of a 13-point third quarter helped extend the lead to 27 shortly after Popovich pulled his starters for the game, leaving only Boris Diaw in as the only regular rotation mainstay alongside Marco Belinelli, Matt Bonner, Baynes, and Joseph. The intent was clearly to preserve the key guys, but by leaving Diaw in, the Spurs also found a spark. Whether via anger or desperation, something clicked for Diaw. After a reverse layup off an offensive rebound, Diaw attacked Ibaka in the post with a turnaround jumper. He found Belinelli for a three-pointer, then hit one of his own. While the starters watched, the bench rallied around Diaw, cutting harder, passing quicker, and slowly whittling away at the deficit, forcing Brooks to keep his starters in and play them heavy minutes. The Spurs got as close as 12 before a missed Joseph layup ended their comeback, but the bench laid out the blueprint for how the starters needed to attack the Thunder defense, and with a dunk, Joseph provided the mindset. “This may sound corny, but it was kind of inspirational,” Bonner said, “just to see someone go at Ibaka and dunk it on him like that with the foul. He changed so many shots and blocked so many of our shots. To see someone go right at him like that was pretty incredible.” n

Tony Parker was 4-for-6 for eight points in the first quarter against Oklahoma City. (AP Images)

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WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS GAME 5 MAY 29, 2014 • SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS SPURS 117, THUNDER 89

SPURS BECOME THE AGGRESSORS ONCE AGAIN Duncan, Ginobili Lead San Antonio to Victory

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eeking refuge in the friendly confines of the AT&T Center, Tim Duncan made himself at home in the paint once more, scoring 22 points and pulling down 12 rebounds to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a critical 117–89 Game 5 victory. Taking the lessons learned from watching their bench in the second half of Game 4, the Spurs applied a few tactical adjustments and an aggressively renewed mind-set to finally solve their Serge Ibaka problem. Anchored by Duncan and Manu Ginobili, who had 19 points, six assists, and four rebounds off the bench, the Spurs shredded the Thunder defense, scoring 40 points in the paint at a 71.4 percent clip and half of their 26 three-point attempts. “We got off the ball, we didn’t have any ball stoppers,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “We hit open people, we relied on team play more than we did in Oklahoma City.” For three years the Spurs have flourished under the simple premise that the basketball moves faster through the air than the human body can on its feet, and for three years, the Thunder have successfully gambled their combination of length and athleticism could at least stay a step ahead of the Spurs’ ability to make clean decisions, if not outrun the ball itself. It worked in 2012 with Oklahoma City taking four games in a row and it appeared to be working again.

Facing an athleticism deficit, naturally Popovich opted to go smaller and slower, replacing Tiago Splitter in the starting lineup with Matt Bonner. The hope was that by adding another shooter the defense had to rotate out to, it would open up more driving and passing lanes. And it worked, though Bonner himself had little impact on the game, going scoreless in 17 minutes as the Thunder blitzed the Spurs for an early seven-point lead. Reggie Jackson was effective for Oklahoma City in the first quarter, hitting all four of his layups and his only threepoint attempt for a quick 11 points. But Duncan hit five of his first seven shots and began pulling the defense away from Danny Green, who hit two three-pointers and a tied the game at 32, after the first quarter. “We got back to the way we were aggressive in the first two games,” Boris Diaw said. The lineup change was less about Bonner and more about separating the Duncan-Tiago Splitter alignment, which was made untenable by their lack of spacing. As he had all season, Popovich chose to elevate someone from his third string (Bonner) to keep his the integrity of his second unit intact. The move paid off in the second quarter when Popovich paired his key bench players, Diaw and Ginobili, with Duncan, Kawhi Leonard, and Tony Parker in a 33–23 second quarter.

Manu Ginobili came off the bench for 19 points and six assists to help save the Spurs’ season in a 117–89 victory in Game 5. (AP Images)

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“It just gave us more room on the floor, the paint opened up a little bit,” Leonard said after contributing 14 points, seven rebounds, and two steals. “We just did a good job of moving the ball today.” The Spurs ran a lot of high pick-and-rolls with two bigs—one shooter and one dive man—bringing three defenders to one spot on the floor and forcing each to make an uncomfortable decision as either Parker or Ginobili turned the corner, and the big men scattered. Sometimes the Spurs would bring a quick outlet to the ball to act as a release valve on traps, others they would string out the first screen and have Duncan immediately reset another after the defense tipped its hand. “We shared the ball well, we moved the ball well, we moved our bodies,” Duncan said. “We took something away from them and we made them react.” In Oklahoma City it was the Spurs reacting back on their heels and it was often Russell Westbrook that put them there. The lineup change will receive the bulk of the attention, but Popovich’s move to switch Leonard onto Westbrook, living with the Green-Durant cross match had the subtle effect of turning the Thunder stars from great-to-good, keeping Durant’s 25 points and Westbrook’s 21 manageable. Key to it all was Diaw’s versatility, allowing the Spurs to play small and big at the same time. Diaw’s numbers were solid with 13 points, six rebounds, and three assists, but more important was his ability to constantly shift roles and keep Oklahoma City in unfavorable matchups, whether it was spacing Ibaka out on the perimeter and attacking him off the dribble or posting smaller wing players while capably defending them all. But strategy was only half of the adjustment the Spurs needed to reclaim the series. The players had to play with razor sharp intensity and focus, imbuing every screen, cut, and pass on Popovich’s playbook with a sense of purpose and physicality. “We were upset, we were disappointed,” Ginobili said of the Spurs’ two losses. “We came in with more fire, we played sharp, we hit a lot of shots, we didn’t turn the ball over, we got rebounds. It was completely different.” n

Kawhi Leonard, who had two steals in the Spurs’ Game 5 win, drives to the rim in the second half. (AP Images)

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WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS GAME 6 MAY 31, 2014 • OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA SPURS 112, THUNDER 107, OT

CLOSING OUT OKC Diaw Steps Up for Injured Parker

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o a man, the San Antonio Spurs described their Game 7 loss to the Miami Heat in the 2013 NBA Finals after coming so close to winning it in Game 6 as devastating. Their loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2012 Western Conference Finals after leading 2–0 wasn’t much easier. After a summer spent healing wounds, Gregg Popovich used the first day of training camp reliving Games 6 and 7 of the 2013 NBA Finals on film with his team in the hopes of moving past it—that was ever an option. “It’s not something I think we actively talk about,” Matt Bonner said. “But it’s definitely an experience that you learn from and sticks in the back of your mind—your subconscious—and drives you.” San Antonio was left with many questions in the wake of their NBA Finals loss, and they spent the regular season addressing each of them one-by-one as if purging those flaws could rewrite the past. The Spurs never really moved on, but they did move forward. And if they couldn’t rewrite the past, their 112–107 victory to close out the Oklahoma City Thunder could at least offer the next best thing: redemption. “It’s unbelievable to regain that focus after that devastating loss that we had last year,” Tim Duncan said moments after outscoring the Thunder 7–6 in overtime. Immediately Duncan’s attention turned towards Miami, breaking character in making a bold proclamation: “But we’re back here, we’re excited about it. We’ve got four more to win. We’ll do it this time. We’re happy it’s the Heat again, we’ve got that bad taste in our mouths still.”

Popovich spent the entire regular season tinkering with different lineup combinations like a mad scientist, finding counters for any conceivable obstacles. In last year’s Finals, Boris Diaw showed an aptitude for defending LeBron James, and the Spurs spent all year expanding upon that, stretching the limits of his versatility. Diaw spent the regular season at all three frontcourt positions in a variety of different roles. He was at times a stretch four, a facilitator, and the Spurs’ best scoring option in the post—often alternating between all three of these on a single possession. “I felt I could have done more last year by being more aggressive,” Diaw said. “By maybe showing more all season that I could be efficient in some areas, in scoring and stuff like that, so I would have the opportunity to do that and also help the team.” Only the Spurs, after losing Tony Parker to an ankle injury in the first half, could conceive of playing Diaw as their ultimate trump card against a team with the league MVP and most fearsome shot blocker and come out ahead. In 36 minutes Diaw scored 26 points, taking over as the focal point of the offense with Parker gone. “We didn’t know how much Tony was hurt in his ankle,” Diaw said. “But we didn’t want to go to Game 7, and we didn’t know if he would be ready or if he would be 100 percent, so we tried to get it over with tonight.” Trailing 49–42 at halftime, the Spurs came out with a sense of desperation. They pressured the Thunder, deflecting passes and forcing turnovers. The Spurs collected five steals and scored 15 of their 37 third quarter points off eight Oklahoma City

Boris Diaw led the Spurs to victory in Game 6 with 26 points on 8-for-14 shooting. He also had three 3-pointers. (AP Images)

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turnovers, holding Russell Westbrook without a field goal attempt and forcing Durant into five turnovers. “That’s the only quarter we’ve given up in this series at home. We settled for too many jumpers and then turned the ball over,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “They had us scrambling on defense, that third quarter hurt us.” Even after answering every question last year’s Finals posed—surviving an injury to Parker, playing more athletic opponents, capitalizing on opportunities—it almost wasn’t enough. Westbrook and Durant came storming back, combining to score 24 of Oklahoma’s 32 fourth quarter points as each team traded blows in the closing minutes. With 32 seconds left in regulation, Durant hit a driving layup to give the Thunder a two-point lead. Manu Ginobili responded with a clutch three-pointer at the top of the key and stole the ball on the ensuing possession. Conjuring up memories of Game 6, however, Ginobili missed a late free throw, allowing Westbrook to tie the game by making a pair of free throws. In many ways, the subtle faults the Miami Heat exposed left the Spurs better suited to dealing with this Thunder team. Like Miami had done a year ago, the Thunder used their overwhelming athleticism to tear apart the Duncan-Tiago Splitter alignment that served as the bedrock of the Spurs’ defense. There simply wasn’t enough spacing to keep the offense viable against that kind of speed. Facing another Game 6 collapse, having exhausted every trick in their book, the Spurs turned to the player that was inexplicably off the court in the most important moment of Game 6 a year ago. Struggling all game against the Thunder, Duncan came alive in overtime, getting to the free throw line four times (hitting three) and hitting two huge post-up shots. His last one, a turnaround over two Thunder defenders, hit the rim, bounced up in the air, and dropped through like a prayer answered. “We were pretty tired in overtime,” Ginobili said. “They were very physical, and it’s always hard to score against them. We just started to give him the ball, and he gave us solutions.” n

From left to right: Danny Green, Patty Mills, and Boris Diaw celebrate in the second half of the Spurs’ win over the Thunder. Diaw’s play was a huge reason San Antonio moved on to the Finals. (AP Images)

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PLAYER PROFILE

#9 POINT GUARD

TONY PARKER Star Point Guard Shines in Popovich’s System

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n Game 3 of the NBA Finals, the San Antonio Spurs put on perhaps the greatest symphony of basketball ever orchestrated, setting records for their potency and efficiency. Their primary conductor remained relatively quiet, however, with just 15 points and four assists. The previous year was supposed to be Tony Parker’s great ascension, putting his team on his back throughout the playoffs and carrying the Spurs to an NBA Finals. A hamstring injury re-aggravated midway through the series left Parker hampered in the last two games, however, dimming his spotlight. After winning the European championship for France, Parker entered the 2013–14 season fatigued, missing 14 games to rest and watching his numbers drop across the board. On this night none of those things mattered. Gregg Popovich was simply proud of his star point guard. “Great leadership,” Popovich said, pulling Parker aside to single him out for praise. “You didn’t get 30 [points], but you had great leadership and solid, solid play with the ball.” It had taken time, but Parker was finally embraced by San Antonio with the same reverence

previously reserved for teammates Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. Though he was second to arrive, Parker always felt like the third wheel in the Spurs’ Big Three. While Duncan and Ginobili came to the San Antonio fully-realized as basketball players and men, Parker was a kid with little in the way of basketball or life experiences. Unlike some of his contemporaries, who were lottery picks with a measure of national exposure during their time in the NBA, Parker was a French kid with an American name drafted late in the first round at a time before the Spurs were known for pulling miracles from obscure places. He was 19 years old, and unlike most future stars, he was low on a pecking order that included Duncan and David Robinson. “When I first arrived in San Antonio you had Tim Duncan, you had David Robinson, so I never wanted to step on their toes,” Parker said. “For me, they were the leaders, and I was just going to wait for my time.” Parker’s development was a gradual evolution carried out under the protective shadow of

The team’s catalyst, Tony Parker, drives by Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge during Game 3 of the Western Conference Semifinals. (AP Images)

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TONY PARKER

Duncan. But such shadows limit almost as much as they protect. No matter how nurturing Duncan was, and continues to be as a teammate, Parker’s basketball identity was born in a state of perpetual deference to the Spurs’ franchise player. It’s a problem from which his backcourt partner, Ginobili, was largely exempt. Ginobili was already a leader with the Argentine national team when he arrived in San Antonio; with a role that allowed him to explore the depth of his game. When he faced the same pecking order limitations as Parker, his dual basketball citizenship allowed him the experiences necessary to step above and beyond a secondary role as the Spurs needed. Parker had tremendous talent, but was never burdened with that kind of responsibility. “When Tony started out, he played on talent. He wasn’t big on the weight room, he wasn’t big about practice,” Popovich said. “That developed over time, and a lot of that was watching Timmy and how he conducts himself.” Popovich initially tailored his offense to simplify Parker’s role, focusing on his strengths— dribble penetration and finishing—and tasking him with only the most basic of passes. His developmental path wasn’t easy; Popovich was notoriously more difficult on Parker than he’d been on any other player. But it worked. Parker was forged in the fire of Popovich’s wrath; no flame burns brighter, no steel more tempered. “We gave him the ball at 19 years old and expected him to do great things, and he did. But he was in a special situation,” Popovich said. “We wanted to find out quickly if he was going to fold, if he couldn’t handle pressure. We wanted to find out if he had no mental toughness or physicality

Above: Tony Parker dribbles the ball during the Spurs’ 111–92 victory against the Heat in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. Opposite: Thunder guard Russell Westbrook and center Kendrick Perkins try to stop Tony Parker during Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals. (AP Images)

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TONY PARKER

about him. How coachable he was, how good he wanted to be. So I was really tough on him very quickly, and he took everything I could give him and just got better and better.” Parker grew with the Spurs, working on his jumper and further acclimating himself with the system. In the summers, the French national team was a personal laboratory of sorts for Parker—taking the same system that helped prop up his game and making it his own in ways he never could with the Spurs. Watching from afar, Popovich took note of Parker’s leadership and asked him to carry it over to the Spurs. “We challenged him,” Popovich said. “We said, if you want to be remembered as a great player, great players do it year after year.” No longer just a talented scorer at the point guard position, Parker is a true point guard in every sense of the word. He probes for weaknesses, manipulating defenses like chess pieces with a look here or step there, creating open passing lanes for teammates to step into. Now it’s Parker’s moment in the sun. In Duncan’s shadow, Parker was growing up before our eyes. Finally free, we see him now for what he truly is—a superstar, a contender to the best point guard throne, and most importantly, a leader. n

Above: A crafty player, Tony Parker shoots a floater over Thunder big man Kendrick Perkins. Opposite: Tony Parker pleads with an official to look at an inbound play on instant replay during Game 6 of the Spurs’ playoff series against the Mavericks. (AP Images)

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PLAYER PROFILE

#21 Power Forward

TIM DUNCAN Future Hall of Famer Reinvents Body, Game

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man seemingly immune to time, Tim Duncan stood outside of it for a moment while his teammates celebrated their fifth championship, as if this were the only way to take it all in. Just days before, Duncan sat in a room full of reporters fielding questions about legacies and history, not oblivious to it all, but certainly uncaring. The NBA Finals is a stage that defines players, yet a fifth championship does little to change his place in history. Not that it matters to him. “I think there will be time to look back on that once everything is over,” Duncan said. “For now all I’m focusing on is trying to get another one.” Like Duncan, the basketball world largely hasn’t fretted much over his narrative, mostly because it was already written from the moment he stepped onto an NBA court. He’s already considered the greatest power forward of all time, and whatever Duncan may still yet accomplish will not do much to change where one might rank him in their top five or 10 players ever. A ready-made Hall of Famer from the moment he stepped on the court, Duncan didn’t follow a

typical career arc. In fact, there was no arc at all. The San Antonio Spurs won a championship in Duncan’s second season and his career path has been a relative straight line ever since. Relatively recluse for a player of his stature, most of what we know about Duncan is derived directly from his work on the court. Off the court he’s a father and friend, allegedly witty with a wicked dry sense of humor. But how many people ever think of him in these terms? We’ve been purposely kept at arm’s length, and perhaps because of this Duncan has often been compared to a machine, or a robot—an emotionless vessel put on Earth to put up 20 points and 10 rebounds a night with no delight or regard for anything else. But Duncan isn’t a robot. A few years ago Duncan finally started breaking down, and unlike a machine, his parts couldn’t be replaced. It’s in these fleeting moments that we’ve come to know him best. Years ago, the Phoenix Suns exposed Duncan’s eroding legs with a barrage of pick-and-rolls in a second-round sweep. I remember standing in the locker room in disbelief after one of these games,

The heart and soul through all five of the Spurs’ NBA championships, Tim Duncan embraces Manu Ginobili after the guard makes a three-pointer toward the end of Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals. (AP Images)

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TIM DUNCAN

long after most of the other reporters and cameras had cleared out. Watching Duncan limp across a mostly empty room with the gait and pained expression of a man who had no business competing in an NBA game—let alone posting a double-double in an intense playoff game an hour earlier—the end seemed near. “The last couple of years my game has declined and changed,” a brutally frank Duncan said. “I wasn’t ready to let it go. I wanted to play as well as I can, as long as I can.” In each season since Duncan has returned a little lighter, dropping bulk as a necessary sacrifice to Father Time for a few more years of cooperation from deteriorating knees. His game has drifted out to the perimeter, and the Spurs into a pick-and-roll powerhouse. “I’ve change myself, I’ve changed my game, I’ve change my body a bit, and I’m playing in a situation that has allowed me to do just that and continue to be effective,” Duncan said. “I always talked about when I don’t feel I’m being effective anymore, then I would walk away from the game. It’s just about adjustments and finding what works and understanding that I can’t do everything I used to do.” The vast array of post moves are no longer readily at his disposal and the fast twitch muscles no longer fire on command, having been worn through years of battle. But they still retain their muscle memory, and Duncan draws upon that to stay a step ahead of everyone else. At this point in his career, Duncan’s main offensive weapons are his length, basketball IQ, and a midrange jumper subject to regression at any given time. Duncan may no longer be the metaphorical tidal force generating the Spurs’ offense, but he expertly navigates its waves, and

Above: Though one of the NBA’s best defenders, Serge Ibaka struggled to contain Tim Duncan during the Western Conference Finals. (AP Images) Opposite: Tim Duncan’s San Antonio career has even exceeded those of Spurs greats George Gervin and David Robinson. (Artwork by Jesse Blanchard)

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TIM DUNCAN

he’s still the anchor of an elite defense. “Timmy, he’s not going to score 24 a game or anything like that,” Gregg Popovich said. “But he’s still the base from which everything else occurs, whether he’s scoring or not. It just gives us a comfort level and a point from which to operate. He plays defense, rebounds, and scores here and there. He just does his job.” When Duncan signed his current contract, which will run out after the 2014–15 season if he doesn’t opt out this summer, he vowed to keep playing until the wheels fall off. Fighting time and age is something we can all relate to. Watching Duncan hold off its effects while still being visibly

affected by it—all to compete in a game he has nothing left to prove himself in—is a remarkable display of an indomitable competitive spirit. Tim Duncan’s narrative may already be mostly written, but the story of these Spurs will forever remain an open book. Seventeen years and another championship in, Duncan reminds us all that his presence can still carry a couple chapters. n

Above: Normally a very stoic player, Tim Duncan shows a bit of emotion during Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Opposite: The 38-year-old Tim Duncan continues to win the battle against Father Time. (Artwork by Jesse Blanchard)

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PROFILE

Head Coach

GREGG POPOVICH Longest Tenured NBA Coach Remains on Top of His Profession

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omeday sooner than any of us care to admit, the jerseys of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker will hang from the rafters of the AT&T Center, monuments to remember these glory days. But with coaches lacking numbers to retire, where will San Antonio hang its tribute to Gregg Popovich’s legacy? Framed and hanging along the walls leading to the players’ locker room are copies of Jacob Riis’ famous stonecutter quote, translated into every language on the team: “When nothing seems to help, I go look at a stonecutter hammering away at this rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow, it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before.” The frames should remain for as long as the AT&T Center is standing, testaments to Popovich, but not for public display. Perhaps this is the way it should be for a coach who has preferred to deflect credit everywhere else, revealing so very little of himself. Popovich is best known for the gruff television persona that has made his in-game

interviews appointment television. We are privy to so few glimpses of the real Popovich, but when his guard drops, as it did in his moving Easter Sunday interview with the son of the cancerstricken Craig Sager, it’s hard not to have respect for who he is as a person. On the court, Popovich’s strategic acumen holds up with anyone in NBA history. “The way he’s adapted, he’s been one of the guys responsible for a lot of changes to the league,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “They were playing faster and shooting more threes before most teams were doing it, so he’s always ahead of the curve and the results speak for himself.” The string of 50-win seasons and multiple NBA championships have already spoken volumes, but this season may have been Popovich’s masterpiece, and he was justly rewarded with his third NBA Coach of the Year Award. The Spurs led the NBA with 62 wins with no player averaging more than 30 minutes a game and its lone All-Star missing significant chunks of time. That they did it while also harboring the heartache of one of the most excruciating losses in NBA history speaks volumes

Gregg Popovich, the 2014 NBA Coach of the Year, gestures during Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals. (AP Images)

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GREGG POPOVICH

of Popovich’s biggest attribute—his ability to instill a team culture and big picture perspective. Never before had the Spurs’ pounding the rock mantra been so tested or shined so brightly. There are a number of factors that might explain San Antonio’s resiliency, form the character of its players to their sheer talent, but none so apt as the stonecutter quote. “I thought it embodied anyone’s effort in any endeavor, really,” Popovich said. “It doesn’t have to be about basketball. You just keep looking, you keep trying, and you keep going.” Popovich and general manager RC Buford often talk about their work in terms of building the program instead of building a team. Every lesson given is built on one that has come before, which has allowed the Spurs to build such a complex and adaptable system. Popovich then empowers all participants,

from player to assistant coaches, to take ownership of that system—which helps to perpetuate it further. In doing so, the Spurs have built something a little more sustaining than a dynasty. They’ve built something timeless, a culture to carry forward regardless of who wears the black and silver. During this playoff run Duncan acknowledged his career is nearing its conclusion, and Popovich has promised to quickly follow him out the door. And the tail end of Parker’s prime may bridge the gap between the Duncan and Kawhi Leonard eras. Soon all that will remain of this era are the jerseys in the rafters and the writings on the wall. But on the court, long after all of this is over with, Popovich’s influence will continue to prevail. n

Gregg Popovich coaches during the Western Conference Finals, a series through which he has impressively guided the Spurs in consecutive seasons. Opposite: Popovich points at Tony Parker, who occasionally butted heads with the coach as a young player before flourishing under him as an All-Star guard. (AP Images)

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PLAYER PROFILE

#20 Shooting Guard

MANU GINOBILI

Dynamic, Intuitive Ginobili Keeps Opponents Guessing Late in his Career

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urveying the court in transition, Manu Ginobili caught a glimpse of a trailing Tim Duncan in full sprint with Oklahoma City Thunder rookie Steven Adams gaining on him. Ahead of the action was Serge Ibaka, looking to deter any dribble penetration. Instantly Ginobili started calculating steps and angles in his head, the equation solved as quickly as it appeared. The pass came as Ginobili plays often do, without reason or warning. A player that lives between moments, Ginobili saw the briefest of opportunities before the Thunder settled into their defense. Ibaka stepped up towards Ginobili just as Duncan crossed the three-point line, and Manu threaded the needle between him and Adams, hitting Duncan in perfect stride for the dunk. It was the perfect balance of art and science, a line that Ginobili constantly tiptoes; a blend that borders on chaos. We call what Ginobili does on the court magic, but only because it defies our understanding of what should be possible with a basketball. His basketball IQ is magnificent, which has been both a bane and a blessing. Ginobili sees things on the court no one else does, and the calculations often whirl through his mind faster than his body can keep up with, leading to decisions

not even his teammates can explain. “He’s an incredibly intelligent player and he sees things before they happen, two or three plays before they happen,” Duncan said. “Sometimes four and five, which nobody else sees—and it doesn’t work out.” As his body has aged, his muscles have had trouble keeping up with his basketball synapses. When Ginobili entered the NBA a bundle of frenetic energy and reckless abandon, it was thought that his time would be short-lived, like a star burning brilliantly but all too brief. They called him El Contusion, a man without fear or regard for his own body. For years he defied the odds, outwitting opponents, time, and the laws of physics through a combination of guile, skill, and sheer determination. But age catches up with us all eventually. The long, flowing mane has been replaced by a prominent bald spot, and those bruises once worn as badges of honor keep him out longer than they used to. He struggled so mightily in the NBA Finals in 2013 he considered retirement, unable to consistently muster the playoff magic that has defined his career, trying to do too much and committing a series of backbreaking turnovers.

Manu Ginobili aggressively drives to the basket against LeBron James and Chris Andersen during Game 3 of the NBA Finals. (AP Images)

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MANU GINOBILI

“He’s still Manu, but he’s not the Manu he was a few years back where he could take over games in an instant,” Danny Green said. “Last year he was more aggressive and trying to take over some games sometimes and Pop had to tell him, ‘you can’t do it all at once or do it by yourself,’ you got to trust your teammates.” Still, Gregg Popovich and R.C. Buford knew that Ginobili still held significant value to the Spurs, bringing him back on a two-year deal that would coincide with Duncan’s. Even at his advanced age, few players change directions off the bounce or with their passes as quickly as Ginobili. Even fewer thrive on the type of chaos he creates. “His angles are not what you’re used to,” Heat forward Shane Battier said. “He can make a pass at any angle. Most guards, there’s only a certain amount of slots they can pass from, so you can anticipate those. His unorthodox moves and balance keeps you off guard.” Duncan, and to a lesser extent Tony Parker, are both

system players. While they are extremely effective, an opposing coach can game plan for what each is going to do and adjust a defense accordingly. A quality opponent can account for both players and budget for their impact to some degree. The rest of the team, with perhaps the exception of Kawhi Leonard, derive their roles and production from that system. But Ginobili has never been bound by that system; only his imagination limits him. As the lone Spurs player who can create anything, at any time, from anywhere on the court, Ginobili provides the dash of unpredictability that gives the Spurs that final edge. “What makes him probably most dangerous is the unpredictability,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “His ability to be aggressive and do things on the court that aren’t necessarily scripted.” Rather than tone his game down, blunting his impact in order to do less harm, he simply rested his body and returned the only way he knew how. “You don’t know where he’s going to pass it. A right-hand pass, a left-hand pass, a one-handed pass, between your legs, behind your back, he’ll make any pass,” Chris Bosh said. “It’s the Finals, I’m thinking guys will be more fundamental, but he just does what he does. He’s in control of not only every pass, but the secondary passes that lead to the assist.” Ginobili can see many things on the court, and the easier to see that he doesn’t have much time left. But so long as his craftiness, instincts, jumper, and body hold up, Ginobili retains enough magic to fulfill his role—which has been to hold the Spurs’ system together by operating outside of it. n

Above: Part of a rebound year following an injury-plagued 2012–13 campaign, Manu Ginobili passes during a 104–96 victory against the Bulls in March. Opposite: Known for the way he attacks the basket, Manu Ginobili does just that against forwards Josh Smith (left) and Kyle Singler of the Pistons. (AP Images)

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PLAYER PROFILE

#2 Small Forward

KAWHI LEONARD

Spurs’ Second-Youngest Player Shares Tim Duncan’s Stoic Demeanor

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ixteen years separate the San Antonio Spurs’ oldest and second-youngest player, but to gaze at their equally stone-faced facades is to be convinced that the two were somehow separated at birth. Tim Duncan is a little more versatile in his old age, honing the ability to at least make his eyes bigger when confronting referees. During the 2012–13 season, coach Gregg Popovich called Kawhi Leonard the future face of the franchise. Leave it the Spurs to find the one basketball player on Earth with less range of emotions and facial expressions than Tim Duncan. “I think he’s going to be a star. And as time goes on, he’ll be the face of the Spurs I think,” Popovich said. “At both ends of the court he’s really a special player. And what makes me so confident about him is that he wants it so badly. He wants to be a great player. He comes early, he stays late, and he’s coachable.” But what would “The Leap” look like on a team that places so little value on jumping, so to speak? In the Spurs’ motion-heavy, equal opportunistic offense Leonard was never going to command the responsibilities or usage required to show significant growth by conventional means. The quick consensus was if the Spurs were to keep pace in an ever-improving Western Conference, they would need Kawhi Leonard to use his Finals

debut as a springboard towards stardom that would offset any further concessions his teammates made to Father Time. In that series Leonard averaged 14.5 points and 11.1 rebounds while playing stellar defense against LeBron James. Over the summer Popovich would design a few new outlets for Leonard’s burgeoning offensive repertoire, but there was never going to be a reinvention of the system or the player. Given these conditions, and our natural inclination to measure progress via per-game statistics and prominence within an offense, how will we recognize it when it happens? And more to the point, did it happen already? If we’re trying to find the exact moment when Leonard taps into the full reservoir of his potential, we must first have some idea of what it is we’re looking for. In some respects, Leonard functions as a hybrid of Shawn Marion and Luol Deng. Like Marion, Leonard excels as a versatile defender who can guard four positions from either forward spot while providing meaningful production without consuming a lot of on-court resources. Like Deng, Leonard’s ability to create some self-sustaining offense, mostly in the form of pull-up jumpers and post-ups over smaller defenders, is enough to fill in some playmaking gaps in an offense.

Kawhi Leonard shoots over Thunder guard Reggie Jackson during the clinching victory of the Western Conference Finals, in which the Spurs forward had 17 points and 11 rebounds. (AP Images)

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KAWHI LEONARD

Some see Leonard and project a future star, despite a game that traditionally screams role player/playoff X-factor. Where does this connection come from? Perhaps it’s because on a subconscious level, we recognize that Leonard’s greatest basketball attributes remind us of two stars much closer to home. Like Duncan, perhaps Leonard’s greatest strength is his ability to quickly process and assimilate an enormous amount of information and channel it usefully through an economical skill set, as opposed to a bevy of moves or explosive athleticism. This is a very long-winded way of saying he simply knows how to play the game. My favorite comparison, if you’ll allow me some time to explain myself before jumping to conclusions, is with Manu Ginobili. Obviously, Leonard lacks the elite playmaking and scoring bursts from Ginobili’s prime. And stylistically, the whole thing falls apart. But what has often set Ginobili apart from other stars is his ability and willingness to take on the secondary functions and dirty work of role players and infusing it with star talent. Kawhi Leonard has become the master of the unscripted

play, breaking the fourth wall of Popovich’s Xs and Os dry board to infuse chaos into the proceedings. Perhaps no player in the NBA is better at lurking in a crowd only to jump the passing lane at the top of the key for an easy dunk. And few have Popovich’s permission to opportunistically crash the offensive boards as Leonard does, a trust given because Leonard’s calculated gambles rarely feel like risks, given his success rate. Leonard’s function and skill set within the Spurs’ base actions may scream role player, but it’s his ability to provide the unaccountable plays that brings Leonard to the forefront of what gives the Spurs that final, necessary edge. In the moments after the Spurs won the 2007 NBA championship against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Duncan embraced James, thanking him and assuring him that the league would be his one day. The league is no longer Duncan’s to give, but in embracing Leonard, Duncan can smile knowing he can leave his team in good hands…and a familiar face. n

Above: A reticent, versatile star-in-the-making, Kawhi Leonard speaks during an NBA Finals practice. (AP Images) Opposite: The future of the Spurs, Kawhi Leonard, keeps things on an even keel just like longtime San Antonio star Tim Duncan. (Artwork by Jesse Blanchard)

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PLAYER PROFILE

#33 POWER FORWARD

BORIS DIAW Versatile Veteran Makes the Game Look Easy

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he possession began simply enough, with Tim Duncan presenting Manu Ginobili—who was curling up to the top of the key from the baseline off a Boris Diaw screen—with a dribble handoff. Determined not to allow Ginobili access to the middle of the floor, the hyper-aggressive Miami Heat defense hedged and trapped Ginobili out high with Chris Bosh and Ray Allen to force a retreat, all the while playing into the San Antonio Spurs’ hands. Occupying two defenders 25 feet away from the rim, Ginobili fired a quick pass to Diaw, who was filling the area just vacated by Ginobili, Bosh, and Allen, putting the ball in the hands of one of the best passing big men with a 4-on-3 numbers advantage. Diaw received the ball on the wing, the threat of his outside shot forcing Dwyane Wade to rotate out, further compromising the Heat defense. In the scramble, Diaw simply dumped the ball over the top to an open Duncan at the front of the rim, who finished the hook before Bosh could recover. It was a play that seems unassumingly simple until you see Miami fail to execute the same look. But then, Diaw has always had a knack for making the game look simpler than it really is.

“Basketball came easy to him, he was a natural,” Tony Parker said, recalling his first impression of Diaw back in their high school days in France. “He sees everything in advance, that’s why he’s such a great passer. I knew he was going to be great.” Not everyone has shared Parker’s view of Diaw, who came to San Antonio in 2012 after being unceremoniously dumped by the NBA-worst Charlotte Bobcats. For possessing such a versatile skill set, Boris Babacar Diaw-Riffiod’s approach to the game is remarkably stubborn. “You try to get Boris to do anything in practice he doesn’t want to do, and it’s tough,” Dan D’Antoni, an assistant coach during Diaw’s days with the Phoenix Suns, was quoted as saying in Jack McCallulm’s book Seven Seconds or Less. Watching the Spurs go through their pregame rituals, everyone is all business except Diaw. While Manu Ginobili goes through a series of moves and in-game shots, and Danny Green rehearses threepointers over different types of closeouts, Boris Diaw is half-heartedly backing down an assistant, tossing up a series of lazy hooks. Some see Diaw’s laissez-faire attitude and unwillingness to assert his wide-ranging skill

Boris Diaw, who had 14 points and 10 rebounds during the Game 4 loss in the Western Conference Finals, drives against Serge Ibaka. (AP Images)

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BORIS DIAW

towards scoring as a character flaw. Under Bobcats coach Paul Silas, Diaw grew miserable playing for a coach who didn’t understand his vision, watching his statistics plummet and his waistline grow. “I like a player who is really committed to not only the team, but to himself, and then doing the best that he can as a player,” Silas said. “Some of the things that would go on, like not shooting the ball, passing all of the time, that doesn’t help. I needed hoops and he could put the ball in the hoop. When that wouldn’t happen it was very disturbing.” Waived by Charlotte, Diaw was overweight, underwhelming, and according to Parker, a perfect fit for the Spurs. “I just think the Bobcats were not the right fit for him because he’s the ultimate team player and needs a system and stuff like that,” Parker said. “He’s a perfect fit for us.” Part of what has made the Spurs so successful in finding role players for their system comes from Popovich’s ability to create roles that play to players’ strengths and never asking

players to deviate from what they are. For Diaw, that was always more about using his diverse skill set to make the right basketball play rather than assert himself in a more traditional manner. In Game 1 against the Heat, Diaw turned in the most dominant two-point game in NBA Finals history, using Miami’s aggressive defense against the Heat by acting as a release valve and quickly making the right reads before the Miami defense could recover from their traps. “Pop told me that I was going to start the game and try to be a facilitator out there, just trying to make plays for others and try to make the right choices,” Diaw said after being inserted into the starting lineup for Game 3. “So I was just focusing on that role, being able to be a relay. They’re pretty aggressive on their pick-and-rolls [defense], so just try to be somebody that gives an outlet pass and looking for the open man.” In the Western Conference Finals and NBA Finals, Diaw’s ability to play small and big allowed the Spurs’ offense to flow around their more athletic counterparts. Like water, Diaw simply moved along the path of least resistance, shaping his game to whatever his team needed. “He’s a very versatile player,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “Some players have a feel for the game that is better than others, and he’s one of those. He can pass the basketball, he sees the floor in a spatial relationship sort of way. He knows where people are, he knows where the ball should go.” Too often coaches make the mistake of forcing players who can do a little bit of everything to do a whole lot more. All Diaw ever wanted to do was use his skills to make the simple play. There’s a reason Diaw makes the game look easy: he allows it to be. n

Above: Boris Diaw, a deft passer who can do a little bit of everything, snares a rebound against Chris Bosh and Chris Andersen of the Heat in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. Opposite: Picking up the slack for his injured friend and French countryman Tony Parker, Boris Diaw had 26 points in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals. (AP Images)

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LeBron James and NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard share a moment after the final seconds of the Spurs’ clinching Game 5 win over the Heat at the AT&T Center. (AP Images)

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