Where do you even start with this team?
Still less than four days removed from the final buzzer, the die-hard fan in me is continuing to ride the wave of excitement that the 2014 San Antonio Spurs brought to us this spring. The “Drive for Five” now complete, the next goal has quickly been branded the “Race for Seis.” But there is plenty of time to focus on next season later. As a basketball enthusiast, it’s important to try to quantify this team’s place in history.
Firstly, we can briefly revisit the 2013 NBA Finals one last time. The Spurs lost 4-3 to the Heat in heartbreaking fashion, a matchup for the ages that doesn’t really need to be fully explained again. It was devastating for the organization, and the fan base. To make matters worse, no team had made it back to the Finals after losing them in 7 games the previous season since the Bad Boy Pistons in 1989. This season began with a quiet optimism in San Antonio, and no major sports pundits gave the Spurs a chance to regain the form that had propelled them to within 28 seconds of a fifth championship the year before.
Manu Ginobili was under some intense scrutiny back in early November. His horrid NBA Finals performance of 2013 (sans Game 5) had brought back the questions if he could perform at a high level any more. He quickly brushed aside the notion that he was no longer a factor, and proved the exact opposite. Ginobili was efficient as ever in 2013-14, he actually played almost exactly to his career Per 36 minute numbers posting 19.5 pts/4.7 rebs/6.8 asts in 2013-14 (compared to 19.5/5.1/5.3 for his career).
Ginobili wasn’t the only bench player to improve on his numbers from the previous season. Patty Mills slimmed down in the offseason and his role immediately increased. “Pat Stacks” appeared in a career high 81 games for San Antonio and registered career highs in points, rebounds, assists and steals, while shooting 42.5% from beyond the arc and 89% from the free throw line. Mills proved that he can be a starting point guard in the NBA (albeit a below average one). If he’s still coming off someone’s bench next season (hopefully in South Texas), it’s an absolute steal.
Boris Diaw has long been the target of jokes regarding his physique, but he went the way of Mills, trimming (some) fat and producing his best 3-point shooting season since 2008 at 40.2% for the season. He also shot 52% from the field and his best percentage from the free throw line (74%) since 2009.
Diaw has long been a versatile player, but something that the casual NBA fan probably doesn’t know, is that Diaw came into the league as a point guard. Yep, you read that right. Here’s his rookie picture from the Phoenix Suns (2003), compared to four seasons ago in Charlotte.
This season, Boris was somewhere in the middle of this physical canyon. With just enough mass to bully smaller defenders in the post, and the doughnut intake at a low enough rate to take bigger, less agile defenders off the dribble, Diaw gave Popovich a unique weapon to experiment with as the calendar crept closer to April.
Added to that was the sharp shooting Marco Bellinelli, signed in free agency away from the Bulls. The Italian Stallion also put up a career high in points, producing seven 20+ point performances including a scintillating 32 point, 5 rebound and 2 assist performance at Madison Square Garden. The Spurs second Aussie, Aron Baynes, and newly acquired Jeff Ayres helped out in the paint from time to time, completing the deepest bench in the NBA.
The starters did their usual thing. Parker, lightning quick with an improved 3-point shot that kept defenders honest. Danny Green continued shooting at a torrid pace, and even though he only played 68 games due to injury, he still contributed 132 makes from beyond the arc. Tiago Splitter made strides once again, ascending to the top ranks of rim defenders, even though he only played 59 games due to injury. Tim Duncan continued to write his chapter in the NBA history book, and like Ginobili, played almost exactly to his career per 36 minute averages at 18.7 pts/12.0 rebs/3.7 asts/2.3 blks for the season (20.6/11.5/3.2/2.3 for his career).
Then there’s Kawhi Leonard… we’ll get to him later.
The Spurs finished the regular season with the best record in the NBA at 62-20. Entering the playoffs, San Antonio was healthy, and looking forward to the challenge of getting back to the Finals where their hearts had been ripped out less than a year before. Armed with home court advantage throughout the playoffs, the Spurs drew rival Dallas in the first round. After a Vince Carter buzzer beater put the Mavericks up 2-1 in the series, the Spurs battled back with two big wins to put Dallas on the brink. After being willed by Monta Ellis and Dirk Nowitzki to a Game 6 victory, the Spurs took matters into their own hands in the deciding seventh game.
The Spurs turned their attention to Portland, who had been the Spurs toughest test in the four years prior to these playoffs. The Blazers had won 11 of the previous 17 matchups against San Antonio and most believed it would be a long, grinding series. Not so, as the Spurs dispatched Portland in just five games. (Note: This is when Kawhi began his stellar postseason run. Look at that fastbreak!)
Then, the rematch of the 2012 Western Conference Finals that every Spurs fan had been waiting for. The Spurs rolled the Thunder in the first two games with Serge Ibaka staying in Oklahoma City with an ankle injury. But his surprising Game 3 return turned the tables on San Antonio, sending the series back to SA tied at 2. After a Spurs blowout win in Game 5, San Antonio got what was the biggest win of the season to that point in their first victory in Oklahoma City in 11 tries.
You know the rest of the story. The Spurs demolished the Heat in five games, their lone blemish a two point loss in Game 2. Many teams have won the NBA Finals in five games, heck, plenty have won in four. But how the Spurs accomplished their fifth title in franchise history is another matter altogether.
The Spurs regular season (as described earlier) was phenomenal. The 62 wins marked the second highest win total in franchise history. But even though the Spurs didn’t set the franchise mark for wins, they set some very impressive NBA records. Consider that the Spurs set records with no player averaging over 30 minutes per game, or 20 points per game, both NBA firsts. If anyone asks why Popovich won the Coach of the Year award for the second time, point them in the direction of these stats.
The playoff stats were even more impressive. San Antonio won the title, giving Tim Duncan his fifth championship spanning three different decades (only John Salley has also accomplished that feat). Parker and Ginobili won their fourth, which is good for first among foreign players. 12 of the 16 San Antonio playoff wins were by 15 points or more, another NBA record. They won 78 total games including the playoffs, a franchise record. They recorded a +214 point differential in the playoffs, an NBA record.
In the Finals alone, the Spurs outscored the Heat by 70 points (remember, five games) and averaged a 14 point victory, both NBA Finals records. The Spurs bench outscored the Heat bench 214-109, and knocked down 55 threes in the series, another Finals record.
This team should be celebrated for years to come, and they wrote their names all over NBA record books to make sure that the impact of this squad will not go unnoticed in the future.
It’s hard to see the Spurs fading away any time soon. Duncan, Ginobili and Popovich are all expected back, and with no true decline for those two players in sight, this team will contend once again next season. After that, who knows? The sky is the limit for that guy Kawhi I mentioned earlier.
Leonard had himself a spectacular postseason. In the playoffs he averaged 14.3 pts/6.7 rebs/1.7 asts/1.7 stls per game in 32 mpg. Not “superstar” numbers, but his impact on the game defensively is not measured in those stats (well, steals I guess, but you know what I mean). Here’s some examples of the things he did on the way to the Finals.
And who could forget this…
Leonard went on to win the NBA Finals MVP, the second youngest player to ever do so, only bowing to the 20 year old version of Magic Johnson. For the Finals, he averaged 17.8 pts/6.4 rebs/2.0 asts/1.6 stls/1.2 blks per game on 61.2% shooting, 57.9% from three, and 78.3% from the line. But when you remember that Leonard was saddled with foul trouble in the first two games and really didn’t make a big impact, you can narrow it down to what he did in Games 3-5 and it becomes much more impressive at 23.7 pts/9.3 rebs/2.3 asts/2 stls/2 blks per game. His shooting averages in those three games were 68.5% from the field, 53.8% from three and 84.2% from the line. Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2014 NBA Finals MVP…
Let’s wait until it’s been at least a week until we start debating on where the Spurs go from here. Enjoy it Spurs fans.
The Terrible Texan 