Don't mention last year's playoffs to a Spurs fan.
After yet another stellar regular season, the franchise won more than 60 games for the first time since 2005-06 and earned the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. But in the playoffs, the Spurs were unceremoniously bounced in the first round by a No. 8 seed, the Memphis Grizzlies.
It wasn't just any upset. Not only was it the first ever playoff series win for the Grizz, Game 1 marked their first ever playoff win, period.Â
In falling behind 1-0 and 3-1 before finally falling in six games, the Spurs looked old, tired and as though their 12-year run as one of the league's elite teams, a stretch that included four championships, was coming to an end.
That was, until this season started.
Once again, the Spurs are at the top of the Western heap, leading the Oklahoma City Thunder by a half game for the conference's top seed with a 45-16 record. They've won five straight and have navigated a myriad of injuries to Manu Ginobili and the slight decline of the best player in their franchise's history Tim Duncan.
All of this isn't to say that San Antonio may not get bounced early again this season. But the circumstances surrounding the team headed into next week's playoffs feel different. And the Spurs might have one more potential title run left.
Let's take a look at some of the reasons.
Gregg Popovich
You're the man, Pop. What's the matter?
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One of the league's great coaches and a surefire Hall of Famer to boot, Popovich has done perhaps his best job this season.
The way he's managed the minutes of Duncan, Ginobili and Tony Parker while integrating his reserves has been the biggest key to the Spurs' success.
Duncan, who looked as though he could barely walk at some stages of the series against Memphis, has played just 28.3 minutes per game this season. No one on the Spurs played more minutes than he did last year except Parker, but this year, thanks to Popovich decreasing his workload (and a new, trimmer look), he's up in both points and rebounds per game.
Popovich has also managed to get through a handful of games in which he's allowed every member of his Big Three to rest at once. Sometimes, the results haven't been pretty (like a 137-97 loss to Portland in February), but that's not the point. Having everyone fresh for the playoffs and a potential deep run is.
There's a movement for Popovich to win Coach of the Year. It's hard to argue that one.
Tony Parker
Parker is the unquestioned leader of the Spurs.
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After the loss to Memphis last year, Parker was quoted in a French newspaper as saying, "we will always have a good team, but we can no longer say we're playing for a championship."
Maybe he should say things like that more often.
Sometimes lost in the discussion of the league's best point guards, Parker has shown yet again this season that he's in the same class as Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook and Rajon Rondo.
Parker is averaging a career-high 7.7 assists per game to go with 18.5 points. He's the Spurs most productive player, and the spark plug that makes the San Antonio engine go.
And his leadership style has changed this season too, as he's become much more vocal, especially with Duncan and Ginobili not playing as much.
It used to be Duncan, but these days, as Parker goes, so go the Spurs.
The Bench
Backing up Parker, Neal is one of the Spurs most important players.
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Wednesday night, with Duncan resting and Ginobili limited, Popovich turned to his bench once again, and once again, that group delivered.
Reserves Gary Neal and Tiago Splitter each scored 17 points to lead the Spurs to a 127-102 win over Sacramento, shooting a combined 12-for-14 from the floor.
Rookie Kawhi Leonard chipped in with 13 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Danny Green had 11 points with a couple of three-pointers spruced in. Stephen Jackson, in his second tour as a Spur, added 13.
This came just two nights after a win in Oakland over Golden State in which Duncan played just 12 minutes, and Neal, Splitter and Green combined for 43 points, as a part of six Spurs to score in double figures.
The point is, the Spurs are deep. And while it's not such a huge accomplishment to beat up on the Kings and Warriors, especially in the waning days of the regular season, the depth here is not even remotely a question.
This team can win without its best players. Everyone contributes. And that should scare the rest of the West.Â
The Draw
Nash and the Suns loom as a potential first-round opponent of the Spurs.
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Whether the Spurs hang on to the No. 1 seed or slip behind Oklahoma and wind up No. 2, their potential first-round matchups look very appealing.
Right now, just two-and-a-half games separate the No. 6 seed out West from the No. 10. San Antonio is looking at a series against anyone among a group consisting of Denver, Houston, Phoenix, Utah and Dallas.
Obviously the Mavs, the NBA's defending champions, look like the toughest matchup among those teams. But all of the other ones in that group are deeply flawed.
Denver is too inconsistent. Phoenix lacks talent. Utah doesn't have a point guard. And Houston seems to be in the hunt through smoke in mirrors, thanks to injury issues.
None of the Spurs' potential first-round opponents look nearly as menacing as the Grizzlies, as they gave Oklahoma a major run for its money in the Western semis last year after dispatching San Antonio.Â
And if the Spurs wind up with the No. 1 seed and some things break their way, they'll be staring down the Clippers in the Western semifinals, a team severely lacking in playoff chops.
Things are lined up for the Spurs to go on a deep run. The rest is up to them.
Tim Duncan
There's plenty of life left in Duncan's old legs yet.
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It might seem easy to doubt Duncan after his showing last year against the Grizzlies, his age and the amount of miles run up on his odometer.
But do it at your own peril.
Here's one of the game's greatest champions, and the best power forward ever to play in the NBA. He's been managed perfectly by his coach all year and is on pace to finish the year having played the fewest minutes per game of his career.Â
And it's paying off.
Last week in a win over Memphis, he played 35 minutes and scored 28 points on 10-for-15 shooting to go with 12 boards. He stepped it up again in another 35-minute stint in Tuesday's win over the Lakers, with 19 points on 9-of-14 and eight rebounds.
Duncan is averaging 17.2 points per game in April and has looked relatively spry in doing so. He knows how to win. He and Popovich, inextricably linked, are one of the most productive player/coach pairs in NBA history. There's more left in Duncan's nearly 36-year-old body.
How much more remains to be seen. But don't underestimate Tim Duncanâ€"or the San Antonio Spurs.
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