Three Right
2014 NBA Western Conference First Round, Game 6
Free Fallin' - At the precipice of climbing all the way out of the eleven point first half hole that San Antonio had dug for ourselves, and clinching a hard fought first round series in the process, the Spurs defense fell off the cliff with 11 minutes left in Game 6 against the Mavericks last night. Ahead by seven, and on the verge of pushing the lead to double digits, San Antonio relaxed for a split second and that was all that Dallas needed. A pair of three pointers by Vince Carter and Jose Calderon later, the Mavericks had shredded the lead down to one and the Spurs were in a dog fight the rest of the night to try and outscore the Mavs because our defense, in a free fall, was no longer capable of stopping anybody. Ultimately, the best road team in the NBA came up just short, falling in Dallas 113-111; but not before putting the fear of God into the American Airlines Center crowd as Patty Mills attempted a potential series ending three pointer at the buzzer. After Patty's shot was waved off (and came up short anyway) Mark Cuban and former Spur, DeJuan Blair, embraced and enjoyed in each other's contempt for the team that had nearly ended their season on what would have been (on the Mav's part) one of the biggest collapses in the final 20 seconds of a playoff game in NBA history (which sadly is a topic that we know something about from last season and on the biggest stage) as the Spurs trailed by six with 20 seconds left before Danny Green and Patty both drilled threes in a furious attempt to steal the game. While his tragic turn to the dark side as one of Mark Cuban's sith apprentices is heartbreaking, DeJuan was able to channel the energy from his red light saber to have another strong performance amassing 10 points and 12 rebounds off of the bench in 29 minutes of play. That and an avalanche of one-sided foul calls that need to be mentioned (but I will refrain from complaining about) notwithstanding, credit needs to be given to Monta Ellis for dismantling the Spurs defense in the fourth quarter. Ellis scored 12 of his 29 points in the fourth and, while the Mavs have played above expectations as a unit, Monta has been the Dallas franchise's most consistent weapon throughout this series and is probably the biggest reason why Mark Cuban is refueling the team jet for a return trip to the Alamo city in order to play a rematch of the 2006 Western Conference Semi-Final classic Game 7 that I'm sure Tim, Tony, Coach Pop, and especially Manu would love nothing more than to take advantage of the opportunity to redeem tomorrow afternoon.
While we relinquished a golden opportunity last night to finally rid ourselves of this pesky little team from Dallas, there are more than enough reasons for Spurs fans to refrain from panicking about the uncertainty associated with tomorrow afternoon's festivities. First, the Spurs are at home and the home team is at a huge advantage in Game 7's. The second thing to keep in mind is that we were one miraculous Vince Carter shot away from having had this series wrapped up in five games. Thirdly, this series has been played extremely close with the one exception being Game 2 in which Dallas defeated San Antonio 113-92. While I still contend that the Spurs are a superior ball club that has underperformed in this series while the Mavs have consistently over-performed; tied at 3-3, at worst, one could make the argument that, at this point in the season, the two teams are evenly matched. Usually, in a tightly contested series like this where most of the games are extremely close, each team has at least one game that they are able to win comfortably. The Mavericks had their blowout win in Game 2. The Spurs are still due. Based on the law of averages for a seven games series between two evenly matched teams, the Spurs could be getting set up for our turn to enjoy a blowout victory in this series in Game 7. While I won't expect this to happen, it will not surprise me in the least. Fourthly, Game 6's are fun, but Game 7's are for firemen. In other words, Game 7's usually come down to which team can summon the defensive fortitude to consistently get stops throughout the game. Both the Spurs and the Mavericks offenses were on fire in Game 6. I am very confident in the Spurs chances to be the team that is able to show up at the AT&T Center tomorrow afternoon, put on our hard hats, and proceed to finally extinguish the flames from Dirk, Monta, Vince, and companies offensive attack, which has been sizzling for most of this series. In contrast, our offense (which started the series ice cold) has been slowly lighting a spark under more and more of its weapons with each passing game, as evidenced by player of the game Danny Green's decision to finally join the party with 17 points on an amazing 7-7 from the field. If the pattern continues, I would expect the Big Three to be the Big Three and for Kawhi, Danny, Tiago, Boris, and Patty to all play extremely well, but also for Marco Belinelli (who has been close to a no-show so far in this series) to break out and have a huge impact on the outcome of the game.
Finally, the last reason that Spurs fans should refrain from panicking about our prospects for closing this series out at home tomorrow afternoon is that, as documented in the photo above, my friend Matt presented me with an amazing gift last night that should prove helpful for just this type of situation: a lucky Spurs charm! It should stand to reason that if I keep this charm on my person throughout Game 7, the good karma that is generated will manifest into energy that shoots off at the speed of light over to the AT&T Center to protect the #BlackAndSilver from bad calls, unlucky bounces, miraculous shot making by opponents, and all the other calamities that have plagued us in our last 8 playoff games. Tomorrow, it is time for the San Antonio Spurs to set aside all of the bizarre voodoo curses that have snake bitten us in these last two playoff series and get back on track by playing dominating basketball en route to finally completing this long journey we have been on over the past few years. While another classic playoff series between Tim Duncan and Dirk Nowitzki has been special to watch, tomorrow it will end and we need to be the team still standing having avenged Game 7 against Dallas in 2006 and having shaken away some of the heartbreak and misery from the 2013 NBA Finals in the process. Tomorrow afternoon, the San Antonio Spurs are hosting a wild international basketball party and (if I'm not mistaken) Dirk's invitation might just have gotten lost in the mail. This is our year. We've got next.
Featured Image Source: ESPN
Thirteen Left
2014 NBA Western Conference First Round, Game 5
The OtherSide - Within 24 hours of the birth of his first child, son Josh, and on little to no sleep, Tony Parker came up aces in Game 5 of the Western Conference, First Round series with Dallas. The Spurs defeated the Mavericks 109-103 last night at home in front of a fiery crowd at the AT&T Center to take a three games to two lead over our in-state rivals. Congratulations are in order for Tony on becoming a father and on being awarded last night's player of the game honors. While responding to a question in the post-game press conference about Tony's whirlwind day, Coach Pop observed, "I think his child was a little more important than the game, but he managed to do 'em both." Thankfully, for Spurs fans, Coach Pop was right about Parker's ability to multitask as TP led the Spurs with 23 points and added 5 assists in his strongest performance in the series so far. With 1:52 left in the game, and San Antonio clinging to a four point lead, Tony drained a cold blooded 25 foot three pointer that inevitably put the margin of the Maverick's seemingly wire to wire deficit too far out of reach for them to pull off a spirited fourth quarter comeback attempt. While Dallas was able to tie the game on a few occasions, they were never able to break through and establish a lead despite the fact that Dirk Nowitzski and Vince Carter shot lights out in the second half. On that note, Vince Carter (a half man - half old as dirt former NBA superstar) has been 100 percent amazing in this series. He has turned back the clock to be, at times, the most dangerous weapon on the court for the Mavericks and is the only reason that this series is not over and the Spurs aren't enjoying a little rest whilst preparing for a second round opponent. Carter had 28 points on 10-16 shooting last night and went an unbelievable 7-9 from downtown. His shot-making ability has been ridiculous in this series and unfortunately for San Antonio, because of it, we still have to fight to get one more victory against one of the best 8th-seeded teams that the NBA has ever fielded.
Indeed, tomorrow night's Game 6 and the opportunity to close out the series is shaping up to potentially be a massive challenge for San Antonio. Not only did Dirk find his rhythm for the first time in the series in the second half of Game 5, but couple that with the undeniable fact that Vince Carter's playoff confidence is currently at an all-time high. Then, add to the equation that DeJuan Blair will be jacked up and will bring an extra little something to the American Airlines Center (energy-wise) in order to give himself another shot at revenge against his former teammates after having served a one game suspension in Game 5 for his dubious impression of Pele on Tiago Splitter's head during Game 4. Lastly, we must factor in that those loveable Dallas Mavericks fans will be lathered up and foaming at the mouth to do what they can to help their team even up the series and give the Mavs an opportunity to return to San Antonio for Game 7 where they could potentially steal this series. The arena which is housed in a city that is so corporate that it doesn't even have the originality to come up with its own corporate sponsorship so it shares one with Miami is shaping up to be the epitome of a hostile environment tomorrow evening. But the San Antonio Spurs didn't amass the best road record in the NBA this season by cratering under the pressure of performing in hostile environments. I fully expect us to have a razor sharp performance tomorrow and put ourselves in a position to win the game and send Mark Cuban fishing. I expect the Spurs sharp shooters to finally find their collective rhythm and for #BlackAndSilver three-point bombs to be free fallin' from the sky all night long over the city of Dallas. The Mavericks have put up a valiant effort to make the sixth installment of this playoff rivalry another classic confrontation of wills, but despite all of the pageantry that this series has had to offer, I expect it to have become just another playoff battle for future NBA Hall-Of-Famers Tim Duncan and Dirk Nowitzki to add to the memory bank, so they can nostalgically reflect back upon someday, come Saturday morning.
Featured Image Source: Rap Genius
Headline Image Source: USA Today
Fourteen Left
2014 NBA Western Conference First Round, Game 4
With a Little Help From My Friends - "What would you think if I sang out of tune, would you stand up and walk out on me?" Last night, the San Antonio Spurs endured another big stretch in the second half where we couldn't find the right pitch on offense and, as a result, we came dangerously close to having every fair weather fan in South Texas jump off of the team's bandwagon as we narrowly avoided going in the hole, 3-1 against the Dallas Mavericks. Instead, we displayed a tremendous amount of mental toughness and grit to get our first road victory of the 2014 playoffs and even the first round series at two games each by defeating the Mavericks 93-89 at American Airlines Center in Dallas. The Spurs are returning to the Alamo city having regained home-court advantage and it is now Dallas who might want to consider counting their own fortunes that Vince Carter's prayer was answered on Saturday afternoon because, without that amazing shot, the Mavs could easily be a team facing elimination on the road tomorrow evening. San Antonio, who has still yet to put together a complete Spurs-like performance for 48 minutes in this series, took another positive step forward towards establishing a playoff mindset in this series and getting accustomed to the intensity of postseason basketball. By contrast, it was pointed out on the TNT broadcast, Dallas has been in a playoff mindset and dealing with postseason intensity for weeks having had to battle with Memphis and fight off Phoenix in order just to qualify to be here. That is always one of the dangers of clinching the best record in the league by a comfortable margin; we perhaps took our collective foot off of the gas at the end of the regular season and have had a hard time getting this behemoth of an 18-wheeler back to moving at full speed again. Through four games, the Spurs are fortunately back on track with two of the possible three remaining games at home and hopefully gaining momentum towards full playoff speed, which is a velocity that would allow us to finish this series off properly.
One of the stranger happenings from last evening's dramatic game occurred late in the fourth quarter. It is becoming clear that something weird happens when a Spurs player gets tangled up on the ground during the NBA playoffs with a Mavs player who is a former teammate. Seemingly every time it happens, the Mavericks player involved is overcome with a sense of desire to channel his inner-Three Stooges. Remember when Jason Terry perpetrated one of the most infamous cheap shots of all-time when he couldn't pass up the opportunity to fist bump former teammate Michael Finley in the groin during Game 5 of the 2006 Western Conference semi-finals? Well, history repeated itself last night when former-Spur DeJuan Blair decided to show off his soccer skills with Tiago Splitter's head. After the game, Blair claimed that he was kicking his legs out in protest to a foul call and made contact with Tiago inadvertently. I'm not sure that Tiago buys that explanation, but either way, DeJuan's outburst proved costly for the Mavericks. Not only did the catalyst of the Mav's second half comeback from 20 down to take the lead (DeJuan had 12 points and 11 rebounds in the game) get himself ejected, but the #BlackAndSilver were awarded two free throws on the foul and one on the technical (and ejection of Blair) which allowed us to turn a one point deficit into a two point lead with 3:08 left in the game. Even still, the Mavs kept fighting until the bitter end and it took the biggest shot of the season (to-date) for the Spurs, a clutch three by player of the game Boris Diaw with 32 seconds left, to go ahead for good. Boris was able to provide much needed production off of the bench, which was mostly absent in the first three games if you take Manu Ginobili out of the equation, with his 17 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. If Boris can play like that in Game 5 at home, and bring some of his fellow 'Foreign Legion' bench compadres along for the ride, the Spurs will put themselves in a better position to build and maintain a lead tomorrow evening. Should that happen, San Antonio will put ourselves in a position to have an opportunity to closeout on Friday when we return to The Otherside.
Featured Image Source: American Songwriter
Headline Image Source: Bleacher Report
Two Right
2014 NBA Western Conference First Round, Game 3
The National Anthem - Apparently, Two Right makes a wrong and it is now apparent that something is noticeably wrong with the San Antonio Spurs since I'm having TO WRITE this only three games into the 2014 NBA Playoffs. In contrast, last year, we didn't lose our second game of the playoffs until Game 4 of our second round match-up with the Golden State Warriors. Call it a miracle, lucky prayer or call it one of the more clutch, cold-blooded daggers in recent playoff memory; either way the Dallas Mavericks have a 2-1 lead on the Spurs after Vince Carter sank a game-winning three pointer from the corner, with only 1.7 seconds with which to get the shot off, to beat San Antonio in Game 3, 109-108. I don't remember a game that the Spurs had lost on a buzzer beater the entire 2013-14 season, so (if my memory is serving me correctly) I guess you could say that we were due. Yet this brings me no solace because that was potentially about as painful a scenario through which to lose a playoff game as someone could draw up. If the Spurs don't regain our dominant form, and continue to struggle to get the upper hand in this series, then that shot could get added to The List (.4, Dirk's drive, Zach Randolph, James Harden, Ray Allen) that is too terrible to be accompanied by links. But this is not the time to start to panic. I fully expect that the #BlackAndSilver will do what they are supposed to do and bounce back to regain control of this series. When that happens, then the Vince Carter three pointer will get remembered in Spurs lore as the sequel to this.
The San Antonio Spurs will regroup and will put forth an effort that will put them in a position to regain control of this series on Monday evening. But in order to ensure that that is exactly whats happens, we need to start playing like the Spurs again on offense. For the most part, barring a few lapses here and there, we have played reasonably well on defense. Once again, Dirk going bananas was not the reason that we lost Game 3. Dirk mustered only 18 points on 7-13 shooting. The reason that we are behind in this series is because we have yet to consistently move the ball on offense. We have shown glimpses of it, and the Spurs played better on offense in Game 3 than they had in the first two games in San Antonio (particularly player of the game, Tiago Splitter, who tallied an impressive 14 points and 13 rebounds), but in order to start comfortably winning these games against the Mavs (and not allow them to be in a position at the end where prayers can be answered) the Spurs need to move the basketball in Game 4 with so much precision that the Dallas defense begins to bend and then finally breaks. San Antonio, as a team, needs to put on the type of 'assists' clinic in Game 4 that gives Cliff Paul an orgasm. Being the most unselfish and offensively dynamic team in the NBA is who the Spurs are. It is the reason that we have the best record in the league. When we move the ball for 22 seconds, wearing the defense out in the process, and still end up getting a wide open three pointer that we proceed to bury before running back on defense so that we can get the ball back and do it again; it is demoralizing for an opponent. We can obliterate all of the Mavericks' newly found confidence and remind them that we are the one seed for a reason with one dominant offensive performance for 48 minutes tomorrow evening. One Spur is not going to will this team to a first round victory over Dallas, much less a championship. To a man, each player needs to approach the rest of this series and the rest of the 2014 playoffs with the mentality that I am going to do my part better to play winning basketball if I do it with a little help from my friends.
One more thing. Mark Cuban…
Featured Image Source: Times Union
Headline Image Source: Right Right Wrong
One Right
2014 NBA Western Conference First Round, Game 2
Zambony - On Wednesday night, the Dallas Mavericks came back to the AT&T Center to challenge the San Antonio Spurs to another game of basketball. Unfortunately, the Spurs players came to the arena expecting to play Dallas in ice hockey. San Antonio might have actually fared better had we sent the Rampage players out on to the court because it appeared that, to a man sans Manu Ginobili, the Spurs had no interest in being out there. The zamboni parked deep in the bowels of the AT&T Center had more of a sense of urgency about Wednesday night's contest than the team with the best regular season record in the NBA. If you had told me Wednesday morning that we were going to get blown out in Game 2 on our home floor, 113-92, I would have assumed that it would of been because Dirk Nowitzki was going to have a monster throwback MVP level performance. This, however, was not the reason that the Spurs were dismantled by our neighbors to the north. Dirk struggled through another pedestrian 16 points on 7-19 shooting but the Mavericks, as a team, played with intensity and moved the basketball as if to put on a clinic to embarrass the alleged 'best passing' team in the league. And embarrassed we should have been. The Spurs mustered up only 17 assists on 34 made field goals and turned the ball over an uncharacteristic 22 times to the Mavericks postseason ready 7 turnovers.
Note to the City of San Antonio: I know that Fiesta began early this year, which probably threw off our rhythm as a community because the weekend of Oyster Bake did not coincide with the first weekend of the playoffs, but regardless of the unintended consequence of extending Fiesta to three weeks which probably made San Antonio less festive than usual by the time this past Wednesday rolled around, we need to hurry up and find our Fiesta swagger as a city. The Spurs now have a series on our hands and we need to do our part to make sure that the team goes up to Dallas and handles our business in front of those overconfident Mavericks fans. On another side note, isn't it funny that after one victory in the series, every single Mavericks fan that you know comes out of the woodworks to let you know that they won as if you weren't watching the game? Oh Dallas fans, there you go again beating your chest way before it is warranted (and giving your team bad karma in the process). I guess you'll never learn, but on the other hand, that is part of what makes you so endearing. I love you, Dallas fans.While Spurs fans can do our part to show that we are playoff ready by getting our Fiesta swagger back, the ball club itself needs to arrive in Dallas for tomorrow's game angry and focused. The time for HEB Commercials, Frogging, and Team Selfies, albeit totally awesome for the regular season, should be over now. Every player, one through thirteen, needs to match the level of play that player of the game, Manu Ginobili, brought on Wednesday with his 5-6 on three pointers and 27 points and fresh off of celebrating the birth of his third son, Luca. Congratulations, Manu. I'm sure that 2013-14 NBA Coach of the Year, Gregg Popovich, will put together a game plan to counter the things that Dallas was doing effectively to punish us in Game 2. The #BlackAndSilver just need to be locked in and ready to execute from the minute that we step foot in the American Airline Center and we will be just fine in Game 3. Today is the Battle of Flowers parade here in San Antonio. Tomorrow, the San Antonio Spurs need to be ready for battle as soon as the pregame warm ups pause for the singing of The National Anthem. We have not played Spurs basketball yet in this series. Tomorrow, we need to get one right. ¡Viva la fiesta!
Featured Image Source: 2DBZ
Headline Image Source: SpursNation
Fifteen Left
2014 NBA Western Conference First Round, Game 1
Free Bird - On the evening of Thursday, April 3rd, I turned the television off after having watched the San Antonio Spurs' 19 game winning streak come to an end on the road and at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder. My good friend, Ryan, called me almost immediately after the game ended but I didn't answer the call because, given the fact that he is not a Spurs fan, I thought he might have randomly been calling me to talk smack about a former Texas Longhorn, Kevin Durant, and the Thunder's impressive regular season sweep of the Spurs. When I didn't answer his call, he quickly followed up with a text saying "Call me as soon as you get this." At that point, I knew that his reason for calling was more serious than the basketball game. Jenn and I were on our way out the door to go to the grocery store so I decided that, even though I was worried that returning this call could be important, I would call Ryan back from the car on our way. We hadn't even made it out of the neighborhood when Ryan hit me with the worst news I have ever received in my life. My best friend, Brian, had passed away.
As I was getting off of the phone with Ryan, in disbelief, I pulled the car into the parking lot near the basketball court in my neighborhood, parked, and peered blankly out across the neighborhood park. The initial shock lasted several minutes before Jenn was able to get me to move to the passenger's seat so that she could drive us back to our house. What has followed over the next several days and weeks has been about as difficult a period of time as I could have ever dreaded I might be presented with in life. The news of losing Brian sent me spiraling into a deep, dark hole, the likes of which I have never before had to endure during my three and a half decades of life experience. I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep. My productivity was debilitated upon returning to work after taking a few days off to attempt to process the news and to attend Brian's service. Finally, and relevant to the interests of this audience, I could not have cared less about the outcome of the final handful of games in the San Antonio Spurs' 2013-14 regular season. The only thing that existed in my life was pain.
* * *
While basketball played a central role in the foundation of Brian and my friendship, we met during seventh grade basketball tryouts, it wasn't until the fall of 2000 that Brian started along his journey to becoming a die-hard Spurs fan. The reason for this would seem reasonable enough to an outsider. In the fall of 2000, Brian moved from College Station to San Antonio and became roommates with a die-hard Spurs fan. Probably as fundamental to the scientific laws governing our universe as The Einstein Theory of Relativity is The Die-Hard Sports Fan Theory of Relativity. Ask anyone who has ever lived with a die-hard sports fan and they will validate this eternal scientific truth: living with a die-hard sports fan, by the power of transitive property and in the absence of a preexisting fan allegiance, will make you also eventually become a die-hard fan of your roommate's favorite team. While Brian had always casually rooted for the Spurs, as the nearest NBA team to our hometown; it wasn't until he moved to San Antonio to become my roommate, and entered my sick and twisted world of watching an average of one hundred Spurs games a year, that he quickly began developing his own die-hard status with the team.
By the time the 2001 NBA Playoffs arrived, Brian was all in. He had watched what he previously would have considered an outrageous number of Spurs games during the regular season and he seemed completely invested in the Spurs making a playoff run towards their second NBA championship and beating the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers in process. In the end, the Spurs were swept in devastating fashion by the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals and Brian seemed almost as bummed out as I was by the whole ordeal. I remember that we had just started watching The Sopranos: Season 1 on VHS during the Lakers series and after the sweep, we used binge watching the show as a way to take our mind off of how disappointed we were that the Spurs season was over. A year later, things played out rather similarly. Brian and I endured through a another painful exit to the now two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers in five games, this time in the second round, and spent another summer licking our wounds. People often say that the third time is a charm, and in the case of Brian and I watching the San Antonio Spurs playoff runs together as die-hard fans, they would be correct.
In 2003, the San Antonio Spurs faced off against the now three-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers for a third consecutive year. In a masterful turning-of-the-tables performance, the Spurs defeated the Lakers 4-2 in another second-round match up and in resounding fashion. This playoff series victory electrified the entire city of San Antonio and it was unlike anything we had experienced before. I cannot speak in regards to the energy in the city during the Spurs' march to the 1999 Championship because after our sophomore year in college, Brian and I had been living and working in Austin and were not present in the city to experience the latter rounds of the playoff run that resulted in the Spurs' first championship. We actually watched the Spurs clinch the 1999 NBA Finals, in Austin, while attending my brother's bachelor party. But Brian and I were there, right smack dab in the middle of it, in 2003 to soak in the sense of pride that was spreading like a wildfire throughout our community.
One of the local radio stations, The Beat 98.5, held a contest to determine the best Spurs themed rap song in San Antonio. I convinced Brian to record a Spurs song with me in order to enter the contest. We recorded and submitted this little gem which ended up being the first Rhime Divine song to get air time on terrestrial radio. Our song was a finalist in the contest and I still meet people to this day who were living in San Antonio during that magical summer and remember hearing it on the radio.
By the time that it became clear that the Spurs were going to defeat the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals (in other words, about half way through Steve Kerr's barrage of three pointers in the Game 6 comeback that Brian and I watched in a San Antonio pool hall with our good friend Matt), I knew that I wanted to try to get tickets for the NBA Finals. It had been a dream of mine since childhood to attend an NBA Finals game and this seemed like as good an opportunity as I might ever have. The instant that tickets went on sale, I went online attempting to acquire some and I was able to secure two tickets in the first row of the balcony level for Game 1 of the 2003 NBA Finals. I remember that Brian was working that morning and, rather than call him to tell him the great news, I waited until he came home from work to show him my printed receipt for the most historic basketball game that the two of us would ever attend together. He was ecstatic; for the next few days before the game, we were like two kids waiting impatiently for Christmas to arrive.
The San Antonio Spurs defeated the New Jersey Nets 101-89 on Wednesday, June 4th, 2003 and Tim Duncan, who was the league MVP that year, had a monster game with 32 points, 20 rebounds, 6 assists, and 7 blocks. More than details of the on-the-court action, the thing that I remember most about that experience is the pure joy and appreciation that Brian and I had for being there. Repeatedly throughout the game, we turned to each other to crack a smile and give each other a look as if to say, "I can't believe we are here at the NBA Finals." Because of the reverence that we held for the game of basketball and the National Basketball Association, that evening at the SBC Center (now AT&T Center) was, I feel safe in speaking for the both of us, one of the most fun and rewarding experiences that Brian and I ever had attending a game as Spurs fans.
Perhaps it was a little bit too much fun because, as the series progressed, I began coming down with a nagging cold. On Wednesday, June 11th, a week after Brian and I had attended Game 1, the Nets won Game 4, 77-76 in New Jersey and tied the NBA Finals at two games a piece. That was a devastating loss and I was so emotionally invested in the series that what should have been a normal two or three day battle with illness was likely prolonged by the amount of stress that the Finals was causing me and by Thursday evening I was severely ill. Late Thursday night, I was experiencing asthma to the point where I was unable to sleep because I was having such a hard time breathing. I decided to drive myself to the emergency room and within a couple of hours of arriving at the hospital, I was lying in a hospital bed being treated for pneumonia and bronchitis in my lungs. The next day, my parents arrived in town to look after me in the hospital where I was recovering well from the treatment I was given. As the day moved along into evening, and we were approaching the tip-off for Game 5 of the 2003 NBA Finals, it was unclear whether I would be discharged that night or be held for observation another day. I remember calling Brian and letting him know that I wasn't sure if I would be home or not to watch the game with him so I suggested that if he wanted to make plans to go out with other friends that that would probably be the best plan. He said that he didn't mind watching the game at home in case I ended up making it back there before the end. Finally, as the game was beginning, the doctor made the determination to discharge me. I remember that I watched the first half of the game in my hospital room and then had my mom rush me back to my apartment after being released from the hospital so that I could catch the end of the game at home. I opened the door to my apartment and found Brian grinning on the couch as I arrived just in time to see the Spurs clinch the victory and take a 3-2 lead in the series.
Later that night, my mom drove me back to her and my dad's house so that I could finish recuperating from my illness. In order to convince me to come back and stay with them for the weekend, my parents agreed to allow me to return to San Antonio on Sunday evening so that I could watch Game 6 in San Antonio with my friends. Under strict doctor's orders, I was forbidden to drink alcohol for a couple of weeks until I had fully recovered. Therefore, I requested that Brian, Matt, and my sister, Heather, meet up with me at Texadelphia because it was an establishment with a huge television and great food where I could watch the game comfortably without being surrounded by intoxicated Spurs fans. Once again the outcome of the game seemed in question until another barrage of three pointers, this time by Stephen Jackson, put the Spurs ahead for good. Tim Duncan had another monster game, narrowly missing a quadruple double with 21 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists, and 8 blocked shots en route to his second NBA Finals MVP trophy. Despite the fact that I could not have a "victory" cocktail, I was ecstatic to be celebrating a championship in San Antonio while hanging out with my best friend Brian. Heather graciously offered to drive Brian and me down to Southwest Military Drive so that week could participate in the impromptu parade of vehicles cruising up and down the street while honking, smiling, high-fiving, and cheering endlessly. As we drove up and down MIlitary, I remember that Brian and I repeatedly looked at each with the same look that we had given each other two weeks earlier when we had attended Game 1 of the series. It was a look of joy that simply said, "I can't believe we just won the championship." Sharing that 2003 Spurs playoff run to the title with Brian is a fantastic memory that I reflect back upon regularly.
* * *
Throughout the last 10 years, Brian and I had continued to share our die-hard fandom of the San Antonio Spurs with each other. We had been back to attend a handful of games together at the AT&T Center, we'd watched countless others together in bars or in each other's home, and we could rarely hold any type of extended conversation during basketball season without sharing our thoughts with each other about the prospects of the squad. Now, all of that (as well as the dozens of other interests that we shared which had made us a great fit to be life-long best friends) has suddenly come crashing to a halt and I am beside myself trying to figure out how to process it. The last two and a half weeks had been a blur of sleepless confusion and acute suffering that had left me disconnected from, not only the news taking place in the world around me, but also my most beloved pastime; following the #BlackAndSilver through the game by game grind of the NBA regular season. For the first time since adolescence, I experienced a two week period where I didn't know when the next Spurs game was, I didn't know whether or not we had won or lost our last game, and I didn't care.
Then something happened this past Sunday. I had spent the morning reflecting on my grief and on the meaning of Easter and knew that I needed to try to allow my mind to escape for at least a little while. I decided that I needed to reengage in my beloved team, since the playoffs were starting, so I sat down and watched Game 1 against the Dallas Mavericks in its entirety. I watched as the Spurs struggled to find any offensive rhythm for the first three quarters and watched as we continuously blew opportunities to build a comfortable lead. I was feeling worse. I watched as the Mavericks took a commanding ten point lead half way through the fourth quarter by capitalizing on repeated San Antonio mistakes, the types of mistakes that I hadn't seen the Spurs make in a couple of months. I was feeling dreadfully worse.
All of a sudden, led by player of the game, Tim Duncan, the Spurs starting fighting our way back. I started cheering. With each made basket and defensive stop, I started cheering louder and louder. By the time we took the lead on a sweet Tony Parker spin move for a driving layup, I was jumping off of the couch screaming. As the Spurs closed the doors on a 90-85 grind-it-out victory over the Mavericks to take a 1-0 lead in the series, I realized that, for almost the first time since I had received the news about Brian's passing, I felt good. In fact, I felt great. For the first time since I had received that horrific news, there was a spark of light in the deep, dark hole that had been serving as the entirety of my existence.
Even though, I soon realized, my moment of exhilaration was fleeting, it allowed me to come to an epiphany of sorts. Because cheering for the San Antonio Spurs in the 2014 NBA Playoffs had afforded me the opportunity to catch a glimpse of a spark of light, perhaps I could nurture that spark of light and create a torch, and perhaps I could use that torch to help guide me back up and out of this deep, dark hole. I won't attempt to fool myself into thinking that this will be anything other than a long, hard journey. I'm not sure if I will be able to nurture that spark to become a torch or not, yet. I do know, however, that writing this has been cathartic.
In some of the first thoughts that I was able to get down on paper about Brian's passing I wrote, "If I could have had the opportunity to ask Brian what to do to deal with the colossal amount of pain that his passing has caused me, I know exactly how he would have responded. He would have told me to write about it." I know this to be true with more certainty than anything else that I have to grasp onto right now. I felt Brian's presence when I screamed that glorious scream while watching the Spurs take the lead that we would not surrender late in the fourth quarter on Sunday. I felt Brian's presence while I wrote my memories of the time we shared as roommates and fellow die-hard Spurs fans from 2000 through the 2003 title. And I know that I feel it now as I formally announce that I intend for this to be the first post in a new edition to the San Antonio Spurs blog series that I wrote for the 2013 playoff run and that I also want to formally announce that I wish to dedicate this sequel to my best friend. I will do my best to chronicle the 2014 Spurs playoff run using the same format that I used last year while exploring even more space than before. I know that there was some unfinished business and there were some unwritten words that resulted from the heartbreaking conclusion to the 2013 NBA Finals. I fully intend to complete the job and write the final chapter. "Lord, help me, I can't change." This is for Brian.
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