San Antone: The Gait Toward Eight

A familiar sight, Kawhi Leonard won Finals MVP. The Spurs finished the Bucks in four games tonight, winning an 8th consecutive championship to tie the storied Boston Celtics, with their eyes now set on making true history with #9 next season. "Winning is a continual desire," Coach Popovich said at center court during the trophy presentation with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. "I believe in our team, I always have, always will. We want to win. Milwaukee, they have a bright future and I got a feeling they may be up here with you one day, Adam. Giannis is a hell of a player, a great ambassador for our league. He's got a very promising career ahead of him, and I wish Coach Bud the best in taking the team forward after a fabulous year. Thank you." Things looked grim early, the Bucks falling by 10 in the first quarter, coming out a bit flat. Avery Bradley nabbed two steals, the lead 32-21 after Dejounte Murray blocked George Hill at the rim. The Spurs then went...

Kawhi Leonard led the Spurs with 29 points. Tighter defensive coverage showered the Spurs with a dominant victory over the Bucks tonight, as San Antonio needs now just one more victory to hoist the NBA Championship. The Spurs blew Milwaukee up with a 37-24 first quarter showing, stifling scoring momentum for the Bucks and putting them in an early hole. Antetokounmpo persevered all game long, hot after fouling out in Game 2, but unable to lead the Bucks to a comeback despite 28 points, 15 rebounds and 14 assists with 3 blocks. "We wanted to shut everyone else down," Coach Pop said after the game, as in the first two meetings all of the Bucks were playing well, whereas tonight it was only their star player, the Greek Freek. That is not to say that Nikola Mirotic played badly, making 21 points for the Bucks, but it was more so Eric Bledsoe's 2-10 performance and Khris Middleton only notching 17. Meanwhile, Kyle O'Quinn found his rhythm tonight with 14 points an...

The Bucks entered the 4th Quarter without their star. The story of the night was Giannis Antetokounmpo fouling out before the fourth quarter, as Kawhi Leonard baited him into his final two fouls in what was another close game. "We may need to make some adjustments," Coach Popovich deadpanned on the sidelines after the San Antone faithful watched the Spurs go up 2-0, halfway to an eight consecutive championship, despite the Bucks shooting well and just coming up short. Nikola Mirotic did his best to make up for the absence of Antetokounmpo with 28 points and 9 rebounds, making six 3PTers. Brook Lopez had 16 points and 8 rebounds for the Bucks. Eric Bledsoe scored 15, with Malcolm Brogdon notching 14 on the game. Before fouling out, Giannis had collected 15 points, 7 rebounds and 11 assists. The first quarter belonged to the Bucks, 25-22, the second to San Antonio, 38-35, with the second half won by the Spurs, 68-61. In the play of the game, the fast break was electri...

Giannis v. Kawhi: The NBA Finals. The NBA Finals - the final duel for the Larry O'Brien trophy kicked off tonight with San Antonio's Rudy Gay going 9-9 and scoring 24 points in the first half, a welcome spark for the home crowd. Despite the outburst, Milwaukee's weapons - including 15 points by Antetokounmpo - also came to fire so the Bucks stayed close all game long, a 56-51 lead belonging to the Spurs at the break. Rudy Gay didn't stop, however, swiping the ball free into Kyle O'Quinn for a thrilling dunk, followed by yet another 3PT shot by Gay. The Bucks responded with a 10-2 run, but then Iman Shumpert & Skal Labissiere got hot from long range, Shump notching 20 points. Cold in the first half, Patty Mills finally hit a long shot for the Spurs as well, the score 86-82 heading into the final quarter. The 4th Quarter began with Giannis swatting Kawhi's shot away, his playmaking crucial for the Bucks as they finally swiped the lead, if only for a mo...

The Spurs led 36-24 after the first quarter, riding the spark of Rudy Gay (14 points) and Avery Bradley (10 points). The lead would increase by halftime, 69-52, as the Warriors seemed nonchalant and surprisingly unconcerned. While Golden State (especially Kevin Durant) would eventually make haste and realize the sand leaving the hourglass on their season, it would be too late as the Spurs led 95-83 into the final period. Davis Bertans knocked down consecutive three-pointers, followed by Dejounte Murray showing promise from long range due to defensive slack by the Warriors. The question of "Why did it take so long?" would accompany Steph Curry's wild display of long range crescendos, but Kawhi Leonard made some ballsy shots over Kevin Durant in response. 117, 101: San Antonio. Durant would take the challenge, albeit too late, and cut the lead to five showing his scoring repertoire, causing a chill over the crowd that they'd rather have done without. Then Leonard ...

"The Warriors running out of time here..."-Kevin Harlan Kawhi Leonard scored the first twelve points for the Spurs, but the Warriors held a 30-27 lead after one quarter and then erupted toward a 69-54 advantage at halftime, capped off by Curry beating the buzzer after the official replay review. The Spurs were in trouble, especially with Patty Mills taken out of the game after a 1-8 flurry, in danger of going back home 2-2, their hard work thus far all but nixed from the reality ahead. What wound up happening silenced the Oakland faithful and left the Warriors bowing heads in disbelief and exhaustion, having lost two chances at home to take over this series. The most taxing concern was the rebounding disavantage, so Coach Pop put Joakim Noah back into the game to start the final two quarters and kept him there, instantly paying dividends as Golden State went cold. Noah finished with 14 rebounds and 6 points, with the block of the game on Cousins that led to a dagger b...

Pau Gasol's 3PT dagger did in the Warriors tonight. The Warriors came out hot early, empowered by the road victory in Texas three nights ago. Steph Curry absolutely torched his defender, Avery Bradley, early with 3PT death-strokes. Avery got his own licks in, dropping two in the corner and then Kawhi Leonard matched it. Dejounte Murray added on the pressure, a 13-5 run for a 31-30 lead after the first quarter despite Kawhi drawing two fouls. It became clear there was a mini war on the baseline between Pau Gasol and Demarcus Cousins, so Coach Popovich subbed out Noah for the Spaniard, a solid move that gave the Spurs a 62-60 halftime advantage. Patty Mills engaged in his own mini-shootout with Curry, each player hitting bombs but then both going cold and taking a blow on the bench. Next up? The classic rivalry between Durant and Leonard, each player dropping 3's on the other. Pau Gasol threw a pass to Leonard on the fast break for the reverse alley oop throw-down and then ...

Curry burned the Spurs with 36 points. Steph Curry came out firing in Game 2 and it paid off in the end, as the Warriors made several impressive shots from long range to space out a lead and eventually hold off a Spurs rally. Chef Curry made six 3PTers and dished 7 assists in this tough victory on the road, as Klay Thompson had a stellar 25 points punishing the Spurs from long range in the final minutes of regulation. Crucial turnovers and sloppy execution overall felled the Spurs here, a total of 11 cough-ups. Kawhi Leonard had another strong start, but went cold in the second half for 13-26 overall, a not-so-good 5/12 from long range. Dejounte Murray got going in the fourth quarter, giving the Spurs a small lead after the score was 91-all but it was not to last, finishing with 22 points and 7 assists. Iman Shumpert danced on Klay Thompson as the Spurs looked better in the third quarter, but couldn't maintain it with 20 points on four 3PTers. Patty Mills also went 5-12 fro...

Kevin Durant scored just 16 points, going 3-7 from 3PT range. The western conference finals kicked off tonight to the tune of a cold shooting performance by the Warriors, as the Spurs went up 20-5. The Warriors eventually found their mojo, swiping the lead and on fire from long range. Leonard and Mills fired back, closing the quarter 32-28. Avery Bradley opened the second quarter with a three-pointer, giving the Spurs a ten-point lead at 38-28. Before long, the story became Kawhi Leonard's perfect shooting display as he boldly dashed to the rim and notched tough points. Iman Shumpert would have a nice night, splashing in daggers from deep to give the Spurs a 72-59 lead at the half, the Spurs going 69% from the field. Steph Curry kept firing, but nothing fell for him in a painful showing. Meanwhile, Shump nailed five then six threes, pushing the lead to sixteen. Demarcus Cousins spear-headed the opposition in the second half, but got knocked to the floor by Pau Gasol with a ...

All too familiar, Harden & Leonard squared off. The Rockets looked good early in this series, especially in Game 2 which would wind up being the one that got away and all but ended Houston's momentum. Game 1 was filled with foul trouble for Kawhi Leonard, but Skal Labissiere took up the mantle and had himself a clutch performance - his first in the post season - dominating this game with 26 points and especially five 3PTers, showcasing nice range for a big man. It was 71-77 heading into the fourth quarter, after Austin Rivers got hot off the bench. Avery Bradley dished the ball to Gay for the easy dunk and then Joakim Noah blocked James Harden at the basket. Bradley swiped the ball free toward Kawhi Leonard for the four-point play on the wing. Clint Capela dunked it home, but Harden missed a 3PT shot and Shumpert closed it out at the free throw line, as the Spurs won 103-107. Rudy Gay had 17 points, Leonard had 16 with 5 steals. Patty Mills scored 15, Shump 10, Gasol n...

After three blowouts, Jokic's Nuggets couldn't survive Game 4. This opening series was marked by interior dominance by the Spurs, as they won Game 1 97-87 and held the high-scoring Denver Nuggets under 100 points in two out of four games. Kawhi Leonard made it look too easy with 30 points on 12-17 shooting with 5 steals. Skal Labissiere had 13 points and 8 rebounds; Avery Bradley gave 12 points; Joakim Noah had 13 rebounds with 8 points. For Denver, Nikola Jokic had 17 points but fouled out with 10 rebounds. Both Jamaal Murray and Will Barton struggled to shoot well, going 4-18. Game 2 saw the Nuggets shooting better, but falling short 105-120 on the road. Will Barton had 19 points, but Murray went just 1-6. Jokic even struggled with just 14 points and 12 rebounds. As a team, Denver cough the ball up 17 times. Patty Mills scored 20 points and 7 assists, five threes, and Rudy Gay had 15 points with 7 rebounds. Avery Bradley and Kawhi Leonard combined for 28 points. Noah l...

Leonard has his eyes on another championship run. After the historic win streak was snapped by the rising Milwaukee Bucks, the Spurs recovered solidly with wins against the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder, edging the Los Angeles Lakers on the road in an overtime clash, all but eliminating the injury-laden squad led by LeBron James from playoff contention for a remarkable 70th victory. This late run was noted by the absence of Kawhi Leonard, resting up for the playoffs. The playoffs are on the horizon now, the sun setting on another exciting basketball regular season, with the hungry Denver Nuggets waiting to touch down in San Antone, boasting a victory there--a feat accomplished by only two other teams this season, with the Spurs finishing 38-3 at home and losing only 3 also against its own western conference rivals (49 wins). At season's end, Kawhi Leonard received MVP honors with Popovich awarded the Coach of the Year.

The Greek Freek was too good tonight, boasting a triple-double. As Dejounte Murray's baseline jumper went in to give the Spurs a two-point advantage, it seemed the league's best win streak would keep growing after yet another close game...until Brook Lopez scored from 3PT territory after the Bucks timeout. Rudy Gay would miss a close shot next and so would Patty Mills after an intentional foul, spelling the end of this historic run by the Spurs, who now fall to 65-9 on the season after a solid pair of wins over the Wizards and Jazz. Iman Shumpert shone in those two victories, tallying 53 total points, with Leonard sitting out against the Jazz. MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo had a beastly 36 points, 16 rebounds and 19 assists with 2 blocks in this big home victory. Not far behind was recent trade deadline grab Nikola Mirotic's 28 points with 12 rebounds. Khris Middleton banged in 18 points, making four 3PTers. Bench big man Brook Lopez not only had the game-winn...

Durant missed a late 3PT attempt in this close game. Kawhi Leonard’s pull-up jumper over Kevin Durant iced this victory at home between the NBA’s two fiercest rivals, then for good measure Leonard dunked past a trailing Durant, receiving his final sixth foul. The Claw was showered with "M-V-P" chants at the free throw line, nailing the shot. Not to say peril was not in play for the home team, the Warriors were up late midway through the fourth quarter, until Patty Mills (18 points, six 3PTers) sparked a comeback after a cold start of his own. Recent acquisition Skal Labissiere had a nice outing with 27 points, 2 steals and 1 block going 10-17 on the field. Dejounte Murray scored 16 points, 8 rebounds with 8 assists. Joakim Noah had 7 points to go with 8 rebounds, as Pau Gasol teased a double-double also with 7 & 7 along with 3 steals. In a surprise effort, Avery Bradley dished nine assists with his usual 2 blocks and 1 steal. In the hard loss, Durant exited the co...

Leonard's highlight reel dunk sealed the comeback. It did not look pretty as Minnesota let loose its wolf pack in San Antone, as the young guns went up by a mighty 19 points after a 44-30 point blitz in the second quarter, edging out the Spurs 23-20 in the first period. The Spurs came out cold on 1-8 shooting, digging a hole early. A spirited third quarter, 42-29: SA, saw everything go the Spurs Way as Coach Popovich ordered tougher defensive adjustments to ward off Dario Saric (30 points) and Robert Covington's (15 points, 3-7 3PT) hot shooting. Suspense ensued as Pau Gasol fouled out, yet relief set in once Karl-Anthony Towns (11 points, 10 rebounds) was eliminated. Weary but within striking distance, the defending champions went on an 18-0 run to begin the fourth quarter and they never looked back, winning 115-130. Iman Shumpert (17 points, 3-8 3PT) had splashed in a tre and Leonard nabbed three steals as did Avery Bradley. The Claw finished with 33 points, 6 rebound...

Orlando had no strategy for Murray tonight. Right out the gate, Dejounte Murray aggressively drove to the basket and kept doing so, notching 37 points on 15-21 with 7 assists from the floor, showcasing his athleticism with some nice dunks. The Magic showed some signs of life early, sneaking within single digits, but the Spurs never looked worried about the outcome and rested Kawhi Leonard after the first quarter. With the victory, the Spurs move past the road loss last time these teams met, redeeming Murray's other nice performance back then and sealing it with a nice home win. Off the bench, Skal Labissiere and Iman Shumpert combined for 34 points with Rudy Gay also delivering for the Spurs. Next, the Pelicans visit San Antonio with the win streak at 39 as the Magic struggle continues.

On the verge of tying history, the Spurs already made history. The aim coming into this season was the Spurs' efforts and hopes of winning an eight title in nine consecutive seasons-a feat completed only by the NBA's winning-est Boston Celtics. After a rocky beginning to this season, a win sparked another, then a third, and now the Spurs have succeeded past the 1971-1972 Los Angeles Lakers (NBA Champions that season), who'd won 33 consecutive games that year and gone on to win the ultimate prize, finishing 69-13 on the season (third best, all-time). Over the last nine-ish seasons, the Spurs have not come close to this win streak; therefore it is a pretty amazing accomplishment. San Antonio now stands at 59-8, approaching 40 consecutive wins and eyeing win #60 as it hosts the Orlando Magic next. Leonard and Murray: an upcoming 1-2 punch. The strong play of Kawhi Leonard and his ability to take over games, along with occasional flashes by past superstars Pau Gas...

Kawhi Leonard led his Spurs past OKC, then Houston. Despite a slow start and a rim-shaking dunk by Russell Westbrook (27 points, 9/22, 2-10 3PT), the Spurs weathered the early storm as the away team and left Oklahoma City with a comfortable win. Leonard made a trio of three-point daggers, juxtaposed against Paul George's awful showing (4-13, 0-3 3PT, 12 points). Joakim Noah (9 rebounds) made the first defiant move by swatting another dunk attempt by Westbrook at the point of elevation. Leonard had 16 of his total 18 points in the first quarter, sitting the second half as the lead grew at San Antonio's leisure. Davis Bertans splashed in a lengthy 3PTer at the 1ST QTR buzzer, the Spurs now leading 37-19. Any time the other team scores nearly 40 in one quarter, the end is near. The Spurs shot 60% compared to OKC's 45%, leading 53-37 at halftime. The Thunder, being at home, made some notable comeback attempts, trimming the lead to seven points and eventually five twice. ...

Kawhi Leonard leads the Spurs to the playoffs, as per usual. The Cavaliers finally got into somewhat of a rhythm, but the visiting Spurs cruised past them, with Joakim Noah boasting 14 points and 10 rebounds on 6-6 shooting. Davis Bertans splashed in 24 points on four 3PTers, with 6 rebounds and 3 blocks. Skal Labissiere had another nice game with 21 points on 3-6 from long range. Leonard bowed out early after 17 points, making a trio of tres. Kyle O'Quinn gnarled 11 rebounds, and Iman Shumpert contributed 12 points. Dejounte Murray had 8 rebounds with 8 assists. The Cavaliers were crushed by a 33-9 second quarter by the Spurs, as the defending champions went up 66-35, ultimately winning 123-88 on the road. With trade deadline hysteria over, Anthony Davis powered the Pelicans nearly over the Spurs on the road, playing well in the first half, with New Orleans going cold down the stretch in a close game. The Spurs defense tightened up, as did their perimeter proficiency. Patty ...

All*Star Weekend came and went, with the West narrowly besting the East in triple overtime. Meanwhile, the Spurs were able to outlast the Nuggets in a war of attrition with both teams struggling to score (halftime score was in the 30s), then again once the break was over. Two solid road wins behind them, the Spurs now buckle down to finish out the season on top. In the first meeting, the Spurs led 71-66 as the third quarter buzzer sounded, evidence of the scoring struggle of both teams. San Antone was able to trust its shooters in Mills (17 points, 5-9 3PT) as the game waned on. Kawhi Leonard contributed a leader's 20 points (8-19), and San Antonio's Murray (19 points, 7 rebounds) had an aggressive touch against the Nuggets. Jamal Murray went 5-10 for Denver, but 0-4 from long range. The Nuggets eventually got going, with Michael Porter Jr's 19 points, 17 points by Gary Harris and seventeen points by Paul Millsap with 9 rebounds. Will Barton was chilly on 5-13 for 16 po...