{"id":9827,"date":"2017-09-11T08:15:52","date_gmt":"2017-09-11T12:15:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonnba.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=9827"},"modified":"2017-09-11T14:29:48","modified_gmt":"2017-09-11T18:29:48","slug":"greatest-san-antonio-spurs-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2017\/09\/11\/greatest-san-antonio-spurs-moment\/","title":{"rendered":"Greatest San Antonio Spurs Moment of the 21st Century"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the <\/em>Greatest Moment series<\/i><\/a> at Last Word On Pro Basketball, where we\u2019ll present to you each NBA team\u2019s greatest moment of the 21st century. From draft lottery luck, to a franchise-changing trade, to the sweet taste of a championship, every NBA team has had its own special moment to look back on.<\/em><\/p>\n

In this edition, we will relive the greatest San Antonio Spurs<\/a> moment of the 21st century: The franchise winning the 2014 NBA championship in a glorious redemption story.<\/p>\n

Greatest San Antonio Spurs Moment of the 21st Century:\u00a02014 NBA Championship Redemption<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cRebound Bosh, back out to Allen, his three-pointer \u2013 BANG! Tie game with five seconds remaining!\u201d After ESPN\u2019s Mike Breen<\/b> famously made the call on Ray Allen<\/a><\/b>\u2019s championship-saving shot \u2013 which turned out to be arguably the greatest shot in NBA history \u2013 in Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals, no one knew where the San Antonio Spurs would turn from there. They played an excellent game, did nearly everything right, yet still fell short and lost in overtime. Just two days later, the Spurs summoned all the energy they had left but simply could not match the Miami Heat<\/a> in the deciding Game 7.<\/p>\n

The loss was devastating. Its impact seemed unimaginable. While it was unclear how the Spurs would ever recover from it, one thing seemed certain: San Antonio would need plenty of time in order to bounce back. Allen\u2019s unthinkable shot was enough to cause the basketball version of post-traumatic stress disorder.<\/p>\n

But of course, as usual, everyone underestimated the Spurs. Just a few months after the franchise\u2019s first ever Finals loss, the team came out seeking vengeance.<\/p>\n

2013-14 Season<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n

The Spurs ripped through the 2013-14 regular season, winning 62 games and again finishing first in the Western Conference. Their combination of depth, chemistry, and defense was unparalleled. The team could go 10 or 11 deep, and any given player could step up when needed, especially since coach Gregg Popovich<\/b> frequently rested the team\u2019s veterans. San Antonio ranked third among all teams in defensive rating<\/a>, showing a staunch defense built on fundamentals and smarts at every position.<\/p>\n

Best of all, the team\u2019s passing was magnificent. The 2013-14 Spurs are rivalled only by the 1985-86 Boston Celtics<\/a> in terms of beautiful ball movement and team-oriented play. Since the 2010-11 season, San Antonio had already evolved its style into a pick-and-roll, drive-and-kick based offense, but the team discovered a higher level of basketball in the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons. It was as though the Spurs all shared a brain, reading each other\u2019s thoughts and processing everything two steps ahead of the defense.<\/p>\n

2014 Western Conference Finals<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n

The Spurs got through the first two rounds of the 2014 playoffs, despite a surprisingly tough series against their old rivals, the Dallas Mavericks<\/a>. In the Western Conference Finals, they met a much more athletic team in the Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> \u2013 nearly the same group that beat the Spurs just two years prior. Despite the possible intimidation factor, San Antonio was unfazed. The Spurs picked apart OKC\u2019s defense and slowly, methodically took down the beast that was the Thunder. Reminder: 2014 was also Kevin Durant<\/a><\/b>\u2019s MVP season for OKC, and arguably his best season to date. The Spurs paid no attention to the Thunder hype-train, kept quiet, and took care of business.<\/p>\n

No play exemplified the unique connection between San Antonio\u2019s players better than this tic-tac-toe sequence from the final game of the OKC series:<\/p>\n