Oh my, what a game.
I hate playing the Hornets. I hate the way the games ‘feel’. I hate how good David West and Chris Paul are. I hate how floppy Paul is, yet mainly gets a pass from the media because he’s one of the new ‘superstars’. I hate how we almost always lose to two players and not much else. I hate watching us brick three after three.
Most of the game I felt that dread. We played well for upwards of three quarters, yet couldn’t get any breathing room. Then we went ice cold in the fourth. And we fell behind. Down 2 with 13 seconds left we almost get the steal. When we came up short on that play and fouled Posey, I thought the game was over. I was so angry because by this time we knew that Dallas had beaten Houston, leaving the door open for us to win the division and be the 3 seed.
Posey goes to the line and sinks the first. Our only chance is for him to miss the second one. And he does. We call time out.
And then…the play.
Say what you want about Pop, but the man knows how to draw up inbounds plays. That play was beautiful. I love his guile, his fearlessness. We’re going to get one great shot and live with the outcome. No trying to extend the game, no “let’s have our best player go one on one and try to create something”.
As Finley took the inbounds and gave it up to a cutting Mason, Jr. I was freaking out. We’re running out of time and we’re not even in a position to get up a decent shot. Then the Duncan screen shakes Finley free, Mason passes it over the top, and Finley hits the most gorgeous 3 you could ever hope to see. Again, say what you want about Finley, but he’s earned his Spurs bona fides. He can take a game changing shot any time he wants.
In overtime, the Hornets ran out of gas and we found a second wind. Duncan was unstoppable, and it was capped off by a Udoka reverse dunk. Are you kidding me?! I love Udoka more than most Spurs fans, but even I assumed he couldn’t dunk, let alone reverse dunk. If this is the Udoka we’re going to get in the playoffs, we’ll be in better shape than expected.
It’s hard to talk analytically about such an emotional game. So I won’t. We got the win, the division, and the three seed. And we avoided Portland in the first round (a strong hope of mine). In the coming days we’ll start to delve into the match-up with Dallas. But for now, let’s enjoy the win, the strong end to the season, and the Division title. I know it’s the company line in San Antonio that we don’t play for Division titles, we play for championships. But in a season as up and down as this one and a season in which our most dynamic playoff performer was lost for the season, dashing almost all hope of a Championship, I say to hell with the talking points. Let’s enjoy a banner, no matter how insignificant it really is. We battled for 82 games, and in the end, we were the best team in the toughest division without ever really having our best team. That says a lot about us and bodes well for our future. And that is worth celebrating.
Go Spurs go.
