San Antonio Spurs have been the talk of the town and the talk of the NBA as of lately and just to make their 19th straight victory a bit sweeter, they were able to do it in a come from behind game against the OKC Thunder.
The Spurs have set the Western Conference finals off to a thrilling start as they were able to come from behind and literally steal take the game away from the much younger inexperienced OKC Thunder team.
Manu Ginobili scored 26 points which was more than enough to help secure the Spurs 19th in a row win. This now ties the NBA record for longest winning streak kept alive in the playoffs. The Spurs did an amazing job as they rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 101-98 in Game 1 on Sunday night.
This was as close as anyone has come to beating the Spurs for the first time in 46 days. One of the highlights of the game was when the Spurs were trailing by nine points — the NBA’s Coach of the Year — huddled the Spurs together and told them to “get nasty.”
“I said that?” Popovich said afterward.
A nationally television audience heard it.
“The heat of the game, stuff comes up,” Popovich said. “So I talked to them about they’ve got to get a little bit uglier, get a little more nasty, play with more fiber and take it to these guys. Meaning you have to drive it, you have to shoot it.”
Well the pep talk seemed to work because it set the Spurs on fire and left the Thunder completely riddled as they had no answer for the Spurs oncoming offense and high walled defense.
The Spurs became just the fourth team in NBA history to start the postseason 9-0 or better. Of the three previous teams, all made the NBA Finals and two won it all. Here’s a look at those teams:
|
Team |
Wins |
Results |
| ’01 Lakers | 11 | W, NBA Finals |
| ’89 Lakers | 11 | L, NBA Finals |
| ’12 Spurs | 9 | ? |
| ’82 Lakers | 9 | W, NBA Finals |
Game 2 is set for Tuesday night.
The Spurs are now matched with the fourth-longest streak in NBA history, and with one more will become just the fourth team to surpass 20.
And of getting “nasty”?
“Pop’s always trying to motivate us,” Parker said.
And when Ginobili was questioned about his impressive performance, this is what he had to say,”It just happened,” Ginobili said. “I don’t know how exactly because I haven’t scored like this all season long, but it happened and I am very happy about it.”
All I all the Spurs proved that they have what it takes to win clutch games, and I for one can’t wait to see how close Tuesday’s game will be.
On a side note: Gov. Rick Perry took in his first Spurs game this year, sitting courtside next to Spurs owner Peter Holt, a major donor to the former Republican presidential candidate.
