The Spurs went from rebuilding to team to be feared. Up next: a battle with the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
It's been 12 years since San Antonio last went honking downtown to celebrate an NBA championship, when Gregg Popovich, Tim Duncan and company brought the city its fifth title. Now, with a young cast of stars and a new coach at the reins, the Alamo City returns to the place where Fiesta colors, culture and community glow brightest.
How they got here
Teams don't go from missing the playoffs entirely one season to winning 60 games the next merely by luck. It requires not just great basketball players, but great basketball minds in the front office that puts the team together. You can throw Victor Wembanyama on the court all you want, but if the surrounding cast doesn't compliment his skills, it's back to the lottery year after year. Here are some of the savviest decisions the Spurs have made during the rebuild to help them break their six-year playoff drought with the second-best regular season record in the league.
2023 NBA DRAFT: ROUND 1, PICK 1 - VICTOR WEMBANYAMA
By the numbers
Anyone who watched the Spurs this regular season – especially down the stretch, when they torched opponents for a 30-4 mark in their last 34 games – will tell you they looked like an NBA team on a mission to prove the only preseason expectations that truly mattered were their own. Lucky for them, we don't just have the on-court flair to go by. The numbers back up their success. As the Silver & Black prepare to embark on their first playoffs in seven years – a number San Antonio will be more than happy to see return to 0 when they tip off against the Trail Blazers on Sunday – we're breaking down the key figures that defined what was a remarkable regular season.
SPURS NBA CHAMPIONSHIPS
1999: San Antonio over New York Knicks (4-1) 2003: San Antonio over New Jersey Nets (4-2) 2005: San Antonio over Detroit Pistons (4-3) 2007: San Antonio over Cleveland Cavaliers (4-0) 2014: San Antonio over Miami Heat (4-1)
The postseason so far...
Despite their limited amount of playoff experience, San Antonio has thus far lived up to its No. 2 seed in battles against the upstart Portland Trail Blazers and physical Minnesota Timberwolves. Milestone moments and ascendant stars have propelled the Spurs to an 8-3 mark thus far, overcoming a Victor Wembanyama concussion in one series and ejection in another to further make the case for why the young team might just be ready to open its championship window now and let the sunlight in. With each victory, honking has returned to Commerce Street and crowds grow at watch parties hosted by The Rock at La Cantera—resurrecting the celebratory spirit of the Big Three days as San Antonio embarks full-throttle on the Wembanyama Era.
GAME-BY-GAME RECAP
ROUND 1: Portland Trail Blazers Game 1: Spurs 111, Trail Blazers 98 (Spurs lead series 1-0) Game 2: Spurs 103, Trail Blazers 106 (Series tied 1-1) Game 3: Spurs 120, Trail Blazers 108 (Spurs lead series 2-1) Game 4: Spurs 114, Trail Blazers 93 (Spurs lead series 3-1) Game 5: Spurs 114, Trail Blazers 95 (Spurs win series 4-1)
ROUND 2: Minnesota Timberwolves Game 1: Spurs 102, Timberwolves 104 (Timberwolves lead series 1-0) Game 2: Spurs 133, Timberwolves 95 (Series tied 1-1) Game 3: Spurs 115, Timberwolves 108 (Spurs lead series 2-1) Game 4: Spurs 109, Timberwolves 114 (Series tied 2-2) Game 5: Spurs 126, Timberwolves 97 (Spurs lead series 3-2) Game 6: Spurs 139, Timberwolves 109 (Spurs win series 4-2)
Victor Wembanyama's star has continued rising in the playoffs. In the second-round series against Minnesota, the 22-year-old Frenchman averaged 23 points, 13.6 rebounds and five blocks per game while shooting 51.8% from the field. Those stats don't include his limited time in Game 4, which he left early amid a second-quarter ejection, but they nonetheless paint a picture of how he rebounded from that challenge and kept his emotions in check on the court while helping his team advance to the Western Conference Finals. "Just the words ‘conference finals’ is crazy," Wembanyama said after Game 6. "It’s something I’ve heard my whole life. Now being in it is just special. Hopefully (there are) many more conference finals to come in the next years.”
A city is all-in once more
The Spurs are practically inextricable from San Antonio's identity as a city. That sense of community has been on full display during the playoffs, from offers of complimentary coffee and breakfast tacos after playoffs victories to pop-up fan shops and official watch parties. And, of course, to the honking that has broken out not just in downtown, but all over San Antonio after each and every Spurs win.
On to Oklahoma City
The Western Conference Finals will bring the Spurs' their biggest challenge yet: a best-of-seven test against the defending NBA champion Thunder, led by reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. It will be a heavyweight matchup between the only two Western Conference teams to win 60-plus games. San Antonio has the momentum, having gone 4-1 against the Thunder in the regular season. But OKC has turned it up when it matters most: They're a perfect 8-0 through two playoff rounds, having won those games by an average margin of 16.6 points.
SPURS-THUNDER SCHEDULE (ALL GAMES ON NBA/PEACOCK)
Game 1: Monday, May 18 at 7:30 p.m. CT - San Antonio at Oklahoma City Game 2: Wednesday, May 20 at 7:30 p.m. CT - San Antonio at Oklahoma City Game 3: Friday, May 22 at 7:30 p.m. CT - San Antonio versus Oklahoma City Game 4: Sunday, May 24 at 7 p.m. CT - San Antonio versus Oklahoma City *Game 5: Tuesday, May 26 at 7:30 p.m. CT - San Antonio at Oklahoma City *Game 6: Thursday, May 28 at 7:30 p.m. CT- San Antonio versus Oklahoma City *Game 7: Saturday, May 30 at 7 p.m. CT - San Antonio at Oklahoma City
*if necessary
The casual fan's guide to the Spurs playoffs return
Listen, we get it. Maybe you're relatively new to San Antonio. Maybe you're a relatively new basketball fan. Maybe all the talk about free coffee and complimentary tacos has you ready to go honking after Spurs playoffs victories. And, uh, where exactly does that happen again? Whether you haven't watched much Spurs basketball or very many minutes of NBA basketball ever, you deserve to feel like a Silver & Black hoops diehard just as much as your car-flag-toting neighbors.
Photos: AP, KENS 5 Created by: David Lynch, KENS 5 Content: KENS 5 Staff