After a five-game flameout against the L.A. Lakers that was much closer than the finish indicated, the San Antonio Spurs headed into one of the most important offseasons in franchise history.
Manu Ginobili, injured after the first round and a shell of himself in the conference finals, managed a career scoring year. His 19.9 average led the team, as did his five regular season game winners.
Tim Duncan scored at least 20 points and grabbed at least 15 rebounds in all five jousts with the Lakers, a signal that he was not ready to hand over his status as the league's best power forward.
Tony Parker regressed after a defining, blistering 2007 playoff run and disappeared at times when the San Antonio needed to counter L.A. most.
Still, the Spurs had been closer to the Lakers than Gregg Popovich or Phil Jackson wanted to admit.
Popovich, ever the military man, refused to allow excuses.
Defense, the trademark of the Duncan era, was not the problem.
The Spurs held the Lakers to more than 15 points below their averages after two playoff rounds.
If you held the Lake Show to an average of 91 po ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Robert Kleeman
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