Nets shooting for first win in San Antonio since Game 2 of 2003 NBA Finals
It's hard to believe it's been 16 and a half years since the Nets last won a game in San Antonio. Brooklyn will be facing the ghosts of Christmas Past as it tries to knock off the Spurs on Thursday night at the AT&T Center.
This is a very different Spurs team than those led by Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Manu GInobili and Tony Parker. In fact, all of those players have since retired and the long figure from that championship team still in the picture is Greg Popovich.
Sitting at 10-16, San Antonio is sitting dangerously close to dead man territory and being out of the playoff picture for the first time since Popovich's first year on the job.
That stinging loss in Game 6 of the 2003 finals still doesn't sit well. A monstrous fourth quarter comeback sparked by Speedy Claxton and Steve Kerr's expert 3-point shooting put to bed the Nets' chances of pulling a monumental upset in Game 7.
Long behold, the Nets and Spurs are franchises heading in opposite directions. With a full deck of players including: Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and Caris LeVert, Brooklyn is emerging as viable contenders in the east. The Spurs, meanwhile, are slipping down the rankings and Popovich is creeping closer and closer to retirement.
As the Nets and Spurs meet on Thursday night, it would be awfully sweet for Spencer Dinwiddie and his squad to deal a crushing blow to a floundering Spurs team that has lost its way.
