1999/00: Coming of their first NBA Championship the
Spurs were still among the best teams in the West battling
for first place in the Midwest Division all season.
On March 14th the Spurs playoff spirits would get a
lift when Sean Elliott who received a kidney transplant
prior to the season returned and played in the last
19 games. However as the season wound down Tim Duncan
would suffer a knee injury as the Spurs finished in
2nd place with a 53-29 record. Without Duncan in the
playoffs the Spurs would be knocked off by the Phoenix
Suns in 4 games.
2000/01: The Spurs continued to be among the NBA's
elite recapturing the Midwest Division with a 58-24
record, while posting a league best 33-8 record at home.
In the playoffs the Spurs would easily knock off the
Minnesota Timberwolves in 4 games before beating the
Dallas Mavericks in 5 to set up a much-anticipated West
Final against the Los Angeles Lakers. However, the match
up would turn into a mismatch as the Spurs are overwhelmed
by the Lakers in 4 straight. Following a season in which
he played 52 games transplant recipient Sean Elliott
would retire.
2001/02: With David Robinson showing signs of age,
Tim Duncan needed to step it up in order for the Spurs
to be successful, and step it up he did winning the
NBA MVP while finishing in the top 5 in rebounding,
blocks and points. In addition the Spurs got unexpected
contribution from 19-year old Rookie Tony Parker, on
the way to another Division title with a record of 58-24.
In the playoffs the Spurs would need the full 5 games
to survive a challenge by the settle Supersonics. However,
in the 2nd Round the Spurs would be sunk by the Los
Angeles Lakers again falling in 5 games. The season
would mark the last for the Spurs at the Alamodome,
who despite leading the league in attendance 2 ears
in a row grew unhappy with its anticipated spacious
feel wanting to return to the more traditional feel
of an arena.
2002/03: After splitting their first 2 games on the
road the Spurs christened the SBC Center in style on
November 1st by beating the Toronto Raptors 91-72. The
Spurs would not get off to a flying start as they had
a 19-13 record heading into January, which had them
7 games out of first place in the Midwest Division.
In January the Spurs began to gel and seemed prepped
to make a run, when they were forced to embark on a
9-game road trip from January 25th to February 16th
while the rodeo was in town. However, it would be hardly
a bump in he road for the charging Spurs who won 8 of
the 9 and began to climb their way to first place. The
Spurs would go on to erase their 7-game deficit and
finish the season in a flatfooted tie with the Dallas
Mavericks for the best record in the NBA. Thanks to
a tiebreaker the Spurs would win their 3rd straight
Division title as Tim Duncan claimed his second straight
NBA MVP. In the playoffs the top seeded Spurs got off
to a shaky start as they dropped Game 1 of the first
round to the Phoenix Suns in overtime 96-95 on a stunning
3 pointer by Stephon Marbury at the buzzer. The Spurs
would recover to win the next 2, but watched a big lead
slip away in Game 4 as the Suns evened the series at
2. The Spurs would recover again and would win the next
2 games to set up a showdown with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Spurs would get the early jump on the 3-time defending
champions by winning the first 2 games at the SBC Center.
However, as the series shifted to LA the Lakers held
court and even the series at 2 games apiece. Facing
a must win at home in Game 5 the Spurs built a big lead,
but watched in horror as the Lakers chipped away. With
time winding down the Spurs once 30-point lead was down
to 2 when Lakers clutch shooter Robert Horry was left
wide open from 3-point range. However, the shot would
rim out and the Spurs held on to a 96-94 win. In Game
6 in LA the Spurs would put an end to the Lakers Championship
run with an impressive 110-82 win that left no doubt
who the team to beat was now.
2002/03: In a Lone Star showdown in the Western Conference
Finals the Spurs would get off to a shaky start as the
Dallas Mavericks took Game 1 at the SBC Center 113-110
from the free throw line. The Spurs would quickly recover,
and would take the next 3 games including both games
in Dallas to establish a 3-1 series lead. However, with
a chance to close things out in Game 5 at home the Spurs
were outscored 29-10 in the 4th Quarter as the Mavs
forced a 6th game back in Dallas with a 103-91 win.
However, in Dallas for Game 6 the Spurs would have a
reversal of fortunes on their way to the NBA Finals
as the outscored the Mavericks 34-9, thanks to a 3-point
outburst from Steve Kerr in the 4th Quarter to overcome
a 69-56 deficit and advance to the NBA Finals with a
90-78 win. Facing the New Jersey Nets in the NBA Finals
the Spurs got off to a strong start winning Game 1 at
home easily 101-89. Game 2 would be a defensive struggle
as the Spurs late rally would fall short in a Nets 87-85
win. The Spurs would quickly rebound by taking Game
3 in New Jersey 84-79. After losing another defensive
struggle 77-76 in Game 4 the Spurs regained control
of the series with a solid 93-83 win. With a chance
to close things out at home in Game 6 the Spurs found
themselves in another defensive struggle as they entered
the 4th Quarter trailing 63-56. However the Spurs would
start the 4th Quarter with a 19-0 run and would never
look back as Tim Duncan nearly recorded a quadruple
double with 21points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists, and 8
blocked shots to lock up Finals MVP honors as the Spurs
won their second NBA Championship with an 88-77 win.
The Championship would serve as the perfect ending to
David Robinson's career as he sailed off after a solid
13-year Hall of Fame career.
2003/04: Coming off their second NBA Championship the
Spurs playing with 9 new players struggled early as
they missed the presence of David Robinson while the
new players struggled to fit in, as they held a 9-10
record on December 3rd. However the Spurs would turn
it around as they ended December on 13-game winning
streak, as the Spurs quickly climbed back to the top
of the NBA's elite. The Spurs would battle all year
for the top spot in the Western Conference, as they
ended the season on another strong note winning their
final 11 games. However they would fall 1 game short
of a division title and the best record in the West
as they posted a record of 57-25. In the playoffs the
Spurs remained hot as they swept the Memphis Grizzlies
in 4 straight games. In the second round the Spurs found
themselves in another showdown with the Los Angeles
Lakers. The Spurs winning streak would continue as they
captured the first two games at home brining their winning
streak from the end of the regular season up to 17 games.
However as the series shifted to Los Angeles the Spurs
would suddenly have trouble finding the basket as they
lost both games as the Lakers evened the series. The
series which was playing out as an exact duplicate of
their match up a year earlier took a dramatics turn
in Game 5 as the SBC Center as Tim Duncan seemingly
delivered the Spurs a 73-72 win as he gave the Spurs
a lead with a dramatic shot over Kobe Bryant with just
0.4 seconds remaining. However, the Lakers Derek Fisher
would launch a prayer as time expired which would go
in giving the Lakers a stunning 74-73 win to take a
3-2 series lead, as the Lakers went on to win the series
in 6 games.
Seattle Supersonics History
from
http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nba/seattle/sonics.html
1999/00: After missing the playoffs the Seattle Supersonics
rebound to finish in 4th place with a 45-37 record thanks
to another stellar season from Gary Payton who led the
team in scoring (24.2 ppg), assists (8.9 apg), steals
(1.87 spg) and minutes (41.8 mpg). In the playoffs the
Sonics would find themselves backed against the wall
right away as they dropped the first 2 games to the
Utah Jazz on the road. However the Sonics would rebound
to force a 5th game with 2 straight wins at the Key
Arena. In Game 5 at Utah the Sonics would battle the
Jazz all the way but fall 3 points short as the Jazz
advanced with a 96-93 win.
2000/01: With the hopes of improving the team in the
middle the Supersonics acquire future Hall of Famer
Patrick Ewing from the New York Knicks in a 3-team deal.
However, the Sonics would get off to a slow start losing
7 of their first 10 games. Despite winning 3 of their
next 5 games Coach Paul Westphal would be fired and
replaced by Nate McMillan on November 27th. However,
under McMillan the Sonics would continue to play mediocre
basketball as Ewing struggled all season to post a disappointing
9.6 ppg With the playoffs all but out of reach in the
highly competitive Western Conference the Sonics ended
the season on strong note winning 11 of their last 16
games to post a 44-38 record on the season finishing
in 5th place. Patrick Ewing would not be resigned following
his disappointing season in Seattle.
2001/02: Heading into Nate McMillan's first full season
as coach the Seattle Sonics were not expected to do
much as they went back to their traditional colors of
green and yellow. However, the Sonics led by the timely
shots of Brent Barry and the tenacious defense of Gary
Payton over came a series of injuries to finish in 4th
place with a 45-37 record. In the playoff the Sonics
would give the San Antonio Spurs all they could handle
before falling in 5 games. Following the season the
Sonics would begin to rebuild by trading Vin Baker to
the Boston Celtics for Kenny Anderson.
20002/03: The Supersonics would get off to a solid
start despite a developing feud between management and
free agent to be Gary Payton winning 8 of their first
10 games. However, the Supersonics would take a sudden
turn for the worse losing four straight games by a total
of 7 points. By the All-Star Break the Sonics were all
but out of the playoff picture as rumors of trade involving
Gary Payton began to circulate. On the February 20th
trade deadline with Sonics holding a record of 23-30
traded Payton and Desmond Mason to the Milwaukee Bucks
for All-Star Ray Allen, Kevin Ollie, Ronald Murray and
a conditional first-round draft pick. After the trade
Allen would play solid basketball as the Sonics made
a late run for the final playoff spot posting a 18-12
record in their final 30 games to close the season with
a 40-42 record finishing just 4 games short of the playoffs
as Allen averaged 24.5 ppg, 5.9 apg and 5.6 rpg.
2003/04: The Seattle Supersonics started the season
in Tokyo with a 2-game series against the Los Angeles
Clippers. The Sonics would win each game as Rashard
Lewis stole the show with a career high 50-point game
in second game. Coming back to America the Sonics remained
hot as they got off to a 5-1 start. In December the
Sonics began to struggle winning just 5 of 13 games,
as injuries began to hamper the team. In total the Supersonics
would lose 126 total man games due to injuries as Ronald
Murray was the only player to play in every game. As
the season wore on the Sonics faded out of the playoff
picture eventually finishing in 5th place with a 37-45
record.
San Antonio Spurs News
** To get more info on any of the following
news stories, please
click here **
Linton Johnson Undergoes Surgery
San Antonio Spurs forward Linton Johnson III underwent
successful surgery yesterday to fix a stress fracture
in his left ankle. Johnson will begin rehab as soon
as the stitches are removed from his ankle and is expected
to be out a minimum of eight weeks.
Spurs Annual Home Court Calendars
The 2004-05 Spurs Calendar, sponsored by San Antonio
Credit Union, goes on sale for just $5 each at the Spurs
game against the Dallas Mavericks. This 13-month full
color wall calendar is filled with Spurs family photos,
trivia and the Spurs and Rampage schedules.
Spurs Sign Tony Parker To Contract Extension
The San Antonio Spurs today announced that the team
has signed guard Tony Parker to a multi-year contract
extension. Parker, the Spurs’ first round draft
pick in 2001 (28th overall), has appeared in 234 regular
season games averaging 13.1 points, 5.0 assists and
2.8 rebounds in 32.6 minutes per contest.
Spurs Place Three On Injured List
The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have
placed Linton Johnson III (sprained left ankle), Sean
Marks (low back sprain) and Romain Sato (left patella
tendinitis) on the injured list.
Elliott Joins Spurs Broadcast Team
The San Antonio Spurs have announced their new television
broadcast team for the 2004-05 regular season. One of
the names is familiar to fans already, but he is now
calling San Antonio Spurs’ broadcasts his home.
Former Spur Sean Elliott signed a contract that has
him as exclusive color analyst for 60 of 72 Spurs broadcasts
this season.
Spurs Hour and Early Doors at the SBC
Center
Spurs Sign Linton Johnson III
The San Antonio Spurs have signed forward Linton Johnson
III. The 6-8, 205-pound Johnson spent a majority of
the 2003-04 campaign with the Chicago Bulls. For the
season he appeared in 41 games for Chicago – with
20 starts – averaging 4.2 points and 4.5 rebounds
in 17.9 minutes per contest.
** To get more info on any of the following
news stories, please
click here **
Spurs Schmidt Named Top Doc
San Antonio Spurs team physician Dr. David Schmidt has
been named 2004 Physician of the Year by the National
Basketball Athletic Trainers Association.
Tim Derk Takes On A New Role
Spurs Sports & Entertainment (SS&E) has announced
that Tim Derk has been named manager of mascot development
for the organization. Derk, who created the Coyote in
1983 and made over 5,000 appearances in the 21 years
he wore the costume, is hanging up his mascot suit and
moving into the front office where he will be a valuable
resource for the mascots for all three sports franchises.
Watch Clips from Tim Derk's Press Conference
Spurs Re-Sign Robert Horry
The San Antonio Spurs announced Thursday that they have
re-signed forward Robert Horry. Horry spent the 2003-04
season with the Spurs. During the regular season he
averaged 4.8 points and 3.4 rebounds in 15.9 minutes
in 81 games. He also saw action in all 10 of the Spurs
playoff games, averaging 6.1 points and 6.3 rebounds
in 21.1 minutes in the postseason.
Spurs Re-Sign Sean Marks
The San Antonio Spurs today announced Sean Marks. Marks
spent the 2003-04 season with the Spurs, but did not
appear in a regular season game.
Spurs Sign Tony Massenburg
The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have
signed forward Tony Massenburg. The 6-9, 250-pound Massenburg
was originally selected by the Spurs in the second round
of the 1990 NBA Draft. Since that time he has played
for 12 NBA teams as well as enjoying stints in the Italian
League and the Spanish League.
Cotton Fitzsimmons Tribute
Former Spurs Head Coach Lowell "Cotton" Fitzsimmons,
one of the NBA's most respected teachers and colorful
personalities, has passed away at the age of 72 due
to complications of lung cancer.
