Their fans may be panicking but the San Antonio Spurs wow to fight on
If we take a quick glance at the National Basketball Association (NBA) season 2010-11, the San Antonio Spurs emerge at the top with 57 victories.
That is one aspect of the story however. The Spurs fans are nodding their heads now days with the current six-game losing streak of San Antonio, their longest since 10-20 April 1997.
The losing streak of San Antonio is nothing to panic about though as they are still ahead of all franchises and bear all the capabilities to get back into the track. What required is just a combined team effort that can give them
a break. The good news for the Spurs fans is that, San Antonio had their big three (Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker) back and physically fit.
Everything was fine at the Spurs’ end until 23 March, when the Denver Nuggets defeated the San Antonio 115-112 at Pepsi Centre. The defeat snapped the three-game winning streak of the Spurs.
The Spurs was hot favourite for their next game against the Portland Trail Blazers but it did not take long for the Blazers to reacquire the old taste of bitter playoff disappointment. San Antonio’s improbable 98-96 loss to the
Portland on March 25 was like an alarm clock shaking the world of basketball.
Duncan, Ginobili, Parker, and Antonio McDyess were not available for the next match against the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies took full advantage of the absence of the Big Three and knocked out the Spurs, 111-104, on 27 March
for the second time during the current season. A cluster of 17,098 basketball fans at FedEx Forum were surprised as guard George Hill proved to be a different player and came off the bench with a game-high 30 points in the defeat.
San Antonio’s 107-97 defeat to the Boston Celtics on 31 March was the most displeasing in a stretch of games. Duncan rejoined the line-up after missing five games with ankle injury and contributed 20 points and 13 rebounds in the
defeat.
The Houston Rockets topped the Spurs 119-114 on Friday night at Toyota Center. Guard Parker did all he could as he chipped in with 31 points and six assists in the loss.
The first four defeats in the Spurs losing streak are no doubt due to the unavailability of Duncan and, most of the time, other starters. However, the squad is now fully equipped with healthy players and full of determination.
During an interview to the official website of the Spurs, Manu Ginobili said, “I don’t think we are in a crisis, or playing like c**p.” “We are in a great situation. We have just got to keep fighting.”
That is the spirit required to get things right before the playoff battle. The bounce back of San Antonio could sweep the ongoing panicking situation of the Spurs fans and everything will seem just fine again.
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