Dethroned

The San Antonio Spurs will not repeat as NBA Champions after losing Game 7 at home to the Dallas Mavericks. The story of the series was Avery Johnson out-coaching his former coach, Greg Popovich. Johnson was able to dictate the style of play and which players were out on the court this series. Instead of sticking with the strategy that resulted in the Spurs' franchise record for wins, Popovich tried to matchup with the speedy Mavs. Ginobili and Parker weren't consistent enough for the Spurs to win the series.

San Antonio did come back to tie the series after being down 3-1. They won Game 5 at home. Then they earned their first road win of the series in Game 6 with the Mavs Jason Terry sidelined due to suspention. The Mavs had Terry for Game 7, but blew a 20-point lead anyway. Ginobili hit a three to put the Spurs up 3 with under a minute to go. But Nowitzski showed why he is now a great player, driving the ball to the basket and getting fouled for a 3-point play. The Mavs outplayed the Spurs once again to take the overtime, thanks to the young center Diop's play.

Surprisingly, the Spurs complained an awful lot in the series about the referees' decisions. This was far from champion-like and partly the reason that the Spurs lost. They felt that they were battling the Mavs and the refs and it was just too much to overcome. In the end, the Mavs were the better team and finally climbed this hurdle, which was a long time in coming.