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Spurs memory 22: Spurs toast first playoff series victory with bubbly

Spurs subdue Philadelphia for first seven-game playoff series victory in franchise history

Date: Wednesday May 2, 1979
Place: HemisFair Arena, San Antonio
Score: San Antonio Spurs 111, Philadelphia 76ers 108.

Teams seldom celebrate playoff series victories with champagne before they hoist championship trophies.

The Spurs broke from custom after beating Philadelphia in 1979. Their excitement was understandable, considering how historic the playoff series victory was for the team and Spurs Nation.

It was San Antonio’s first seven-game playoff series victory in franchise history after losing nine previous series. Before the breakthrough, the Spurs had lost in the first round of the NBA or ABA playoffs every year since coming to San Antonio in 1973.

The dramatic Game 7 triumph was one for the ages. The Spurs bounced back after squandering an 18-point lead early in the second quarter. They were on the brink of nearly squandering a 3-1 lead in the series before rebounding to claim a 111-108 triumph in Game 7.

“This stuff about us choking in the playoffs is over,” Spurs guard James Silas told the Express-News after the wild victory over the 76ers.

George Gervin led the Spurs with 33 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, despite playing the last 5:47 of the game with five fouls. Larry Kenon chipped in with 27 points, but Mike Green was the difference late in the game as he was inserted into the starting lineup in place of injured starter Billy Paultz.

Green came up with 20 points, eight rebounds, four assists, three assists and three steals as he outplayed Philadelphia’s big men inside. It led to a memorable picture of Green in the next morning’s San Antonio Express-News toasting the Game 7 victory with some bubbly.

“Heck, I don’t know what happened at the end except we had more points,” Spurs coach Doug Moe told reporters after the wild victory.

Green scored 11 points in San Antonio’s pivotal fourth-quarter comeback. And backup guard Louie Dampier came up with a several key plays after Silas fouled out, igniting the late run with a key basket and gritty defense on Andrew Toney.

San Antonio was nursing a slim one-point lead when Green converted two foul shots after he was fouled by Bobby Jones with 1:04 left.

But after Julius Erving nailed two foul shots to pull Philadelphia back within a point, Green hit an 18-foot jumper to give the Spurs a 109-106 lead with 43 seconds remaining.

After a Bobby Jones miss, Gervin added two clinching free throws to ice the victory with 11 seconds left.

Gervin had huge start, scoring 22 points in the first half including 12 straight points in the first quarter. His early binge helped stake the Spurs to a 43-25 lead midway through the second quarter.

But Philadelphia charged back to trim the Spurs’ halftime lead to nine points behind the play of Erving, who produced 34 points, eight assists and three blocked shots.

Erving, Steve Mix and Maurice Cheeks all had a part in a Philadelphia rally late in the third quarter that boosted them to an 81-78 lead heading into the final quarter.

Mark Olberding’s three-point play with 8:52 gave the Spurs the lead again. But the lead changed six times in the next seven-plus minutes before Gervin’s two foul shots gave the Spurs the lead for good at 105-104 with 1:27 left.

Philadelphia coach Billy Cunningham had set the stage for Philadelphia’s comeback in the series with a change in his starting lineup. In order to match up with Gervin’s height in the backcourt, Cunningham opted for a bigger lineup with Erving at guard, Caldwell Jones at forward and Darrell Dawkins at center.

It worked until Game 7, when Dawkins went down with a sprained ankle in the first quarter and was limited to 27 minutes. His absence enabled the Spurs to hold a 45-36 rebounding edge in Game 7.

They said it, part I: “At this moment, I don’t even know that we’re playing Washington. We’ll be flying up there tomorrow and that’s when we’ll star thinking about them. But as far as I’m concerned, at this moment they don’t even exist,” Spurs owner Angelos Drossos on beating Philadelphia and facing defending NBA champion Washington in the next round of the playoffs.

They said it, part II: “All that talk was so much bull. We have played some great teams in the playoffs and lost. But this year, we played tough when we had to,” Moe on the Spurs finally winning a playoff series.

They said it, part III: “There was a little pressure on me, but I can handle it. There was a lot of criticism about our centers lately and I didn’t think it was right.” Green to the Washington Post on his big performance in Game 7.

They said it, part IV: “We always play a good fourth quarter so I wasn’t worried,” Green, to the post on the late San Antonio rally.

They said it, part V: “I felt we would come back even after we lost that big lead. The thing we had to do was keep our confidence and we did,” Gervin to the Post on the Spurs’ resilency.

They said it, part VI: “I had a job to do and I came out to do it from the very beginning. They said Maurice Cheeks was holding me down. He’s good, but he’s still a rookie and he has a lot to learn,” Gervin on Philadelphia’s defensive strategy.

They said it, part VII: “We’ve got the team that can keep beat anybody. I don’t care who they are,” Silas, to the United Press International about the victory.

They said it, part VIII: “I thought we had to overcome the refereeing. It seemed like every break went against us,” Moe on game officials.

They said it, part IX: “The heat is off. It’s finally over,” Drossos’ comments after the victory.

The upshot: The game was one of the first home games in Spurs history to be seen on local television. KMOL-TV picked up the broadcast with Terry Stembridge and Rudy Davalos serving as the announcing crew. The Spurs were 0-9 in seven-game series and 0-3 in seventh games before the victory over Philadelphia … Silas dedicated the victory to Stembridge, who was the voice of the franchise dating back to its first season in Dallas in 1967-68 … The Spurs became the second former ABA team to win an NBA playoff series. Denver defeated Milwaukee in a seven-game series in 1978 before losing in the Western Conference Finals to Seattle … The Spurs advanced to the Eastern finals for a similarly memorable series against Washington in the Eastern finals. San Antonio would not win another Game 7 until beating Detroit in the NBA Finals on June 23, 2005.

Previous Spurs most memorable moments:

No. 23: Horry-Nash , may have sparked title run.

No. 24: Ice’s clandestine arrival .

No. 25: Barkleywith series-clinching shot.

No. 26: Silas becomes first Spur.

No. 27: Robinson makes history with .

No. 28: after crucial 1999 victory at Houston.

No. 29: on Halloween night.

No. 30: Torrid San Diego shooting

TP expects to decide next week whether to join his French team during lockout

Spurs guard Tony Parker expects a decision in the next week on whether he will join his team ASVEL during the lockout.

Parker told the French website Liberation.fr (Hat tip to and Google’s translation tool) that he will whether to play with the team he owns and serves as its director of basketball operations.

Parker’s decision could be a moot one, especially if players and owners settle on a new collective bargaining agreement over the weekend. But Parker returned to France this week for help in settling the insurance question that remains his biggest obstacle in joining the French team.

Parker’s four-year contract with the Spurs, which started before last season, pays him $50 million. He’d like to guarantee to cover any potential injuries while playing in France.

The French league will start Oct. 7.

Neither Parker or Manu Ginobili will play overseas if the lockout ends. But if the negotiations break down this weekend and it looks like an extended loss of games in the NBA, both will likely accept their overseas offers.

Spurs memory No. 27: Robinson’s quadruple-double stuns Pistons

Robinson’s quadruple-double upstages Elliott’s return with the Pistons

Date: Thursday, February 17, 1994

Place: Alamdome, San Antonio

Score: San Antonio Spurs 115, Detroit Pistons 96

The arrival of Coach John Lucas to the Spurs in 1992 brought a change in offensive philosophy that was unlike anything David Robinson had ever experienced to that point in his career.

Lucas decided to run his offense through Robinson, utilizing him as a point center of sorts because of his athleticism, speed and ball-handling ability.

Robinson gravitated to the new role by producing many key games that utilized his all-around talents. His most impressive was a game where he notched only the second quadruple-double in team history and the most recent one in NBA history.

Robinson produced 34 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 blocked shots in the victory over Detroit, leaving the court with about four minutes left to chants of “MVP, MVP” from the Alamodome crowd of 19,451.

The big game spoiled the return of Sean Elliott, who made his his first appearance back in San Antonio after being traded earlier in the season to the Pistons.

Terry Cummings missed the game with the flu, forcing Robinson into more of an active offensive role in the game.

Robinson responded by scoring 17 points in the first half as he overmatched Detroit centers Greg Anderson and Charles Jones from the beginning of the game.

He had all of the other statistical categories covered before picking up his decisive 10th block when he swatted Lindsey Hunter’s 10-foot try in the lane with 5:21 left in the game.

Robinson’s monster game was the NBA’s first quadruple-double since Hakeem Olajuwon did it on March 29, 1990. The only other players with quadruple-doubles since the NBA began keeping track were Nate Thurmond in 1974 and the Spurs’ Alvin Robertson in 1986.

The victory in Robinson’s quadruple-double game set a team record at the time with San Antonio’s 11th straight victory and moved them into a virtual tie with Houston for first place in the Midwest Division.

The Spurs seized the game in the third quarter, building a 57-49 lead and extending the margin to 75-59 as the quarter continued.

Dennis Rodman took some of the heat away from Robinson inside by producing 22 rebounds. Rodman also added five assists, matching the total of Detroit’s four guards.

Robinson finished the season 1993-94 season with five triple-doubles to lead the league. But none was as impressive as was his quadruple-double game.

Vinny Del Negro scored 23 points and Dale Ellis added 19 for the Spurs. Lindsey Hunter led the Pistons with 26 points and Terry Mills chipped in with 18 points and 16 rebounds. Detroit lost for the 25^th time in their previous 29 games.

Elliott was greeted by a 40-second standing ovation when he was introduced. He scored the Pistons’ first basket and had 20 points in the game.

They said it, Part I: “I’ve been close a number of times, so this is something I wanted to do. I’m excited because it’s one thing you never know if you’re going to get,” Robinson on his quadruple-double.

They said it, part II: “We didn’t even talk about the winning streak. We did talk about David’s quadruple-double. He was just great. But I was mad at him. He missed seven free throws and he should have had 41 points.” Spurs coach John Lucas on Robinson’s big game.

They said it, part III: “How could I not know I was close with the bench and the stat crew. Every rtime I came to the bench, (backup center) Jack (Haley) would tell me how many more blocks I needed,” Robinson on how much he knew about his statistical rarity.

They said it, part IV: “He’s a lot different now. I tried to talk trash with him, but he just stared. He finally cracked a smile at the end of the game, but he’s more focused than I’ve ever seen him,” Elliott on his reception from Robinson before the game.

They said it, part V: “It wasn’t just one guy for us tonight. It was the whole team. Everyone is contributing and that’s why we are winning. Our whole team won this game for us tonight,” Lucas to the Express-News on his team’s big night.

They said it, part VI: “I would have to like have seen him play against our real horses, our guys from the past. We don’t have a center now,” Detroit guard Isiah Thomas, described Robinson’s big night against Detroit’s injury-depleted rotation of big men.

They said it, part VII: “David has really stepped up his play. He played at an All-Star level before and he’s stepped it up a notch. You can see it in his eyes. Right now, he’s playing the best basketball of his career,” Spurs forward J.R. Reid, to the Express-News about Robinson’s playing surge.

They said it, part VIII: “David has always been nice. And their team has always been nice. The question is, do you want a bunch of nice guys who are nice all the time or do you want to win a championship?” Thomas, to the Detroit Free Press about the Spurs’ winning streak.

They said it, part IX: “It’s nice that I’ve convinced the fans in San Antonio (about the MVP). Now, I have to convince the rest of the country. But it’s still just February,” Robinson on fans chanting “MVP, MVP” during his quadruple-double.

The upshot: Robinson led the NBA with five triple-doubles in 1993-94 and also led the league with a career-best 29.8 scoring average. Robinson also averaged a career-best 4.8 assists during the season. He led the league with a 30.7 player efficiency rating, but was chosen as second-team All-NBA and to the All-Defensive teams behind Houston’s Hakeem Olajuwon. The Spurs notched a 55-27 regular season record and were stunned in four games by Utah in the first round of the playoffs.