The San Antonio Spurs return to the NBA Finals and get the chance to avenge their demoralising loss to the Miami Heat on the big stage 12 months ago.
After coming so close to winning a championship last year, Spurs came out undeterred this season and ready to make another run.
“It’s unbelievable to regain that focus after that devastating loss that we had last year,” said San Antonio’s Tim Duncan, after victory gave them a 4-2 series win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“But we’re back here. We’re excited about it. We’ve got four more to win. We’ll do it this time.
“People keep talking like we weren’t close to winning, but we were ready to win last year,” he added. “We’re happy it’s the Heat again. We’ve got that bad taste in our mouths still.”
In Game 6 of last season’s Finals, the Spurs had the title all but wrapped up, holding a five-point lead with 28.2 seconds remaining.
Then, missed free throws and missed rebounds led to the famous corner 3-pointer by Ray Allen that forced overtime before Miami won.
San Antonio came close again in Game 7 but fell short as the championship slipped away.
“It’s not something I think we actively talk about,” said the Spurs’ Matt Bonner of the loss. “But it’s definitely an experience that you learn from and sticks with you and sticks in the back of your mind, your subconscious, and drives you.”
Whether it was their motivation to overcome last year’s mishap or just their usual consistency, San Antonio stormed through the league this year en route to an NBA-best 62-20 record in the regular season.
Their true test, however, came in the Western Conference finals against the MVP Kevin Durant-led Thunder.
Though they bookended the match-up with consecutive wins, the Thunder had the Spurs on their heels after wins in Games 3 and 4 to even the series.
But after holding serve at home in Game 5, San Antonio did something they failed to do in last year’s Finals – close out in Game 6 on the road.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, said: “I have to be honest, this victory is really sweet because we know we played one hell of a team, and we take great satisfaction in that since they’re so special.”
This will mark the first Finals rematch since 1998, when the Chicago Bulls defeated the Utah Jazz a second consecutive year to win their sixth and final title of the Michael Jordan era.
