Fix first, reflect later. There's too
much to work on before Game 7 on
Saturday for the Spurs to take much
time to wax on about What This All
Could Mean.
But you know. And deep inside,
they know. They even know that you
know. Tim Duncan and Manu
Ginobili aren't under contract for
next season. The Duncan-Ginobili-
Tony Parker-Gregg Popovich quartet
that's been the most prolific and
productive in NBA history by many
measures could be one loss away
from breaking up.
"It's something that you've got to
be thinking [about]," Ginobili said
late Thursday night. "I don't know
what is going to happen. What I do
know is there's going to be a Game
7 in two days. And that's the only
thing I can manage, that's the only
thing I can think of. That's the only
thing I can take care of. I'll try to
do my best, the team is going to try
to do their best, and from there you
keep living."
That last line was the most in tune
the Spurs sounded all night. Life
will continue. They're good at
placing things in perspective and
moving forward. Life continued for
them after perhaps the most
heartbreaking defeat in NBA Finals
history in 2013. So did the
championships, as it turned out.
Now they have to find a way to
make it go on. They have to fight
off the accumulated wear of 185
playoff games together, including 50
since 2013. They have to fight off a
feisty Clippers team that could be
empowered after finally figuring out
a way to win a close playoff game
against them.
Kawhi Leonard must play in the
manner befitting the franchise's
anointed next star, not along the
lines of the 8-for-31 shooting that
afflicted him the past two games.
Parker can't score in single digits,
as he has in half of the six games
played this series. Ginobili, too --
same stat applies to him. Green
must find his wayward jumper; he
has made only 29 percent of his 3-
pointers in the series.
How do they snap back into
character after straying so far from
their usual lane?
This was only the fifth time in 19
tries under Popovich that the Spurs
could not eliminate an opponent
while playing at home. They had
won seven consecutive times in this
situation, dating back to 2006.
Their best chance is to believe that
advancing age has not yet
surpassed experience, that the
collective wisdom and poise gained
from all of their success will
manifest.
"Eh, you hope a little bit," said
Parker, not fully buying the
premise. "But anything can happen
in a Game 7."
The problem is the Clippers now
feel that way, too. The Spurs don't
have to win because they're the
Spurs, the Clippers don't have to
lose because they're the Clippers.
All of the history that preceded this
moment didn't determine the
outcome of Game 6. The Clippers
determined it, with a fourth quarter
that featured 53 percent shooting,
two important, late free throws by
Jamal Crawford and only one
turnover. This time, Blake Griffin
was as strong at the end as he was
at any point in the game, with
eight points, four rebounds, three
assists and not a single miss from
the field or free throw line in the
final 11 minutes of his 41-minute
night.
The Clippers fully grasp both what
it will take to beat the Spurs and
what it would mean to beat the
Spurs.
"This is a great team, great
organization," Chris Paul said. "A
lot of us on our team have been
watching these guys since we were
kids. You just see them do the
same thing over and over again. It's
been a lot of fun.
"But," and here he knocked on the
table for effect, "it all comes down
to Game 7."
For the Spurs, it's possible it all
could come down to Game 7. A
dozen years whittled down to 48
minutes. The blessing of their time
together, the burden of sustaining
it.