Yes, things got a little iffy there for a while.  No, I was never worried (just kidding).  After dropping 4 starters (like flies, I tell you, flies!), the San Antonio Spurs have come back at full strength — winning their last three, and finally clinching  the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.  After the Lakers made a solid push for numero uno (winning 17 of their first 18 games after the All-Star Break), they’re recent faltering opened the door for the clinch.  And boy oh boy (boy oh boy!!!) did the Spurs clinch — vice-gripping the Sacramento Kings into a 32-point loss in San Antonio last night.  Pop Robot say “we destroy.”  That’s just how things went.

On another night where every active guy (all dozen of them) saw the floor, the Pop Robot was able to dismantle a hot Kings team (winning six of their last eight games) with the help of a team-wide contribution.  And by team-wide I mean George Hill in the third quarter.  Hill provided a spark (like Sprite and the WNBA) that led to the Spurs most-dominant quarter of the year.  Spurs 41, Kings, 21.  Pop Robot says “we crush them.”  Hill’s twelve points in the third and just overall offensive energy (love that he’s been cultivating it over the last few weeks while Parker and Manu got some
injury t.o.’s) was the catalyst.  Like double-stuff Oreos and Natty Light were the catalyst to my weight issues in college.  I don’t want to talk about it.

While the player of the game was probably Hill, the play of the game has to go to our favorite Argentinean baller whose bald spot is nearly as identifiable as his face, Manu Ginobili.  “Grown Ass” Manu runs the pick n roll so smoothly already, and his behind the back split of the trap (who traps 8 feet away from the basket by the way?) to a wide open and ready to feat DaJuan Blair.  His knees = status, fair.  There is not a guy in basketball that can play shooter, floor general, scorer, etc like he can on any given night.  That’s versatility holmes.

And on the night the Spurs got their 60th win of the 2011 NBA season, it wasn’t even necessary.  It’s almost playoff time boys.  Let’s get real wif it.

A blowout win after a losing streak can always pick up a team’s morale.  Especially when it’s the longest streak of one’s career.  Never in the Tim Duncan era had the San Antonio Spurs lost 6 consecutive games (that’s insane) until this past week.  That streak, as quickly as it was started (and as shoddy as it might be — Duncan didn’t play in almost all of the losses) is now over with Sunday afternoon’s demonstrative 114-97 win over the Phoenix Suns.

On Sunday, the band was finally back together with Duncan, Tony “pepe la” Parker, “Grown Ass” Manu Ginobili, and Antonio “loves craps ’cause they’re played with” McDyess finally returning from injury.  In a time where these games could have been near-meaningless, a 6-game losing streak brought the stratospheric Spurs back down to earth, up just a game and a half over the hot-as-(insert supermodel name) Lakers coming down the stretch.  With Sunday afternoon’s win, and L.A.’s loss at home to the surging Nuggets, the lead is back up to two and a half games, and looking more and more like a number overall seed for San Antonio.  This is a good thing.  We DO NOT want to play a game 7 v. L.A. in L.A.  If the second half has taught us anything, it’s that the Lakers are really really good.  Without being too much of a downer (Where’s my xanax when I need it?), while the Spurs have put together the best season, the Lakers absolutely look like the NBA’s best team.  We can’t deny it.  We can only drink.

So where does that leave us?  In a good spot, especially considering Andrew Bynum’s whatever-is-the-opposite-of-ironman status.  If he’s not around, the Lakers size and versatility inside is dramatically compromised.  As much as he gets a bad rap, Bynum is an animal.  He was raised by a clan of crocodiles and gorillas exclusively bred to create the fiercest creature alive (exaggeration).  And he’s really big.  Too big for any Spurs defender to handle.

But you know who doesn’t have him (or anyone like him)?  Everyone else in the West.  That’s why, we should get pumped.  San Antonio’s pure execution and sage-like experience should lead to at the very least a first-round breeze.  Get excited (sort of).

I wish that I had something interesting or important to write after our boys (yes, those San Antonio Spurs — the team with the NBA’s best record) had just lost their fourth straight game.  I don’t.  This was not a statement game, or a trap game for the Spurs.  It wasn’t a game that matters for seeding or playoff match-ups.  Monday night’s game at home versus a hot Portland Trailblazers team meant almost nothing.  Scratch that, it just meant nothing.

It’s never easy to win a game without four of your starters, and your three best players.  And that’s what the Spurs tried to do Monday night — playing an impassioned and hard-fought game, with a B squad.  A squad that didn’t include Mr. Tim Duncan (expected), Manu Ginobili (expected), Tony Parker (unexpected), and Antonio McDyess (very unexpected).  Yes, there are sprains and contusions and (back)s — but no, there is not anything serious and there shouldn’t be anything to worry about.  The Spurs have the top seed in the West nearly locked, and appear to be satisfied with that 1 seed and the 60 wins that will probably bring them there (Take a minute to let it sink in.  60 effing games.  Feels great.)

There were certainly some tiny things to take away from this JV game.  It’s good to see George Hill be featured and have enough confidence to put together a solid game.  There are going to be times in these playoffs when Hill will have to lead that second unit, and it’s going to have to be the difference in the game.  The more reps he gets as a replacement Alpha, the better suited he’ll be to just keep shooting if he gets the hot hand in Round 1.  You also have to love Tiago’s development, seemingly a season’s worth in the last 10 days.  I see a Hill-Splitter PnR of the future brewing, but don’t want to jinx it.  Oops.

The only way to wrap up a meaningless game with a bunch of guys that may not get run come April is also the only way to describe Duncan’s face, EVERY time they cut to him in street clothes on the bench.  In a word, bored.  Just like me, Monday night, watching the Spurs.  April can’t come soon enough.

With word swirling that Tim Duncan’s ankle injury might be slightly more serious than originally let on (via “sources” of NBA Today podcast host Ryen Russillo), the San Antonio Spurs’ back-up bigs were bullied and beaten down last night by the Grizzlies’ two-man in-the-paint combo of Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph.  For the first team to win 50 games this year, it’s not time to panic — but with the sight of Mr. Manu Ginobili dropping to the Memphis floor Sunday, it’s ok if you happened to pee a little.

Manu was ok (or at least hopefully he is), but Pop was none too keen on the lack of a foul call as Ginobili and Gasol collided.  And Pop had every right to be upset — getting double T-d, ejected and turning all the colors of the reading rainbow — Gasol literally man-handled Ginobili.  As in Gasol was a man, handling Ginobili, a balding pre-pube compared to Marky-Marc’s ability to drive and drink beers (but not at the same time).  Gasol, with his interior buddy Zebo Randolph, did the other man-handling in the Spurs’ paint, combining for 34 points, 19 rebounds, 7 assists, and 4 blocks.  Is the problem here that our San Antonio Spurs lost an end-of-March game to a Grizz team still playing for something?  No.  Is the problem the way these past three losses have affirmed our collective theory about bigs two-through-five being either too small, or too soft?  Absolutely.

The shining light through the murky waters is George Hill continuing to develop as a really solid off-guard with the ability to occasionally get crazy hot.  Monday night, with 30 points on 9/12 shooting, he was crazy hot like pre-facial destruction Megan Fox (and she was really really crazy hot).  Tony Parker didn’t shoot great but added another 20, and DaJuan Blair’s 20-23 minutes a game are always encouraging.  Especially each time he exits in the 4th with both knees still attached to his body.  To borrow a phrase from the world, at the end of the day, the Spurs are fine.  Unless that day ends without a full-strength Duncan and a Bynum-Pau Gasol-Odom triumvirate on the other end of the floor.  Let’s hope for the best.

So the second part of that headline is not true.  Whatever.  Just 10 days after the Spurs took Miami off the Elementary School Punishment Wall and stole their milk money, LeBron, D-Wade and Predator from the movie “Predator” returned the favor.  There wasn’t a whole lot to discuss until about halfway through the 3rd quarter — when San Antonio made that patented 3rd-quarter push that I’m pretty sure Pop has copyrighted by now.  A Gary Neal three made it smell like a legit comeback, pushing Miami’s lead to nearly single digits, but that’s when The Heatles shut it down.  They had played sick-nasty-delicious defense all night (our Spurs shot just 38%), but couldn’t really turn it into those patented fast break dunks.  Yeah you know those… the ones they celebrate like they don’t count the same as the Ginobili float-piece that just went down on the other end.  Regardless of the overall douche-baggery, a couple of flushes were the back-breakers that elevated the Miami lead to 14 after three — a lead that would swell to 30 by the time this one saw its fin. (That’s French… look it up).

So what happened to the boys from almost South of the border?  Well, it really was Miami’s night.  They have size and athleticism on the perimeter that San Antonio’s savvy just had a hard time breaking down.  When a team as athletic as Miami plays both hard and smart on the defensive end, they are nearly impossible to beat.  Unless, of course, you have a legit low-post scorer.  Unfortunately for the Spurs, this is both not 2004 and DeJuan Blair has not grown 6 inches (unless it involved his knees detaching from his body).  With a tough time on the perimeter and guys in the middle with no responsibility but to shot-block, TP, Manu and the Crew On the Outside were forced to huck threes like Demarcus Cousins after he’s been denied his binky.  The results: a 6-for-22 night from three.  Not gonna win a whole lot of game like that.  Tomorrow, Pop gives the boys a day off.  Next up, Friday in Dallas.  Get excited.

Wednesday night was just another day at the office for the team with the NBA’s best record.  I mean that is if your office day usually includes multiple hall-of-famers, some patented Euro-steppin’ and punching your ticket to the playoffs with almost a quarter of the season left to go.  Yes, we all saw the Lakers take down those San Antonio Spurs on Sunday like the Mexican Army took down the Alamo.  But you know what happens when a Gregg Popovich-coached team gets blown out at home (they’re first home loss in almost 3 months)?  They start off the game shooting 14/14 from the floor and end the 1st half taking down a fairly decent 80%.  Eighty-percent shooting for a half is unreal — like that lion made of bath towels I keep seeing every time I crack my back.  And yes, maybe the Lake Show proved that they are probably the better team, but San Antonio didn’t play the Lakers last night.  Last night, it was the Detroit Pistons.

What is there to say about our San Antonio Spurs that hasn’t been said before?  Last night, they’re ball movement and consistent ability to generate open shots through drive-and-kick is in its own world.  And they also have that guy Manu Ginobili, who’s 2nd quarter cross-foul-line-two-step-into-step-back-J just made me laugh.  That shot is just not for American-born players.  It’s a cultural thing.  Timmy Duncan continued his efficient play with yet another double-double — and at the end of the contest Tony Parker closed it out like the club at 2 a.m.  Tony’s move to split the double and avoid the help defenders with 1:30 left in the 4th was breathtaking.  It’s one thing to trounce a sub-.500 team’s hopes, it’s another to do it with such style.

Wednesday night was just another day at the office for the boys.  So what if they may be outmatched in the middle by the defending champs?  Who cares if there’s a major bench contributor that is consistently referred to as “The Red Rocket?”  After a 111-104 win over the Pistons at home, for the San Antonio Spurs, it all feels pretty darn good.