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2003 NBA Finals

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The 2003 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 2002-03 NBA season. The San Antonio Spurs of the Western Conference took on the New Jersey Nets of the Eastern Conference for the title, with the Spurs holding home court advantage. The series was played under a best-of-seven format. The Spurs won the series 4 games to 2.

Television: ABC (Brad Nessler, Bill Walton, and Tom Tolbert announcing)

Contents

Background

The 2002-03 season had already started as a memorable one for the San Antonio Spurs as it was the team's first season in the basketball-friendly SBC Center. However, as this season was one of beginnings, it was also one of endings. During the season, Spurs star David Robinson announced that this season would be his last. Over the last few seasons, injuries have slowed down Robinson's productivity to the point where he missed 18 games in his final season while averaging only 8.5 points per game. Nevertheless, Robinson would retire holding Spurs franchise career records in points, rebounds, steals and blocks. The Spurs had a very successful season, finishing 60-22, tying for the best record in the NBA that year. The playoffs started off shaky for the Spurs as they lost game 1 of the first round series against the Phoenix Suns in overtime. However the Spurs would bounce back to take the series in 6 games. The second round put the Spurs face-to-face with the three-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers. After splitting the first four games, the Spurs eeked out a win in game 5, benefitting from a rare last-second miss from the Lakers' clutch-shooter Robert Horry (who ironically would help the Spurs win a title two years later). The Spurs would eventually dispose of the Lakers in Game 6, ending the Lakers' championship run. In the Conference Finals, the Spurs would face their in-state nemesis the Dallas Mavericks. The Spurs would start off slow again losing game 1, but would take control of the series from there, taking the next three straight. The Spurs would eventually stave off a Mavericks comeback attempt to take the series in 6 games to advance to their second NBA Finals in franchise history.

In the meantime the New Jersey Nets, who lost to the Lakers in the Finals the previous year, was out to prove that they were serious title contenders, despite the lack of competition in the Eastern Conference. The Nets would finish the regular season 49-33, good enough for the number 2 seed in the East. After splitting the first four games with the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, the Nets would take complete control, winning the series in 6 games. From then on, the Nets had no trouble making a return to the NBA Finals, sweeping the Boston Celtics and the Detroit Pistons to win their second straight Eastern Conference championship.

Series scoring summary

The following scoring summary is written in a line score format, except that the quarter numbers are replaced by game numbers. 




Team
Game 1
Game 2
Game 3  
Game 4 
Game 5 
Game 6 



Wins


San Antonio (West)
101
85
84
76



93
88
4




New Jersey (East)
89
87
79
77



83
77



2




Schedule


The Finals were played using a 2-3-2 site format, where the first two and last two games are held at the team with home court advantage's home court (in this case, San Antonio's SBC Center).



Features

While the series received the usual hype of any Finals, it was not heavily anticipated due to the absence of the Lakers, who had won the previous three finals. The Spurs did have a star in Tim Duncan, but at the time he was criticized as being boring compared to flashier players such as Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal.


The series was largely centered around the halfcourt offense and defense of each team, with only 1 team breaking 100 points in the series. The Nets constantly double-teamed Tim Duncan, and at one point quadruple-teamed him, allowing him to find open teammate or score over the top of the multiple defenders.


Perhaps the lasting memory of the series is David Robinson retiring a champion. In the clinching game 6, Robinson had 13 points and 17 rebounds to complement Tim Duncan on the inside. In that game, the Spurs trailed at one point 72-63 before going on a 19-0 run to put the game away and take the series.



Impact of the Series



  • The great performances by Spurs role players Malik Rose and Stephen Jackson led them to leave the Spurs in the offseason.
  • The low scoring in the series may have carried over into the next season, as in the 2003-04 seaon the NBA set a league record for lowest scoring average.
  • Duncan and Robinson would be named Men of the Year by Sports Illustrated for 2003.


Trivia


  • The 2003 NBA Finals marked the first championship contested between two former ABA teams.
  • Continental Airlines Arena had a unique situation as the series shifted back to New Jersey.  As the Spurs and Nets got ready to play Game 3 of the NBA Finals, the NHL's Stanley Cup Finals, which featured the New Jersey Devils, was going into a 7th and deciding game, which was going to be played at New Jersey.  So as soon as Game 3 ended, the arena made a quick turnover to get ready for the next day's deciding Stanley Cup Finals match (and Stanley Cup celebration since the Devils would wind up winning the game), and then back again in time for Game 4 of the NBA Finals the following day.
  • In the series clinching game, Tim Duncan came two blocks shy of a quadruple-double in an NBA Finals match, an extremely rare feat, finishing with 22 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists, and 8 blocks.
  • Duncan became the 7th player in NBA history to win the Finals MVP award a second time. He joined the list of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon and Shaquille O'Neal.
  • This is the lowest rated finals in NBA history.


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