Rocky Start, Smooth Finish

WHILE MOST HOOPHEADS were going gaga over the Mavs and the Suns entering the playoffs, the Spurs crept into the postseason with little fanfare even though they had played the best basketball of any team after the All-Star break (23-6 record), finishing the season with 58 wins and the league's top-ranked scoring defense. The lack of buzz surrounding San Antonio was nothing new. "We're under the radar every year," Tim Duncan had mused once before. "That's where we like to be. At the end of the day it's all about winning games and winning championships, and we've done that."

The Spurs' first-round opponent was a familiar one—sort of. San Antonio didn't have much trouble dispensing with Denver in five games in the first round of the 2005 playoffs, but this was a much stronger Nuggets squad. With Allen Iverson , acquired in a December trade, and the dynamic Carmelo Anthony , Denver boasted the league's best scoring tandem (53.7 points per game).

Winners of 11 of 12 entering the series, the Nuggets carried their streak into Game 1. Marcus Camby and Nen� hounded Duncan into a 14-point, five-turnover night, Iverson and Anthony combined for 61, and Denver won 95-89. "Their defense outplayed our defense," coach Gregg Popovich said. "They stopped us, the things we wanted to do, and we couldn't stop their two stars."

The Spurs , however, showed their championship mettle and bounced back for a 97-88 win in Game 2. In the pivotal Game 3 the Nuggets built an eight-point first-quarter lead before Manu Gin�bili 's eight second-quarter points helped put San Antonio up 43-40 at halftime. A back-and-forth contest turned in the final 2:24 of the third quarter: Michael Finley hit two three-pointers, and Robert Horry made a key swipe of a pass from J.R. Smith and later hit a three that gave the Spurs a 75-67 lead at the end of the quarter. They hung on for a 96-91 win. "We just couldn't stop them when we needed to," said Iverson.

Denver started strong again in Game 4 and led by eight at halftime. But San Antonio stormed back after Anthony went to the bench in the third quarter with his fourth foul. The Spurs held a one-point lead with 30 seconds left in the game when Horry , playing for his seventh championship ring, hit a three from the right corner to help seal a 96-89 win. "It's great to have an experienced squad as we do," said Duncan . "We don't get rattled. We fight through whatever is happening. That's just the M.O. of the team."

Finley was the hero in Game 5, hitting a team-playoff-record eight threes for 26 points as San Antonio won 93-78 to end the series. On paper it looked like another five-game romp for the Spurs , but this time the Nuggets did make them sweat a little. "We met a team that has championship grit," said Nuggets coach George Karl. "We might've shook 'em a little bit, might've scared 'em a little bit, but we didn't beat 'em."