San Antonio Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich sat court side with Chris Paul during a Summer League game over the weekend. It reinforces that the two NBA legends are now on the same side after a couple of epic playoff battles in their past.
From Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, to Steve Nash, to Dirk Nowitzki, to Kevin Durant, the Silver and Black's biggest rivalries through their championship runs often centered on star players. They faced Paul three different times in the playoffs. Interestingly enough, in none of them did San Antonio reach any of their three Finals appearances since CP3 entered the league.
Below we break down all the Spurs' previous battles with their new point guard.
2012 Los Angeles Clippers vs. San Antonio Spurs – Second Round
Easily the most boring of their three match-ups. With a rookie Kawhi Leonard in the mix, Tim Duncan and company swept the Los Angeles Clippers in the midst of a 20-game winning streak that led to their first Western Conference Finals since 2008.
The highlight of the series came in Game 3. After San Antonio won the first two games by 16 and 17 points, LA raced out to a 22-point advantage through the opening quarter of the first game at the Staples Center. The Spurs countered with a 24-0 run in the third quarter to eventually win by 10 and the series a night later.
The Spurs' first loss in that 2012 postseason came in the WCF vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder. Though it marked the team's first setback in more than a month and a half, it started a surprising four-game losing skid that ended the top seed's season in a strike shortened year.
2008 San Antonio Spurs vs. New Orleans Hornets – Second Round
It's a seven-game series, though only Game 7 was truly close and even it was decided by nine points. The New Orleans Hornets went up 2-0 with 19 and 18-point wins before the Spurs countered by 11 and 20-points. The two teams then swapped 12- and 20-point victories before Manu Ginobili led all scorers–as he had in Game 6 with 25–with 26 more in a 91-82 Spurs triumph in the Crescent City to end the match-up.
Paul topped all scorers in three of the series' seven games, including 35 in Game 5. So worn out were the the defending NBA champions that they lost the ensuing conference finals to the Los Angeles Lakers in five.
2015 San Antonio Spurs vs. Los Angeles Clippers – First Round
Though also a seven-game set, this series was much more competitive than their battle with CP3 seven years prior. Unlike in 2008 when the road team didn't win until the finale, the Spurs took Game 2 in Los Angeles before the Clippers avoided a 3-1 hole by taking Game 4 at the then AT&T Center behind 34 points from Paul. After San Antonio won again at the Staples in Game 5, LA staved off elimination on the road in Game 6. That set the stage for Game 7.
The Spurs were a sixth seed coming off their fifth and most recent championship. They were tied at 109 with 8.8 seconds left in Game 7 when Paul drove the lane on Danny Green and threw up a banker over Duncan with just 1.0 remaining. That dramatic shot by the future Hall of Fame point guard not only ended the Spurs' hopes for a repeat, but ended that version of the Spurs. The ensuing offseason they added LaMarcus Aldridge, who along with Leonard, became the focal point for the next several years, especially after Duncan retired in 2016 and Tony Parker left in 2018.
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