The San Antonio Spurs' wild ride of a 2017-18 season came to an end on Tuesday night, falling to the Golden State Warriors for a second-straight postseason — this time over a 99-91 Game 5 loss, which put a wrap on a strange season for the known Western Conference powerhouse.
“It was definitely clear that it was our most unusual and toughest season,” said veteran point guard Tony Parker after the game, according to Jabari Young of the San Antonio Express-News.
Parker's longtime backcourt partner-in-crime, Manu Ginobili, agreed with his assessment, oddly using the same words to describe what has been a very strange season by the franchise's standards.
The Argentinian shooting guard addressed the issue head-on, naming the elephant [not] in the room — Kawhi Leonard, who missed all but nine games of the regular season with a quad injury.
“The amount of injuries and rotations, because it wasn't only Kawhi that was missing,” Ginobili explained. “We were missing Rudy [Gay] for two months and Rudy was a big part of our team, being the second scorer. Because he was a new guy he needed to adjust and we didn't have him for a big part of the season, the part where we struggled the most.”
Forward Danny Green also faced minute restrictions, along with the change at the point guard position, as Gregg Popovich gave the keys to young Dejounte Murray, sending Parker, a staple as the team's floor general, to the bench.
The Spurs have been known for their stability for the past two decades and this season was anything but steady, forcing Popovich to constantly adapt to circumstances and still manage to make the postseason for a 21st straight season — an enormous feat in its own.
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