Only Duncan’s no longDetroit Lions Hatser able to exact revenge on the Spurs’ honor. San Antonio is down 3-1 to the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies, and this feels far less like an upset and far more like an inevitability. The Spurs reconstructed themselves to play faster, freer and far less dependent on Duncan. They had no choice, but San Antonio suddenly seems far more constructed for the long run of the regular season than the grind of the playoffs. Spurs owner Peter Holt always insisted: The Spurs are going down with Tim Duncan. One year ago this week, Texas Rangers hatsHolt watched the Spurs sputter through Houston Texans Hatmost of the regular season, cling to the seventh seed and still beat an old rival, the Dallas Mavericks, in the first round of the playoffs. It was a magnificent victory, validating for the Gregg Popovich and RC Buford regime because it convinced them they were justified in staying with the program. “We looked at the history of all this, and asked, ‘Should we try this or not?’ ” Holt told me. “And we realized – it’s worth it. Let’s keep doing it – transitioning without crashing. That’s what we’re trying to do, but also our goal is to win a championship this year so we said, ‘Let’s go after it again.’ ” The thirty-something Spurs had won again. Denver Broncos HatsOnly, they would get swept in the conference semifinals by the Phoenix Suns. Almost a year later, the Spurs have won 61 regular-season games, and it feels so much like a mirage. This isn’Washington Nationals hatst to say this series is over,Toronto Blue Jays hats because the Spurs have too much pride, too much invested. It isn’t your eyes that don’t want to count out the Spurs, but a sense. It isn’t logical, but much, much more based upon emotion. The Grizzlies were the anti-Spurs for so long: a small market with a bad GM and bad owner that squandered resources and lost games at an alarming rate. No more. Popovich is out of wisecracks about the NBA needing to convene a committee to stop such trades as the Pau Gasol(notes) deal. Now, it makes sense: Marc Gasol(notes), Pau’s brother, was a keeper. The prospects kept coming to the Grizzlies, melded together, and now San Antonio gets trampled with something that feels like a perfect storm. The Grizzlies deliberately tanked the regular season’s final weeks to make sure they would get San Antonio in the opening round and Tony Allen(notes) called out Manu Gionbili for faking an elbow injury. The Spurs tried to turn those slights into fuel, but it hasn’t mattered. Whatever the Grizzlies want to do, they do. There’s dignity to a dynasty dying in basketball, no ceremony. Holt always said he would go down with Duncan, and just maybe that’s the case now for the Spurs. Through it all, your heart still tells you there’s a final stand in the Alamo City on Wednesday night, a celebration of the black and silver that won’t allow them to go down so easily to an eighth seed.

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