Although they finished January with 10 wins and 5 losses, they had already lost to the defending Champions San Antonio Spurs twice, twice to the Phoenix Suns, and in a nationally televised broadcast lost by 36 points to their eventual opponent in the 2006 NBA Finals the Dallas Mavericks.

Although there was some initial skepticism in league circles regarding the potential success and talent levels of the incoming ABA teams, the Spurs would prove worthy of NBA inclusion during the 1976 – 77 season with a record of 44 – 38, good for a tie for fourth place overall in the Eastern Conference.

Although drafted in 1987, the Spurs would have to wait until the 1989 – 90 season to see Robinson actually play, due to a two-year commitment he had to serve with the United States Navy.

Although there was speculation that Robinson might choose not to sign with the Spurs and to become a free agent once his Navy commitment ended, Robinson decided in the end to come to San Antonio.

Although the 1988 – 89 season was the second-worst in Spurs history at 21 – 61, it was notable for several reasons.

Although the 1996 – 97 season was not successful on the court for the Spurs, the offseason proved to be the opposite.

Although the Spurs avoided any major deals, they still made a mid-season trade to acquire Kurt Thomas from Seattle.

Although Duncan produced career-lows in points and rebounds per game, the Spurs ended the regular season as the first seed in the West for the 2011 NBA Playoffs, and were second in the league ( to Chicago ).

Although the Lakers had won the championship, a lot of drama had unfolded behind the scenes between Rice, Phil Jackson ( head coach ), and Jerry West ( GM ) of the Los Angeles Lakers in the time between getting swept by the Spurs and the eventual championship.

Although the Alamodome was still relatively new ( opening in 1993 ), it had become clear over the years that the Spurs were using it for most of the year, making it difficult to schedule contiguous dates for conventions or even a regular-season football schedule.

Although it was designed with the Spurs in mind, the Spurs and their fans grew increasingly dissatisfied with the facility because of its poor sight lines and cavernous feel.

Although Spurs finished in only 11th, he enjoyed 33 league outings and scored five times.

Although the Celtics had the second worst record in the 1996-97 season and the best odds ( 36 percent ) of winning the lottery with two picks, the Spurs, usually a model of winning and consistency, lost David Robinson to an injury early in the season and finished with the third worst record, subsequently winning the lottery.

Although well appreciated by fans for his hard work and honest contribution, the strengthening of the Spurs midfield under Martin Jol threatened Brown's position in the team with signings like Edgar Davids, Hossam Ghaly and Danny Murphy adding competition for places with Michael Carrick and Jermaine Jenas already at the club.

Although Baltimore had the best overall record in the AL East in 1981, they finished second in each half.

Although the concept was proven sound and the 500 megawatt engine finished a successful test run in 1961, no airworthy device was ever completed.

Although they had their best season in decades at 92 – 70, they lost key games against the Mets and finished the season a disappointing eight games out of first place while the Mets exploded past them by winning 39 of their last 50 games.

Although the Cowboys finished the 1989 season with a 1 – 15 record, their worst in almost 30 years, " The Trade " later allowed Dallas to draft a number of impact players to rebuild the team.

Although they finished second in the conference to the San Jose Sharks, the Wings became the first team in NHL history to top 100 points in nine straight seasons.

Although finished in August 1927, the film was not released until June 1928.

Although Ben-Gurion had told the audience that he was reading from the scroll of independence, he was actually reading from handwritten notes because only the bottom part of the scroll had been finished by artist and calligrapher Otte Wallish by the time of the declaration ( he did not complete the entire document until June ).

Although not certain, it has been believed that during a 40 year period of the Third Dynasty, Imhotep influenced and was the ultimate master builder of numerous other projects which have been finished.

Although he enjoyed the civil engineering curriculum at the academy and did well in mathematics, his poor drawing skills hampered his engineering studies, and he finished 29th in that discipline.

Although Moss finished ahead, Brabham sees the race as a turning point, proving that he could compete at this level.

Although the Liberals had successfully led Paraguay's occupation of nearly all the disputed territory and had won the war when the last truce went into effect, they were finished politically.

Although most of the work had been carried out by 1860, construction was not finished until a decade afterwards.

Although the team only finished 14 games above. 500, they won 16 more games than the previous season.

Although Pittsburgh's " Steel Curtain " defense had some new starters this season, such as linemen John Banaszak and Steve Furness, and defensive back Tony Dungy, they finished No. 1 in fewest points allowed ( 195 ) second in the league against the run ( allowing 107. 8 yards per game ) and ranked third in fewest total yards allowed ( 4, 529 ).

Although the Cowboys finished the 1989 season with a 1-15 record, their worst record since the team's inception, the foundations for the Cowboys ' return to glory had been set.

Although the Tories had won the most votes, Labour finished five seats ahead of the Conservatives.

Although the work was commission by Paul ’ s predecessor, it was finished in 1541.

Although the Experimenta Nova does contain correspondence from 1665, there is no reason to doubt von Guericke's assertion that the work was essentially finished by March 1663.

Although the club could not retain the title the following year, Shearer again ended the ( now 38-game ) season as Premier League top scorer, with 31 goals in 35 games, as Blackburn finished seventh in the league.

Although he never finished this work completely, the building was built a few years later in Magdeburg, a town in eastern Germany, and opened on October 3, 2005.

Although a medal favourite at the 1995 World Championships in Athletics in Sweden, Freeman finished fourth.

Although the Rangers and Devils both finished with 82 points, the Devils had one more win, sending them to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history as the New Jersey Devils.

Although the salary cap was a blow to one of the highest spenders of the league, the Colorado Avalanche finished the 2005 – 06 regular season with a 43 – 30 – 9 record for 95 points, good enough to finish second in the Northwest Division, seven behind the Calgary Flames and tied with the Edmonton Oilers.

Although they finished with a losing record, they managed to make the playoffs for the first time since 1999.

Although scripted by Goodman Ace, it also resulted in disappointing ticket sales, and Gobel's career as a Paramount movie star came to an abrupt end.

Although the electoral results from his district were bright spots in what was otherwise a disappointing election for the Ľudáks, the party did not reward him with a legislative seat.

Although fetoscopic techniques that involve making multiple puncture wounds in the uterus are theoretically appealing to potentially mitigate maternal morbidity, clinical reports on their use are limited and the results have been disappointing, primarily because of uterine membrane problems leading to premature birth three to six weeks after the procedure and delivery before 30 weeks of gestation.

Although Fausch intended to play every game in Evansville, he chose at this point to receive a guaranteed sum from the Packers ' organization rather than risk losing more money at Bosse Field, where attendance had been disappointing.

Although he had a disappointing won-lost record ( 16 – 39 ) at Minnesota, for three years his teams led the conference with academic all-conference honors.

Although the high-performance 429 Cobra Jets were still rated at the same power as the 1970 models, Super Stock and Drag Illustrated had disappointing results from its test of a 1971 Torino Cobra.

Although the album received positive critical notice, sales were disappointing.

Although it attracted an audience it was considered disappointing by the critics because Lucille Ball was considered not up to the musical demands of the title role.

In the 1998 book The Essential James Bond, Lee Pfeiffer and Dave Worrell write: " Although OHMSS was routinely dismissed by critics who cited Lazenby as a brave but disappointing successor to Connery, the intervening years have been notably kinder to both the film and its star.

Although Davis had initially been the favourite, it was widely acknowledged that Davis's candidacy was marred by a disappointing conference speech.

Although few people expected them to stay there, 10th place in the final table was still disappointing.

Although Newcastle ( the previous season's Premier League runners-up ) endured a disappointing league campaign and finished 13th, they did reach the 1998 FA Cup Final, and Barnes went onto the field for the fifth FA Cup final of his career.

Although Wasps ' league form was disappointing, Dallaglio led them to the quarter finals of the Heineken Cup and to a second successive Tetley's Bitter Cup victory.

Although Milan lost the Serie A title in 1995 — finishing a disappointing fourth — Capello signed off from his six-year stint with the Rossoneri by regaining the league championship the following year.

Although favoured to win gold in Athens in 2004, the 8 + finished in a disappointing fifth place, well behind the USA boat, their arch-rivals leading up to the Games.

Although the two albums were critically acclaimed their sales however were disappointing by comparison to the first album.

Although he finished disappointing fifth at the 1976 Summer Olympics, he won both World Cup and European Cup in 1977.

Although it won an Oscar nomination for Garland, box office receipts proved disappointing.

Although the Bears finished with a disappointing 5 – 11 record, Urlacher received a number of individual accolades for his performance during the season.

Although England had a relatively disappointing Euro 2012 campaign, some viewed the partnership of Parker and Gerrard as one of the positives.

Although ratings were decent initially, the station's overall performance was disappointing.

Although a disappointing loss to UCLA at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum opened the season, the Huskers finished with a 9 – 2 – 1 record.

Although based on the E46 BMW 3 Series platform and drivetrain, the X3 3. 0i disappointing in acceleration and handling compared to the BMW 330xi sedan ( which weighed 100 pounds less ), while cargo capacity was at best comparable to the BMW 325xi wagon which was less expensive and have better driving dynamics.