Chelsea eventually reached an FA Cup final in 1967, where they faced Tottenham Hotspur, but the team got outplayed on the day and Bonetti could do little to stop Spurs winning 2 – 1.

Having clinched the 2nd overall seed for the Western Conference in the 2008 playoffs, the Hornets beat the Dallas Mavericks in the first round but eventually lost to the defending-champion San Antonio Spurs in seven games in the conference semifinals.

Hill only lasted 18 games as coach that season, eventually being fired and replaced by Spurs General Manager Gregg Popovich, who had also served a stint under Brown as an assistant coach.

After the lockout, the Spurs signed T. J. Ford, who would eventually retire in the middle of the season after playing only 14 games due to a stinger after being elbowed by Baron Davis during a game against the New York Knicks on March 7, 2012.

The Spurs won their second back-to-back-to-back set of games against the Golden State Warriors, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Sacramento Kings, the first NBA team to ever do so, and would eventually clinch the division and conference for the second straight season.

Detroit won the next two games and the series was eventually tied at 3 – 3, but Duncan was instrumental in Game 7, recording 25 points and 11 rebounds as the Spurs defeated the Pistons.

In the NBA, John Stockton, the league's all-time leader in assists and steals, eventually became a steal with the 16th overall draft pick in 1984, and Manu Ginóbili, a key contributor to three San Antonio Spurs championships in the 2000s and centerpiece of Argentina's Olympic gold medal team in 2004, was the next-to-last pick in the 1999 draft.

With Blanchflower as captain Spurs won their first 11 games, still a record for the top flight of English football and eventually won the league by 8 points.

They eventually succumbed to the Spurs in 5 games, though Sprewell enjoyed a good series for the most part, averaging 26. 0 ppg.

Bringing the Spurs back from a 26-point half-time deficit, the Spurs eventually lost by 12 but not before making a contest of the game.

Malik had 28 points and 13 rebounds for the game ; more importantly, in spelling his big stars for the contest, he helped the Spurs eventually win a playoff series they were in jeopardy of losing.

He made his playoff debut with the Suns in 2005 who would eventually lose to the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals.

At the time it was thought that Kilcline was possibly responsible for scoring an own-goal to give Spurs a 2-1 lead on the 40 minute mark, but this goal was eventually accredited to Gary Mabbutt.

In the 2002 NBA Playoffs, Bowen started in all 10 Spurs playoffs games, where the team eventually succumbed to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Bowen's defensive style failed to help this Spurs squad repeat in the 2004 NBA Playoffs, as the team was eventually defeated 4 – 2 by the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Semi-Finals.

With influential shooting guard Manu Ginóbili out injured, the Spurs got off to a bad start to the series and eventually lost 4 – 1 against the Dallas Mavericks, bowing out of the playoffs in the first round for the first time since 2000.

The Chaparrals eventually became the San Antonio Spurs of the American Basketball Association and later of the NBA.

The victory propelled the Cavaliers to the NBA Eastern Conference Finals against the Detroit Pistons, and eventually the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs.

The play allows the team to rally back and eventually defeat the San Antonio Spurs.

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.

In the offseason, the Bulls lost B. J. Armstrong in the expansion draft, but Krause pulled off a masterful deal by trading Will Perdue to the San Antonio Spurs for the aggressive and often controversial rebounding specialist Dennis Rodman, who had won the past four rebounding titles, and who had also been a member of the Detroit Pistons ' " Bad Boys " squad that served as the Bulls ' chief nemesis in the late 1980s.

In the first NBA Finals Game 7 since 1994, the Pistons lost a hard-fought game with the Spurs, who won their third NBA championship since 1999.

In the first game at the HemisFair Arena the Spurs lost to the San Diego Conquistadors, despite attracting a noisy crowd of 6, 000 fans.

The Spurs reached the Western Conference Finals, but lost to the eventual NBA Champion Houston Rockets 4 – 2.

The Spurs lost Game 2 at home but took Games 3 and 4 in Houston.

Game 5 of the series was highlighted by the famous Dream Shake move by Hakeem Olajuwon in Game 5 at the Alamodome the Spurs lost 111 – 90 in front of 35, 000 fans and lost the series in Houston in Game 6.

The Spurs finished the next season ( 1995 – 96 ) under Hill at 59 – 23 and lost in the Western Conference semi-finals to the Jazz.

However, as the series shifted to Los Angeles, the Spurs would suddenly have trouble finding the basket, as they lost both games as the Lakers evened the series.

After the stunning loss, the Spurs traveled to Los Angeles for Game 6, where they lost the game and the series.

The Spurs lost Game 6 99 – 91 and lost the series 4 – 2.

In the month of February, the Spurs only lost two games and had an 11-game winning streak from January 30 to February 21.

In the playoffs, they defeated the Nuggets in four games, the Jazz in six, and the defending champion Spurs in five, but lost to the Celtics in six games in the NBA Finals.

However, the Spurs lost in the second round to the eventual Western Conference Champions Utah Jazz.

Duncan outscored Malone in the first two games which the Spurs lost, but as the series progressed, the more experienced Malone shut Duncan down on defense and dominated on offense, outscoring the young power forward in Games 3 to 5 18 – 10, 34 – 22 and 24 – 14 respectively.

Before the 2003 – 04 season began, the Spurs lost their perennial captain David Robinson to retirement.

In the end, the Spurs lost the series 4 – 2, and Duncan attributed the strong Lakers defense as one of the reasons for the loss.

Despite scoring 39 points in regulation time and fouling out both Dampier and Keith Van Horn, Duncan only made one of seven field goal attempts in overtime against Mavericks reserve center DeSagana Diop, and the Spurs lost Game 7.

The rumor, which was not dispelled by Brown, became a major distraction as the Pistons lost to the San Antonio Spurs in seven games in the 2005 NBA Finals.

Dallas lost in the Western Conference Semifinals four games to one to the San Antonio Spurs, but it marked the beginning of a memorable run for Nash and the Mavericks.

Since the breakup of the Chicago Bulls championship roster in the summer of 1998, the Western Conference has dominated, with the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs combining to win the title in nine of fourteen years.

The Spurs would go on to finish with a 45 – 39 record, good for 3rd place in the Western Division.

For the first few seasons of the decade, the Spurs continued their success of the 1970s with records of 52 – 30 in 1980 – 81, 48 – 34 in 1981 – 82, and 53 – 29 in 1982 – 83 ( it was during this period that the Spurs were moved to the Western Conference ).

Despite their regular season success, the Spurs were unable to win any NBA championships, losing in the Western Conference playoffs to the Houston Rockets in the first round of the 1981 and the Los Angeles Lakers in in 4 games 1982 and in 6 games in the 1983 Western Finals despite getting both wins at the Forum in the 1983 series.

The Spurs would battle all year for the top spot in the Western Conference, as they ended the season on another strong note winning their final 11 games.

With the later additions of center Nazr Mohammed from New York ( acquired in a midseason trade of Malik Rose ), and veteran forward Glenn Robinson from free agency, alongside regulars Bruce Bowen, Robert Horry, Tony Parker, Manu Ginóbili, and Tim Duncan, the Spurs would be near the top in the Western Conference all season, battling the Phoenix Suns for the best record in the NBA.

In the Western Conference Finals, the Spurs would face the Phoenix Suns, and took control early, winning the first 2 games on the road.

Once again, the Spurs would get challenged within their own division by the Dallas Mavericks as they held the two best records in the Western Conference all season, battling for first place.

With that streak, the Spurs began climbing back up in the Western Conference standings.

The Mavericks ' upset loss set the Spurs second-round series against the Phoenix Suns as the key series in the entire NBA Playoffs, as this series featured the teams with the two best records remaining in the Western Conference.

The 2007 – 2008 season saw the Spurs go 56 – 26 and finish 3rd in the Western Conference where 7 games separated all 8 playoff teams.

The Spurs and the Hornets would battle for seven hard fought games ( with New Orleans earning the upper hand throughout much of the series ), but the Spurs scrapped together a game 7 win on the road ( marking their first ever game 7 win on the road and series win after being down 0 – 2 ) to advance to the Western Conference Finals against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, where their run would come to an end after five games.

During the first game of the Western Conference Finals, the Spurs ' victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder tied the longest winning streak extending into the playoffs ( 19 games ) in NBA history.

The Spurs began their off-season after losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Western Conference Finals 4-2, and entered the 2012 NBA Draft with the second to the last pick, their only pick of the draft.

The San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Lakers, two American professional basketball teams who are members of the NBA's Western Conference, have played each other since the 1970s.

Statistically though, Duncan remained strong ; after another convincing season with averages of 22. 3 points, 12. 4 rebounds, 3. 1 assists and 2. 7 blocks, he led the Spurs into the Western Conference Semifinals.