He would be replaced by Bob Bass, who stated that the Spurs would have an entirely new playing style: " It is my belief that you cannot throw a set offense at another professional team for 48 minutes.

The March 14, 1998, game against the Chicago Bulls set the Spurs ' current regular-season home attendance record.

The Spurs set a new NBA Finals one-game attendance record when 39, 554 fans attended Game 2 at the Alamodome.

After regaining control of the series with a 109 – 98 win in Game 5, the Spurs won the series in six games as they won the finale 105 – 83 to set up another second round " Lone-Star Showdown " with the Mavericks.

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 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.

This set up a Third Round match against Spurs of the Football League First Division at White Hart Lane on 7 January 1956.

After sweeping the Phoenix Suns 3 – 0 in the first round, Portland defeated the Utah Jazz 4 – 2 to set up a showdown with the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals.

In the 1980s Spurs won several trophies: the FA Cup twice, FA Community Shield and the UEFA Cup in 1984.

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

Throughout the season, and particularly in the playoffs, there appeared to be friction developing between Rodman and several Spurs ' teammates, most notably Robinson.

With several holes to fill in their rotation, the Spurs would make several key signings in the offseason to shore up their depth.

For example, the Scots used a spear formation known as the schiltron in several battles during the Wars of Scottish Independence including the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, and the Flemings used their geldon long spear to absorb the attack of French knights at the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302, before other troops in the Flemish formation counterattacked the stalled knights with Goedendags.

The Spurs had been an NBA power for most of the 1980s, but faltered for several years after the departure of George Gervin before crashing to the worst record in the league in 1988 – 89, Brown's first season.

Frank Saul, an FA Cup winner with Spurs, and several other players with league experience, have played for the club.

The Spurs campaigned for several years for a new facility.

McCombs ' first entry into sports came in 1972, when he joined Angelo Drossos and several other San Antonio businessmen in leasing the struggling Dallas Chaparrals of the American Basketball Association and moving them to San Antonio as the Spurs.

Early returns were promising, as Biedriņš had several games in the early season with rebounding numbers at or around double-digits while averaging around thirty minutes per game, including 20 rebounds in a November 5 victory over the Utah Jazz, 28 points and 20 rebounds in a November 26 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, and 18 rebounds in a November 30 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

The Spurs blossomed as Duncan teamed up with the 7 ' 1 " David Robinson to give them a " Twin Tower " offense and defense for several years.

Popovich is actively involved in several charities and programs in San Antonio, such as the Spurs / Pizza Hut Drug Free Youth Basketball League and the San Antonio Food Bank.

After he bounced around in Europe and in several minor leagues, playing for the Rockets in the 1986 and 1987 pre-season games and for the New Jersey Nets during the 1988 pre-season, he debuted in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs in 1989.

The NBA San Antonio Spurs mascot is " The Coyote ", as well.

The San Antonio Spurs won their first championship, and first by a former ABA team, by beating the New York Knicks, who were the first, and to this date, the only, eighth seed to ever make the NBA Finals.

* San Antonio Spurs, an NBA basketball team

Manu Ginobili from the San Antonio Spurs NBA team, has sometimes been referred to as Obi Wan Ginobili, due to his quick movements and play on the court.

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.

Derrick Rose was injured for most of the 2011 – 12 NBA season ; however, the team was still able to finish with a 50 – 16 record and clinched the first seed in the Eastern Conference for the second straight year and the best overall record in the NBA ( tied with the San Antonio Spurs ).

The team's first trip to the NBA Finals was a short one, as they were outmatched and outplayed by the very strong San Antonio Spurs, who swept the Cavs 4 – 0.

In the NBA Finals the Pistons faced the San Antonio Spurs.

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.

Nowitzki emerged as the team's leader, and with Avery Johnson coaching the team, the Mavericks would make their first NBA Finals appearance in 2006 ; along the way exacting revenge against the Spurs and defeating Steve Nash and the Suns.

The Nuggets were one of four ABA teams taken into the NBA, along with the New York Nets, San Antonio Spurs and Indiana Pacers for the 1976 – 77 NBA season.

The Spurs are one of four former American Basketball Association teams to remain intact in the NBA after the 1976 ABA-NBA merger and is the only former ABA team to have won an NBA championship.

The Spurs ' four NBA championships are the fourth most in NBA history, behind only the Boston Celtics ( 17 ), Los Angeles Lakers ( 16 ) and Chicago Bulls ( 6 ).

The Spurs ' perfect record in NBA Finals series is surpassed only by the Chicago Bulls, who have won six without a loss ; the Bulls and Spurs are the only two teams to maintain perfect records through multiple Finals series.

As of July 2009, the Spurs rank third among active franchises for the highest winning percentage in NBA history ; they have only missed the playoffs 4 times as an NBA franchise.

In their 36 NBA seasons since 1976 – 1977, the Spurs have captured 18 division titles.

San Antonio embraced the Spurs with open arms ; the Spurs drew 6, 303 fans per game, surpassing the Chaparrals ' entire total attendance in only 18 games.

The losing seasons and dwindling attendance often caused the Spurs to be mentioned as a potential candidate for relocation to another city.

The Fort Worth Cats of the Texas League moved there as the Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs, and played there for the next seven years, setting many Texas League attendance records, especially after it expanded to 20, 500 seats in 1970.

" The Spurs have consistently posted winning road records during this period, including an NBA-record longest single road trip winning streak ( 8 games out of 9, achieved in 2003 ).

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 ).

The Spurs finished with 58 – 24 records for both the 2000 – 01 and 2001 – 02 seasons but found themselves suffering playoff ousters in both seasons from the eventual NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers, getting swept from the 2001 Conference Finals and losing in five games during the 2002 second round.

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.