Mental toughness is perhaps the most talked about intangible in all of sports. It is often disguised as something like “clutch gene” or hidden in a discussion about why LeBron James passed the ball instead of taking the last shot, but it’s all the same idea: When something goes wrong, we want to find a way to make the errors and screw-ups on the court about something much bigger than a missed shot or an errant pass.
But as much as the conversation about an athlete’s mental toughness has run its course, there is no denying what a profound impact that resolute resolve can have for a player. An unrelenting belief in yourself and your team keeps you composed when you’re pushed to the brink, it keeps you calm when things start going the other way and it restores faith when things are looking bleak. At the end of the day, talent will always trump all in sports, but when you’ve got two evenly matched teams, the one that succeeds is usually the one that is steadfastly bonded together.
The San Antonio Spurs were living proof of this Saturday night, as they put on a collective display of mental fortitude in Game 6 of the 2014 Western Conference finals that will live forever in Tim Duncan-Gregg Popovich era lore. They entered the night with the tough task of winning their first road game against the Thunder in their past 10 tries in order to make it to back to the NBA Finals, and came out of the locker room at halftime with a seven point deficit and news that their starting point guard was out for the game.
The adversity was building up as quickly as Oklahoma City’s confidence was. When Cory Joseph, who had played zero real minutes in this series prior to Saturday night, threw off his warm-ups and took the floor with the rest of San Antonio’s starters in the second half, a trip back to San Antonio for Game 7 seemed inevitable.
But the Spurs never believed that they were out of it. They never let the tribulations shake their belief. The Spurs came out of the locker room, knowing their best player was out for the night, and wreaked havoc on the Thunder, going on a 15-2 run to turn the game around, ultimately winning the period by a score of 37-20. Joseph attacked, Manu Ginobili moved the ball, Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green were unreal defensively. San Antonio did the unthinkable, brushing off Parker’s absence as if he was some run-of-the-mill rotation player and establishing control in the most hostile environment in the league.
Of course, making confidence killing runs in their home building has become a calling card for the Thunder. Seemingly no deficit is too big when the Thunder has a quarter to work with their crowd behind them. Oklahoma City came all the way back to tie the game in the final minute of regulation behind stellar work on both ends.
And then came another backbreaking moment for the Spurs. With 47 seconds left and the game tied at 97, Ginobili flipped up a shot from right under the rim, only to have Ibaka erase it off the backboard. It was clearly goaltending, but the referees didn’t see it that way, and they didn’t call it on the floor, which meant reviewing the play wasn’t an option.
Kevin Durant quickly followed that officiating mistake with a lay-in at the other end, giving the Thunder their first lead of the fourth quarter with 32 seconds left. San Antonio was in yet another predicament in which counting them out would have been an incredibly reasonable thing to do.
But there was Ginobili, setting the universe right, nailing a gutty 3-pointer off a pin-down screen from Duncan to put the Spurs on top. It wouldn’t end up deciding the game, but without Ginobili’s shot, the Spurs wouldn’t have made it to overtime. And without overtime, Duncan wouldn’t have been able to put the dagger in the Thunder that he came oh so close to puncturing the Heat with one year ago.
Duncan was sublime in the overtime period. Even though San Antonio was having some success picking Oklahoma City apart with their ball movement, Popovich put all of his eggs in Duncan’s basket, calling a series of post-ups for the 16-year veteran. Duncan was in rare form, taking Ibaka to school with a series of moves, drawing a couple of fouls and fooling Ibaka on an up-and-under. Then came the shot that calmed the storm for good.
It was eerily similar to his Game 7 shot over Shane Battier in the 2013 Finals, the miss that will haunt him for the rest of his life. With 25 seconds left, Duncan caught the ball on the left block with the much smaller Reggie Jackson on him. He took a dribble towards the middle of the paint, spun back towards the baseline and put up a right-handed flip shot that rolled in off the back iron for the game-clinching basket.
Game 6 was a microcosm of many things for the Spurs. It was reminiscent of the way they came back in this series following the return of Serge Ibaka, the way they responded to two blowout losses in Oklahoma City that brought back memories of 2012. And in the macro, it reminded us of just how unbelievable it is that the Spurs are right back where they were last season, in the Finals with a chance to dethrone the Miami Heat. After losing last year’s in absolutely devastating fashion, San Antonio regrouped and had an even better season, and they are stronger because of it.
Much like the way they kept it together in Game 6 after their best player went down, the Spurs have fought back from what stands as the sole black mark on Duncan and Popovich’s immaculate record. And now they are in a position to turn that black mark into a fifth silver and black banner. The one they so rightfully deserve.