Gregg Popovich is 5-0 against Mike D’Antoni in the playoffs

The San Antonio Spurs eliminated the Houston Rockets from playoff contention with a convincing 114-75 victory in Game 6 on Thursday. It was yet another can of whoop-ass that Gregg Popovich has opened up on Mike D’Antoni.

Popovich does not like losing in the playoffs, especially against the offensive mastermind of basketball. In fact, after this 4-2 series win over Houston, Pop is now 5-0 in playoff series against the Italian-American head coach, amassing a 20-6 postseason record versus the now-Rockets maestro.

His dominance over D’Antoni is yet another reminder that we’re not just dealing with any head coach in San Antonio: Popovich is in a class of his own.

The losses first started in 2005. D’Antoni had an MVP in Steve Nash alongside Amar’e Stoudemire, Shawn Marion, and Joe Johnson. That team was enough to get past the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round and the Dallas Mavericks in the second.

But Pop wasn’t playing any of that Seven Seconds of Less stuff. His Spurs dispatched Phoenix in five games with a core three whose names you’re familiar with: Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili. They went on to win the championship that season.

The Suns and Spurs would butt heads again in 2007 and 2008 with no difference in outcome. Phoenix lost Joe Johnson but added Raja Bell, Leandro Barbosa, and Boris Diaw in ‘07. The next season, they even tried adding the Big Fella himself, Shaquille O’Neal, to the lineup.

It didn’t matter. Pop re-upped as well, adding Michael Finley, Brent Barry, and Kurt Thomas to the rotation. San Antonio won another ring in ‘07 and eliminated the Suns in five games in ‘08 before losing to the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.

Pop and D’Antoni didn’t meet again until 2014, this time with new colors. Popovich was still in San Antonio — he’s never left after all these years — but D’Antoni moved on to Los Angeles, coaching a Lakers team amid heightened expectations. He should have known back then, though, that Pop doesn’t care about your expectations, only his own.

The Spurs swept the Lakers right out of the first round in a moment that sent Steve Nash into retirement, Dwight Howard out of Los Angeles, and Kobe Bryant’s senescent career into F-it mode.

And the two met again this season where, well, if you were paying attention, you know what happened. The Rockets got past Russell Westbrook and the Thunder in the first round and had every opportunity to seize control of their semifinals matchup against the Spurs. But James Harden disappeared when Houston needed him most.

San Antonio probably won’t win against a stacked Golden State Warriors team sitting on a week’s worth of rest. But the Spurs weren’t supposed to beat Houston either, especially without Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker.

They did it anyway, and that leaves one lesson: Never count out Pop.

Need proof? Go ask Mike D’Antoni.