Tim Duncan: Spurs ‘happy’ to face Heat in 2014 NBA Finals
San Antonio had the Miami Heat on the ropes in Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals, but after losing they’ve used it as motivation to earn a rematch.
Kevin C. Cox
Everyone knows how the yellow tape was out. The champagne was probably on ice too, but the San Antonio Spurs didn't get to sip it after Ray Allen's miraculous three-point make in Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals.
Everyone knows how the Spurs lost Game 7 in Miami as well, and everyone knows -- by watching 62 regular season wins -- that Gregg Popovich's crew was set on getting back to the finals in 2014. They've done it, and they're openly glad it's going to be a rematch against the Heat, as Sam Amick from USA Today reports:
"We're happy to be back here this year," Tim Duncan told USA Today. "We're happy to have another opportunity at it. We're happy that it's the Heat again. We'll be ready for them. We've got some experience, obviously, from last year against them. And we'll go back and look at some film. ... We've got that bad taste in our mouths still. Hopefully, we'll be ready to take it this time."
The usually stoic Spurs haven’t stowed their emotions away this season, and Popovich especially has done little to brush last year’s loss aside. Popovich told Amick in January that the pain would be ever more present when visiting the Heat for a regular season game.
The Spurs’ coach hoped that the memories of the loss wouldn’t run through his mind every day. If he had learned to filter those thoughts out since, it doesn’t matter anymore. Popovich and his players will be thinking of last year’s painful moments against the Heat until the 2014 Finals are decided.
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