San Antonio lost in an epic first-round matchup most expected them to win, even though they were the lower seed. The Spurs were deeper and better on defense than the Los Angeles Clippers, but for one reason or another they couldn't pull it out in Game 7.
But what if the Spurs won that series, then defeated the Houston Rockets? Could they have taken down the mighty Golden State Warriors?
Here's the San Antonio Express-News' Dan McCarney and Jeff McDonald with a closer look:
"All I can say is the '100 percent, firing-on-all-cylinders' Spurs would have been by far the toughest opponent the Warriors could have faced in the playoffs. Golden State, though clearly the best in the West this season, showed cracks on a couple of occasions during their postseason run. Between the callow New Orleans Pelicans, the broken-faced Grizzlies and a flawed Houston team that probably shouldn’t have been there in the first place, the Warriors didn’t really face a team capable of pushing them over the edge the way the Spurs’ A-game could have."
San Antonio was arguably the second best team in the playoffs, and would've finished with the proper seed had they defeated the New Orleans Pelicans in their regular-season finale. But they didn't, were slotted against a tough Clippers team and suffered the consequences.
Who knows if they would give the Warriors a run for their money? But it's tough to argue they would've been the toughest opponent, by a long shot.
(h/t: San Antonio Express-News)
Photo Credit: Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports
