BOSTON -- Ten years ago, after a historically painful Game 6 loss to the Miami Heat that cost them a championship after an incomprehensible Ray Allen shot, the battle-tested San Antonio Spurs were shell-shocked.
Victory party canceled, Hall of Fame coach Gregg Popovich famously took the team to an Italian restaurant and gave them wine and went player-to-player, trying to coax them through the emotions in time for Game 7. They played well but lost anyway.
Saturday night, coach Erik Spoelstra looked at the wreckage that was the Heat locker room in the wake of a similarly spirit-crushing Game 6 loss after an unbelievable Derrick White shot at the finish and quickly made a decision on what to do.