For the first two quarters of play, the San Antonio Spurs played mostly uninspired basketball, appearing to be content with splitting the home-to-home with the Denver Nuggets. The Spurs found themselves down 14 at the half, and a blowout loss on the road seemed inevitable. Then, in a surprising twist that would have made M. Night Shyamalan proud, the Spurs came out after the half full of grit and energy. It must have surprised the Nuggets as well, as their offense was stifled by the Spurs’ suffocating defense.
Unfortunately, the ferocious comeback fell short due to poor officiating, a flurry of missed free throws by the Spurs, and an ATO play so obvious that my intramural basketball coach would have seen it coming.