Spurs etch their place in NBA's history books

CLEVELAND -- If you are looking for a play that perhaps symbolizes the ice-cold versatility and knotted stubbornness of the San Antonio Spurs, it occurred in the decisive Game 4, and involved a struggling Tim Duncan.

Tim Duncan and Tony Parker are two of the best in the game. (Getty Images)

Duncan had shot the ball horribly but that didn't prevent him from making maybe the most critical play of the game and series. As Cleveland was making a furious comeback and threatened to extend the series, Duncan tipped a rebound to himself, and then tipped it again, and again, and as he fell into a first row of seats, he lobbed the scooped-up basketball safely to a teammate.

The Spurs would go on to make more plays in a frenetic fourth quarter and other San Antonio players would do the usual: hit big shots, play hard and employ their usual style of defensive nastiness and big-shot connections that enabled them to sweep the Cavaliers and sustain their dynastic greatness.

This is how good the Spurs were in their 83-82 victory over Cleveland. Despite a fourth-quarter spurt from LeBron James, the Spurs were able to turn him into a muscled-up, non-factor for all four games.

In fact, for almost three quarters, instead of James leading his team, the Cavaliers, in a must-win scenario, were being led by Drew Gooden. You read that right. Drew Gooden.

Drew Gooden, Drew Carey -- it's all the same.

Because James did nothing in this series -- he averaged about six turnovers a game and shot some 33 percent for the Finals -- the Spurs barely broke a sweat on their way to earning a spot in history as one of the NBA's great dynasties.

We do not yet know for certain if James will become Magic Johnson or if his hype is simply the result of the furious itch of novelty.

What we know for certain is that the Spurs have achieved greatness right now. They have in fact shown James how close he is, yet how far he has to go.

So these Finals were not the prettiest of games, shattering ratings and backboards all the same, and during their four-championship run in nine years the opponents were not the finest as San Antonio beat dregs of the Eastern Conference like New York, New Jersey, and now Cleveland.

But so what.

This is still a stupendous franchise for the ages that in today's anti-dynasty sports world is the model every team should follow.

San Antonio is a Spur-nasty; which is the bastard child of a dynasty. The Spurs have accomplished the basketball equivalent of a Tiger slam.