Nick Gianinno
UML Contributor

When this year’s NBA season began, the Miami Heat were most people’s favorite to three-peat as champions. But with the Heat having their ups and downs and the San Antonio Spurs recently sustaining a 19 game winning streak at a crucial point in the season, the Spurs are now a favorite to win the franchise’s fifth championship.

The winning streak was a franchise record for the Spurs, a team that has won four league championships since Tim Duncan entered the league. They finished this year’s regular season with a league best record of 62-20.

Even with accomplishments like this year in and year out, the Spurs are written off each and every year for various reasons.

“They’re too old. They’re past their primes. Last year was their last chance and they blew it,” say the doubters. And each and every year they prove the critics wrong by doing one thing: winning games.
Yes, the Spurs may have blown it in Game 6 of the finals last year against the Miami Heat (thanks to another clutch Ray Allen three), but they are far from done.

Some mind-boggling statistics that sum up the Spurs dominance over the past 17 years: Since Tim Duncan entered the NBA in 1997 the Spurs have won 50 games or more in a season 16 times. Only three other franchises in NBA history (Celtics, Lakers, and Suns) are included in that category.

The best part is that the only time Duncan and company did not pass the 50 win plateau was during a lockout shortened season in 1999 in which they won the NBA championship. Astonishing.

On top of that, Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich have compiled the most playoff wins by a player-coach combo in NBA history. There is nothing to suggest that trend stopping in 2014.

In fact, Duncan, who turns 38 later this month, is nearly averaging a double double (15 points per game, 9.7 rebounds per games) this season in just under 30 minutes of playing time per game.
So what makes this year’s Spurs team so special? The same thing that has made them special for the past 17 years.

They have arguably the best player-coach combo in NBA history in Gregg Popovich and Duncan. They have a core group of guys that have been together for over 10 years in Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobli.

They have chemistry on both offense and defense. They trust each other and they play with a style that is not flashy or necessarily entertaining to watch, yet extremely effective. They have experience on the biggest stage and simply put, they know how to win games.

The Spurs quest for a fifth championship is underway as they play the Dallas Mavericks in their first round playoff matchup.