SAN ANTONIO — Gregg Popovich’s “I want some nasty!” is fast becoming the catchphrase of the NBA playoffs. It’s eminently quotable, brash and an overnight splash.
SAN ANTONIO — Gregg Popovich’s “I want some nasty!” is fast becoming the catchphrase of the NBA playoffs. It’s eminently quotable, brash and an overnight splash.
In other words, it’s everything the San Antonio Spurs are not.
They’ve also heard far worse in timeouts from the NBA Coach of the Year, who bellowed his now-famous and fuming marching orders that jumpstarted a fourth-quarter rally, extended a history-matching winning streak to 19 and left the Oklahoma City Thunder stunned heading into Game 2 of the Western Conference finals today.
“You’ve got to watch Pop — he’s good at turning that microphone on and off,” Spurs forward Stephen Jackson said Monday. “You don’t hear some of the stuff he says.”
All the Thunder mostly heard Monday were questions about their costly collapse down the stretch.
Oklahoma City started the fourth quarter leading — a rare feat against the Spurs in the past 47 days, which is how long it’s been since their last loss. Going up 2-0 would put the Spurs among just three others teams in NBA history with winning streaks of 20 games or longer.
It would also break the record for longest winning streak extended in the playoffs, a mark the Spurs now share with the 2001 Lakers.
“We really don’t care,” guard Manu Ginobili said. “We are close — seven games — from accomplishing something way better than a streak. (The streak) is happening, it’s fine. But we always think about next time and how tough it’s going to be.”
It’s the first time the Thunder have trailed in a playoff series since being down 1-0 in the West finals last season. They answered with a Game 2 win in Dallas then had their season quickly spiral to an end with three straight losses.