5 most memorable Game 7’s in Spurs history

Including their days as the Dallas Chaparrals dating back to 1967, the San Antonio Spurs have taken part in 14 Game 7s ahead of the 2026 Western Conference Finals vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder. Thirteen of those appearances have occurred since the franchise moved to the Alamo City, ten of them since they merged into the NBA from the ABA.

In ranking the five most memorable Game 7’s in Spurs history, the games that didn’t make that list include: 1969 vs. the New Orleans Buccaneers, 1974 vs. the Indiana Pacers, 1976 vs. the New Jersey Nets, 1979 vs. the Philadelphia 76ers, 1981 vs. the Los Angeles Lakers, 2008 vs. the New Orleans Hornets, 2014 vs. the Dallas Mavericks, 2015 vs. the Los Angeles Clippers, and 2019 vs. the Denver Nuggets.

Among those storied contests, the 2008 West Semifinals vs. the Hornets and the 2015 first round vs. the Clippers perhaps stick out most. The Spurs were defending champions both years, but couldn’t repeat (the Lakers beat them in 2008). Not to mention, eventual Spur Chris Paul was on the opposing side in both series; he hit a series-clinching bucket in the latter to send San Antonio home.

5. 1979 Eastern Conference Finals vs. the Washington Bullets

The first true heartbreak in Spurs history. George Gervin led them to a 3-1 series lead against a defending champion Washington Bullets squad led by Elvin Hayes, Wes Unseld, and Bob Dandridge in the East Finals. But four-point and two-point losses in Landover, Maryland, sandwiched a Washington win in San Antonio to seal the Spurs’ fate. A controversial non-out-of-bounds call that went in favor of the Bullets in Game 7 added to the woes of a franchise that would not make the NBA Finals for 20 more years.

4. 1990 Western Conference Semifinals vs. the Portland Trail Blazers

Like the 1979 conference finals, this series set an unfortunate tone for the organization. Defined throughout the 90s by playoff disappointments, it started in the second round of the decade’s first year. Featuring a rookie David Robinson and an overhauled roster, the Spurs capped the then-greatest single-season turnaround in NBA history with a battle that went the distance vs. the Portland Trail Blazers. After losing a seven-point lead with just over two minutes left in regulation of Game 7, guard Rookie Strickland threw an ill-advised over-the-shoulder pass in the waning moments of overtime. It led to a turnover, Portland points, and the eventual loss. With the exception of 1995, the Spurs wouldn’t enjoy a longer season until their first NBA championship in 1999.

3. 2006 Western Conference Semifinals vs. the Dallas Mavericks

As with the aforementioned 2008 and 2015 series, 2006 marked the defense of a Spurs championship. Similar result. In a battle of 60-win teams – like this year’s West Finals – the Spurs rallied from a 3-1 series deficit and a 20-point hole in Game 7, but a Manu Ginobili foul on a Dirk Nowitzki basket in the waning seconds with San Antonio up three essentially sealed their fate in overtime. Like with the previous two series in this Top-5, the team that beat the Spurs represented the conference in the NBA Finals.

2. 2005 NBA Finals vs. the Detroit Pistons

While this ranks one among the most fondly remembered Game 7’s in South Texas, it sits here overall. The Spurs earned their third title in franchise history – in a span of seven seasons – by outlasting the defending champion Detroit Pistons. Following a historic Game 5 in which Robert Horry hit a 3-pointer in overtime that propelled the Silver and Black to a 3-2 series lead, Rasheed Wallace, Chauncey Billups, and company responded in Game 6. Down most of the way to the Pistons in Game 7, the Spurs trailed going into the fourth quarter before Ginobili and Tim Duncan took over in an 81-74 victory. When you include Tony Parker, 2005 represented the title in which the Spurs “Big 3” were closest to their primes together.

1. 2013 NBA Finals vs. the Miami Heat

One of the most notable Finals in recent memory, if not all of NBA history. Up ten points in the final period and, more hauntingly, up five with a shade under 30 seconds remaining in Game 6 vs. the Miami Heat, Ray Allen’s eventual corner 3-pointer dashed the Spurs’ hope of a fifth Larry O’Brien trophy in 2013. San Antonio would get another shot two nights later, but Lebron James, who rallied Miami in the fourth quarter of Game 6, put up 37 points in one of the defining moments of his legendary career. The Spurs would avenge the setback a year later against the same Heat team to claim their fifth trophy. But it alluded them in a series that ranks as the franchise’s greatest heartbreak.

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