the five biggest shots in Spurs history

I have been thinking for a day about where Brent Barry's shot ranks in modern Spurs history. Modern being since 1986 when we moved to San Antonio.

Here are the biggest shots in the last 20 years in Spurs history, according to me:

5. Avery Johnson hits the game winner to clinch the 1999 NBA title. This would rank much higher - after all, it is their first title - but the Spurs clearly outclassed the Knicks that season. And losing game five would have just meant we would have partied here instead of watching them cry there. (Which brings up an interesting point. I always like it best when the Spurs clinch on the road. This is especially true when playing a hated team like the Lakers. What could top all of those celebrities leaving the Forum bawling like babies? We can have a parade in our town a couple of days later and do all the celebrating we need to. Winning at home deprives us of watching the other team and its fans having their spirits' crushed. Am I alone in this?)

4. Willie Anderson to David Robinson for a 50-foot alley-oop in the regular season finale in 1990 against Phoenix. Robinson's rookie year, winning this game won the Midwest Division by a game over the Utah Jazz and completed the best turnaround in NBA history. The game was nip and tuck throughout. Nervous fans are watching this game and the Utah game. The Spurs edged out a bit, and then this play was simply amazing. Hemisfair Arena was the loudest I ever experienced it, and the party was on. We won't talk about the Rod Strickland no-look pass to no-player in game seven of the Western Conference semifinals. This is the play within the game within the season that put the Spurs back on the map in the NBA.

3. Tim Duncan over Shaq in game five of the 2004 Western Conference Semifinals. This is the shot that should have put Timmy in the pantheon of all-timers. Series tied two games each. The winner of this game is all but certain to go to the Finals as the lowly Wolves await in the Western Conference Finals. The Spurs would have put Bowen on Cassell in that series and it would have been all she wrote. Duncan hits an 18-footer fading left with .4 seconds left to give the Spurs a one point lead. We won't talk about what happened next.

2. Memorial Day Miracle. This shot by Sean Elliott finishes a ridiculous comeback in game two of the 1999 Western Conference Finals and was such a gut-punch to the Blazers that they never recovered. It was a remarkable design, and the degree of difficulty of the shot was very high. Sean is on his toes to shoot, and had his heels come down, they would have been out of bounds. Never mind the fact that he is playing knowing that he is months away from having to either go on dialysis or get a kidney transplant.

1. Robert Horry wins game five of NBA finals last year. Bottom line, this shot is the difference between winning a championship and not winning a championship. After being embarrassed in games three and four, losing five would have forced the Spurs to win games six and seven both. And even with the momentum of winning game five and the emotional high, they couldn't win game six. The whole game five fourth quarter should be included here, I think, with several threes and the dunk out of nowhere for Horry. Put it all together, and this shot is the greatest of all time.

So, all in all, Barry makes the top ten but not the top five.

And as my brother pointed out earlier, both of the top two were three's made right in the mug of Rasheed Wallace. I lost whatever sliver of respect I had for the Wallace brothers when they didn't turn over the championship belts after the Spurs won last season. It is why the Pistons won't win this championship. Bad karma. They have three whole seasons with no injuries, and someone will go down in the Eastern Finals and they will be bounced. Just one man's prediction.