When the NBA playoffs kick-off, it will be the first time since 1997 that San Antonio Spurs won’t be part of the postseason. With a 118-12 loss to Utah Jazz on Thursday, Spurs fell to No. 11 seed in Western Conference and lost all chances to even make the play-in tournament.
Spurs entered the Orlando bubble without several key players, including All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge, but still managed to put up a good fight thanks to standout young players like Derrick White. They went 5-3 in eight restart games, but that wasn’t enough to keep the 22-season playoff streak alive.
“I don’t have any thoughts, it doesn’t enter my mind,” said Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich after the game against Jazz. “Did you talk about the streak at all before it ended, or was it just important when it ended.”
San Antonio Spurs last missed the playoffs during the 1996/97. The season after, Popovich’s first full season as the head coach, franchise drafted Hall of Famer Tim Duncan, and one of the most dominating spells in the history of NBA kicked off.
Since then, Spurs averaged 57-25 record with .700 win percentage in the regular season while making six NBA finals and winning five championships in 22 postseason trips.
The 22 consecutive playoff appearances by San Antonio are the most in the history of NBA. The only franchise that matched this are Philadelphia 76ers, who also had a 22-season playoff streak from 1950 to 1971. It’s important to note that 76ers’ first 14 playoff seasons came when they were Syracuse Nationals.
