SAN ANTONIO – The Spurs' streak of 18 consecutive regular seasons of 50 or more wins was snapped Tuesday night in their loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
The streak started in the 1997-98 season to coincide with Tim Duncan’s first year with franchise.
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Despite the streak’s impressive and historic nature, Spurs guard Manu Ginobili was in no mood after Tuesday night’s game to reflect on the consecutive winning seasons with San Antonio in a tight playoff race.
“The most ridiculous thing. I don’t care at all. We want to make it to the playoffs,” Ginobili told reporters after the game. “If we won 50, 49, 81, nobody gives a damn. The important thing is to play well, get into a good position to go into the playoffs and try to win a championship.”
ESPN NBA Associate Editor Lawrence Murray shared video of Ginobili’s postgame comments on Twitter.
Yeah, so Manu Ginobili dunked all over that 50-win season streak and any other arbitrary stat you could come up with. "Nobody gives a damn." He just wants to make it to the playoffs. pic.twitter.com/GDaDbfPyX6
— Law Murray 😮 (@LawMurrayTheNU) April 4, 2018
The Spurs had just allowed Los Angeles to come back from an 11-point deficit early in the fourth quarter and dropped to 45-33, which leaves them fifth in the Western Conference standings.
The streak represents a model of consistency that can be rarely matched in any professional sport, but it’s been a challenging season for San Antonio.
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Injuries have plagued the Spurs and the Kawhi Leonard saga has lingered all year with no official timetable for him to return, if at all this season.
Four games remain in the regular season and the Spurs have still not clinched a playoff berth. That streak, which is currently at 20 seasons, is the primary focus for the team right now.