There’s a strangely tense feel in the lead-up to this Game 7 — not that the win-or-go-home stakes of nights like these aren’t normally tense. San Antonio’s been to two straight finals and three consecutive conference finals, and the dominance with which they ended the LeBron James era in Miami should be icing on the magnificent cake that has been the Tim Duncan, Gregg Popovich era. Repeat or no, the Spurs dynasty has placed itself into the pantheon of greatest ever, and whatever happens next is just gravy.
But that’s why this anxiety is more than just the idea of a season ending.