One thing that has become apparent during the Spurs’ recent run of not-much-success is many of their rivalries, both historic and relatively recent, have become dormant. The Lakers and Suns have both generally had more success than the Spurs over the last several years, and beyond anything that came from now-disgraced former Suns owner Robert Sarver or Lakers fans on Twitter trying to claim Anthony Davis is better than Tim Duncan, there hasn’t been much tension on the court when the Spurs play those teams.
On a more localized level, the Dallas Mavericks have been up and down, and while their star player Luka Doncic may seem like an easy punching bag at times with his constant smiling and whining (with little in between), it just hasn’t been the same as when someone like Jason Terry or Eduardo Najera stirred the pot in the 2000’s.