SAN ANTONIO — Late Tuesday afternoon, before the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder faced off in Game 5 of their Western Conference semifinal series, Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich was asked to describe how difficult it was to win a postseason game.
Popovich can be uncompromising in these situations. Questions he deems inane or uninteresting are dismissed with a monosyllabic retort, perplexed stare or pithy insult — sometimes all three. But this query sufficiently moved him.
“I think the best way to describe it is, if you do win a game or a series, it’s an unbelievable relief,” Popovich said.