2003 NBA Finals
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| Dates: | June 4–15 | |||||||||
| MVP: | Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs) |
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| Television: | ABC (U.S.) | |||||||||
| Announcers: | Brad Nessler, Bill Walton and Tom Tolbert | |||||||||
| Radio network: | ESPN | |||||||||
| Announcers: | Brent Musburger and Jack Ramsay | |||||||||
| Referees: | ||||||||||
| Game 1: Dick Bavetta, Joe Crawford, Joe DeRosa | ||||||||||
| Game 2: Dan Crawford, Bob Delaney, Bennett Salvatore | ||||||||||
| Game 3: Ron Garretson, Steve Javie, Jack Nies | ||||||||||
| Game 4: Mike Callahan, Bernie Fryer, Eddie F. Rush | ||||||||||
| Game 5: Dick Bavetta, Joe Crawford, Bennett Salvatore | ||||||||||
| Game 6: Dan Crawford, Bob Delaney, Ron Garretson | ||||||||||
| Hall of Famers: | David Robinson (2009) | |||||||||
| Eastern Finals: | Nets defeated Pistons, 4-0 | |||||||||
| Western Finals: | Spurs defeated Mavericks, 4-2 | |||||||||
| NBA Finals | ||||||||||
The 2003 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 2002–03 NBA season. The San Antonio Spurs of the Western Conference took on the New Jersey Nets of the Eastern Conference for the title, with the Spurs holding home court advantage. The series was played under a best-of-seven format. The Spurs won the series 4 games to 2. Spurs Forward Tim Duncan was named the Most Valuable Player of the championship series.
Television: ABC (Brad Nessler, Bill Walton, and Tom Tolbert announcing)
The 2003 Finals documentary was narrated by Rodd Houston, who later narrated three other NBA Finals series.
Contents |
Background []
The 2002-03 season had already started as a memorable one for the San Antonio Spurs as it was the team's first season in their new arena, SBC Center. However, as this season was one of beginnings, it was also one of endings. During the season, Spurs star David Robinson announced that this season would be his last. The NBA Finals also marked the end of Steve Kerr's career as well - he was on the Spurs, having already won three titles with the Chicago Bulls.
Over the last few seasons, injuries had slowed down Robinson's productivity to the point where he missed 18 games in his final season while averaging only 8.5 points per game. Nevertheless, Robinson would retire holding Spurs franchise career records in points, rebounds, steals and blocks. The Spurs had a very successful season, finishing 60-22, tying for the best record in the NBA that year.
The playoffs started off shaky for the Spurs as they lost game 1 of the first-round series against the Phoenix Suns in overtime. However the Spurs would bounce back to take the series in 6 games. The second round put the Spurs face-to-face with the three-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers. After splitting the first four games, the Spurs eked out a win in game 5, benefitting from a rare last-second in-and-out miss from the Lakers' clutch-shooter Robert Horry (who would help the Spurs win a title two years later). The Spurs would eventually dispose of the Lakers in Game 6, ending the Lakers' championship run. In the Conference Finals, the Spurs would face their in-state nemesis the Dallas Mavericks. The Spurs would start off slow again, losing Game 1 by 3 points, but would take control of the series from there, taking the next three straight. After losing Game 5 at home 103-91, the Spurs would come from 15 points down in the fourth quarter in Game 6 as Steve Kerr buried four 3-pointers in a row to take the series in six games with a 90-78 win in Dallas, advancing to their second NBA Finals in franchise history.
In the meantime the New Jersey Nets, who lost to the Lakers in the Finals the previous year, were out to prove that they were serious title contenders, despite the lack of competition in the Eastern Conference. The Nets would finish the regular season 49-33, good enough to win the Atlantic Division and clinch the number 2 seed in the East. After splitting the first four games with the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, the Nets would take complete control, winning the series in 6 games. From then on, the Nets had no trouble making a return to the NBA Finals, sweeping the Boston Celtics and the Detroit Pistons to win their second straight Eastern Conference championship.
2003 NBA Playoffs []
Road to the Finals []
| San Antonio Spurs (Western Conference Champion) | New Jersey Nets (Eastern Conference Champion) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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1st seed in the West, best league record |
Regular season |
2nd seed in the East, 8th best league record |
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| Defeated the (8) Phoenix Suns, 4–2 | First Round | Defeated the (7) Milwaukee Bucks, 4–2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Defeated the (5) Los Angeles Lakers, 4–2 | Conference Semifinals | Defeated the (6) Boston Celtics, 4–0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Defeated the (2) Dallas Mavericks, 4–2 | Conference Finals | Defeated the (1) Detroit Pistons, 4–0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Regular season series []
Both teams split the two meetings, each won by the home team:
| November 13, 2002 | San Antonio Spurs 82, New Jersey Nets 91 | Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey | ||||
| March 6, 2003 | New Jersey Nets 78, San Antonio Spurs 92 | SBC Center, San Antonio, Texas | ||||
Series summary []
| Game | Date | Home Team | Result | Road Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game 1 | Wednesday, June 4 | San Antonio Spurs | 101-89 (1-0) | New Jersey Nets |
| Game 2 | Friday, June 6 | San Antonio Spurs | 85-87 (1-1) | New Jersey Nets |
| Game 3 | Sunday, June 8 | New Jersey Nets | 79-84 (1-2) | San Antonio Spurs |
| Game 4 | Wednesday, June 11 | New Jersey Nets | 77-76 (2-2) | San Antonio Spurs |
| Game 5 | Friday, June 13 | New Jersey Nets | 83-93 (2-3) | San Antonio Spurs |
| Game 6 | Sunday, June 15 | San Antonio Spurs | 88-77 (4-2) | New Jersey Nets |
The Finals were played using a 2-3-2 site format, where the first two and last two games are held at the team with home court advantage. The NBA, after experimenting in the early years, restored this original format for the Finals in 1985. So far, the other playoff series are still running on a 2-2-1-1-1 site format.
Game 4 at Continental Airlines Arena was not a sellout.
This is the last Finals series to be played on a Wednesday-Friday-Sunday rotation which was used starting in 1991 when NBC began carrying the NBA. Starting with the 2004 series, all Finals are now Thursday-Sunday-Tuesday.
