1997–98 San Antonio Spurs season

1997–98 San Antonio Spurs season
Tim Duncan's rookie season
Head coach	Gregg Popovich
Owner(s)	Peter Holt
Arena	Alamodome
Results
Record	56–26 (.683)
Place	Division: 2nd (Midwest) Conference: 4th (Western)
Playoff finish	West Semifinals (eliminated 1–4)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	Fox Sports Southwest, KRRT
Radio	KRIO

The 1997–98 San Antonio Spurs season was the 31st as a franchise, the 25th in San Antonio, and the 22nd season in the National Basketball Association (NBA).^[1] After finishing with the third-worst record in 1996–97, the Spurs won the 1997 NBA Draft Lottery, dubbed as the “Tim Duncan sweepstakes.”^[2] The Spurs finished second in the Midwest Division with a 56–26 record. In the playoffs, the Spurs defeated the Phoenix Suns 3-1 in the Western Conference First Round, but lost 4-1 to the Utah Jazz in the semifinals.

NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	1	Tim Duncan	PF/C	United States Virgin Islands	Wake Forest

Roster

San Antonio Spurs roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From SF 9 Burton, Willie 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Minnesota SG 15 Del Negro, Vinny 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) North Carolina State PF 21 Duncan, Tim 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Wake Forest SF 32 Elliott, Sean  6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Arizona PG 4 Geary, Reggie 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 187 lb (85 kg) Arizona PF 7 Herrera, Carl 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Houston SG 2 Jackson, Jaren 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Georgetown PG 6 Johnson, Avery 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Southern PF 54 Lohaus, Brad 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Iowa C 41 Perdue, Will 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Vanderbilt SF 45 Person, Chuck 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Auburn C 50 Robinson, David 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Navy PF 31 Rose, Malik 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Drexel SF 3 Williams, Monty 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Notre Dame	Head coach Gregg Popovich Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster

Regular season

Tim Duncan

The Spurs were coming off a poor 1996–97 NBA season; in which their best player, David Robinson—himself a number one draft pick in 1987—was sidelined for most of the year with an injury. The Spurs had finished with a 20–62 win-loss record.^[3] However, as the 1997-98 NBA season approached, the Spurs were considered a notable threat in the NBA. With both an experienced center in Robinson and the number one pick in Duncan, the Spurs featured one of the best frontcourts in the NBA. Duncan and Robinson became known as the "Twin Towers", having earned a reputation for their exceptional defense close to the basket, forcing opponents to take lower percentage shots from outside. From the beginning, Duncan established himself as a quality player: in his second-ever road game, he grabbed 22 rebounds against opposing Chicago Bulls power forward Dennis Rodman, a multiple rebounding champion and NBA Defensive Player of the Year.^[4] Later, when Duncan played against opposing Houston Rockets Hall-of-Fame power forward Charles Barkley, Barkley was so impressed he said: "I have seen the future and he wears number 21 [Duncan's jersey number]."^[5] In his rookie season, Duncan lived up the expectations of being the number one draft pick, starting in all 82 regular-season games, and averaging 21.1 points, 11.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.5 blocks per game. His defensive contributions ensured that he was elected to the All-Defensive Second Team and was also named NBA Rookie of the Year. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich lauded Duncan's mental toughness, stating his rookie's "demeanor was singularly remarkable", Duncan always "put things into perspective" and never got "too upbeat or too depressed."^[6] Center Robinson was equally impressed with Duncan: "He's the real thing. I'm proud of his attitude and effort. He gives all the extra effort and work and wants to become a better player."^[7]

Season standings

Midwest Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
z-Utah Jazz	62	20	.756	–	36–5	26–15	22–2
x-San Antonio Spurs	56	26	.683	6	31–10	25–16	18–6
x-Minnesota Timberwolves	45	37	.549	17	26–15	19–22	14–10
x-Houston Rockets	41	41	.500	21	24–17	17–24	14–10
Dallas Mavericks	20	62	.244	42	13–28	7–34	9–15
Vancouver Grizzlies	19	63	.232	43	14–27	5–36	4–20
Denver Nuggets	11	71	.134	51	9–32	2–39	3–21

Playoffs

West First Round

(4) Phoenix Suns vs. (5) San Antonio Spurs Last Playoff Meeting: 1996 Western Conference First Round (San Antonio won 3-1)

Game	Date	Home	Score	Visitor	Score	Record (PHO-SAS)	Venue	Box score	Television
1	April 23	Phoenix	96	San Antonio	102	0-1	America West Arena, Phoenix, Arizona	1	TNT 10:30et
2	April 25	Phoenix	108	San Antonio	101	1-1	America West Arena, Phoenix, Arizona	2	NBC 3:30et
3	April 27	San Antonio	100	Phoenix	88	1-2	Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas	3	TNT 9:30et
4	April 29	San Antonio	99	Phoenix	80	1-3	Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas	4	TBS 8:00et
San Antonio wins series 3–1

West Conference Semifinals

(1) Utah Jazz vs. (5) San Antonio Spurs Last Playoff Meeting: 1996 Western Conference Semifinals (Utah won 4-2)

Game	Date	Home	Score	Visitor	Score	Record (UTA-SAS)	Venue	Box score	Television
1	May 5	Utah	83	San Antonio	82	1-0	Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah	1	TNT 10:30et
2	May 7	Utah	109	San Antonio	106	2-0	Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah	2	TNT 10:30et
3	May 9	San Antonio	86	Utah	64	2-1	Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas	3	NBC 3:30et
4	May 10	San Antonio	73	Utah	82	3-1	Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas	4	TNT 9:00et
5	May 12	Utah	87	San Antonio	77	4-1	Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah	5	TNT 8:00et
Utah wins series 4–1

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Cory Alexander	37	3	13.5	.414	.313	.676	1.3	1.9	.7	.1	4.5
Willie Burton	13	0	3.3	.381	.333	.667	.7	.1	.2	.2	2.1
Vinny Del Negro	54	38	31.9	.441	.436	.796	2.8	3.4	.7	.1	9.5
Tim Duncan	82	82	39.1	.549	.000	.662	11.9	2.7	.7	2.5	21.1
Reggie Geary	62	2	11.0	.331	.300	.500	1.1	1.2	.6	.2	2.5
Sean Elliott	36	36	28.1	.403	.378	.718	3.4	1.7	.7	.4	9.3
Carl Herrera	58	1	8.9	.434	.000	.409	1.6	.4	.3	.2	2.9
Jaren Jackson	82	45	27.1	.394	.377	.797	2.6	1.9	.7	.1	8.8
Avery Johnson	75	73	35.7	.478	.154	.726	2.0	7.9	1.1	.2	10.2
Brad Lohaus	9	0	11.3	.333	.286	.333	1.3	.6	.1	.2	2.1
Will Perdue	79	30	18.9	.549	.	.526	6.8	.7	.3	.6	5.0
Chuck Person	61	11	23.9	.359	.344	.757	3.3	1.4	.5	.2	6.7
David Robinson	73	73	33.7	.511	.250	.735	10.6	2.7	.9	2.6	21.6
Malik Rose	53	0	8.1	.434	.333	.639	1.7	.4	.4	.1	3.0
Monty Williams	72	16	18.3	.448	.500	.670	2.5	1.2	.5	.3	6.3

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Vinny Del Negro	9	3	31.4	.481	.200	.941	2.7	3.2	.9	.	10.7
Tim Duncan	9	9	41.6	.521	.	.667	9.0	1.9	.6	2.6	20.7
Reggie Geary	7	0	6.6	.429	.250	.500	.3	.9	.1	.	1.3
Carl Herrera	5	0	5.0	.333	.	.	.8	.2	.	.	.4
Jaren Jackson	9	8	35.4	.341	.305	.737	4.3	1.6	.6	.1	10.2
Avery Johnson	9	9	38.0	.604	.	.667	1.4	6.1	1.0	.	17.3
Brad Lohaus	4	0	2.5	.	.	.	.5	.3	.3	.	.
Will Perdue	9	7	21.2	.333	.	.857	6.7	.1	.7	1.0	4.0
Chuck Person	9	0	21.8	.340	.350	1.000	3.0	.8	.4	.	5.8
David Robinson	9	9	39.2	.425	.	.635	14.1	2.6	1.2	3.3	19.4
Malik Rose	5	0	3.6	.667	.	.500	1.4	.2	.2	.	2.0
Monty Williams	5	0	5.6	.625	.	.667	1.2	.2	.	.	2.4

Award winners

• Tim Duncan, Forward, NBA Rookie of the Year
• Tim Duncan, Forward, All-NBA First Team
• Tim Duncan, Forward, All-NBA Rookie First Team
• Tim Duncan, Forward, All-NBA Second Defensive Team
• David Robinson, Center, All-NBA Second Team
• David Robinson, Center, All-NBA Second Defensive Team

References

1. 1997-98 San Antonio Spurs
2. "Spurs Win the Tim Duncan Sweepstakes". New York Times. May 19, 1997.
3. 1996-97 Standings, nba.com/history, accessed 19 April 2007.
4. Kernan, Kevin (2000). Slam Duncan. p. 47. ISBN 978-1-58261-179-2.
5. Kernan, Kevin (2000). Slam Duncan. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-58261-179-2.
6. Kernan, Kevin (2000). Slam Duncan. p. 25. ISBN 978-1-58261-179-2.
7. Kernan, Kevin (2000). Slam Duncan. p. 44. ISBN 978-1-58261-179-2.

• San Antonio Spurs on Database Basketball
• San Antonio Spurs on Basketball Reference