No NBA franchise has understood the challenge of repeating as champion over the last 10 years better than San Antonio. The Spurs have won four titles since 1999, but none back-to-back.
Sure, better teams came along, such as the Lakers with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal. There were moments in playoff games that still haunt the Spurs, such as the Lakers' Derek Fisher's winning jumper with 0.4 seconds remaining in 2004, and Manu Ginobili's foul on Dallas's Dirk Nowitzki in 2006.
But of all the things that have kept the Spurs from enjoying championship parades on the famed River Walk in consecutive years, injuries are atop coach Gregg Popovich's list.
"I know, for a fact, the years we won the championships we were 100 percent healthy," said Popovich last month. "Everybody was 100 percent, and I think that's the way it's got to be. Every team that has won it, that's been the case for that team."
And that has to be the case for the Celtics if they are going to repeat. That is the reason Kevin Garnett has been shut down at least until the April 12 game against Cleveland because of continuing soreness in his right knee.
Garnett has missed 16 games since straining the knee Feb. 19 in Utah. While the Celtics have showed they can win without him in the regular season, trying to knock off the Magic, Cavaliers, or Lakers minus their power forward would be a steep challenge. So instead, they have shut down Garnett with the hope that come playoff time, he will be healthy.
"Kevin is as good of a player that we have in our league," said Larry Brown, whose Bobcats lost to the Celtics, 111-109, in double overtime last night at the Garden.
History has shown that injuries are often the demise of teams looking to repeat as champions. Magic Johnson won five titles with the Lakers, but the only repeat crown came in 1988.
"When it didn't happen, it was because of injury," said Johnson. "We were really unfortunate that one of our key guys usually got hurt. We were not able to repeat. And the times that we got beat, it wasn't because of lack of effort."
Cedric Maxwell won two titles with the Celtics, but not back-to-back. While Maxwell said motivated opponents playing at a higher level made it tough to repeat, he acknowledged that injuries played a role, too.
"It's huge," he said. "In 1982, that's when we had a rash of injuries. We got hurt. You have to get lucky. Last year, they were lucky."
Since the Lakers' three-peat of 2000, '01, and '02, only one NBA champion has advanced to the Finals the next season. In 2005, a healthy Pistons team lost to the Spurs in seven games.
"The two years I was there, for the most part we were unbelievably healthy," said Brown, who coached the Pistons from 2003-05.
