San Antonio Spurs' Trend of Letdown Games Could Have Major Consequences

Throughout the 2014-15 campaign, the San Antonio Spurs have been unable to avoid ugly, stunning losses to inferior teams. Their most recent battle with relapse happened unexpectedly, perhaps to the most unsuspecting franchise.

After a once-in-a-blue-moon performance from Kyrie Irving ended San Antonio's six-game winning streak, the defending champions had finally found it.

"It," in this case, was the Spurs' identity—something unseen during a majority of the current season. Tony Parker slashing through defenses. Efficient shooting. Crisp ball movement.

Then March 17 happened.

San Antonio collapsed against the hapless New York Knicks, falling 104-100 in overtime at Madison Square Garden.

But while that shocking result was an anomaly given the Spurs' recent play, it was a continuation of a season-long trend. Each time Gregg Popovich's team has seemingly rebounded from a cold streak, San Antonio soon exhibited an uninspiring performance.

Way back on Dec. 12, the Spurs, who had won eight of nine games at home to start the year, hosted the Los Angeles Lakers. Aided by a Nick Young miracle, however, the Lakers toppled San Antonio 112-110.

"They definitely wanted the game more than we did," Popovich said, per Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News. "It seemed more important to them than to us. I thought our performance was pitiful."

D. Clarke Evans/Getty Images

After winning six of seven entering a Jan. 21 matchup with the Chicago Bulls, the Spurs shot 37.0 percent from the field, losing 104-81.

"I thought the Bulls were physically and mentally committed to playing a great game," Pop said, according to Mike Monroe of the Express-News. "And I thought our play was humiliating and embarrassing."

"I saw a laissez-faire, entitled attitude, like everything will be fine," the veteran coach said later about his starters.

And then the Knicks happened. San Antonio converted on just 38.3 percent of its field-goal attempts, 21.4 percent from three-point range and dished just 17 assists, the sixth-, fifth- and fourth-lowest marks of the season, respectively.

Unsurprisingly, Popovich wasn't pleased with that effort:

Every team is entitled to a stinker or two. Professional athletes are humans who make mistakes (though Tim Duncan is still probably a robot), but Pop has tagged his roster with a few pointed adjectives on multiple occasions.

Pitiful. Humiliating. Embarrassing. Entitled. Pathetic. Those aren't words the basketball world is accustomed to hearing in reference to the Spurs, or championship teams in general.

Losses to the Brooklyn Nets on Dec. 3, the Los Angeles Clippers on Jan. 31 and the Toronto Raptors on Feb. 8 have also fit the category of uninspired performances that disgusted Popovich. The common trends are absence of energy and lackluster shooting, since five of the games rank among the six worst outputs.

As noted by Dan McCarney of the Express-News, Pop isn't happy the message of constant, consistent focus has demanded repetition:

The letdowns are not indicative of San Antonio's season, but they're certainly not helping the Spurs separate themselves in a challenging conference.

Following a 114-103 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on March 18, Pop's crew—which holds a 42-25 record—remains just 3.0 games behind the Houston Rockets for the No. 3 seed and 2.5 shy of the Portland Trail Blazers for fourth.

But once a meeting with the presumably Isaiah Thomas-less Boston Celtics concludes, San Antonio enters a five-game gauntlet that includes the Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Mavericks and Memphis Grizzlies.

Then to finish the season, the Spurs' final six consecutive opponents—including the Golden State Warriors once and Houston Rockets twice—each boast winning records.

From this point forward, in other words, San Antonio only faces four clubs with sub-.500 marks. Climbing up the standings against that slate will be immensely difficult.

Consequently, although the Spurs will make the playoffs for the 18th straight season, they'll likely do so without home-court advantage in the opening round for only the second time in the last 15 years.

The last team to earn an NBA championship without home court in any round was the 1994-95 Houston Rockets, a No. 6 seed, while the eighth-seeded 1998-99 Knicks were the only other franchise to reach the Finals.

Though San Antonio's 2014-15 campaign has been filled with peaks and valleys, each time the fat lady prepared to start singing, the Spurs have quickly pulled the microphone's plug.

As long as Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard, Duncan and Manu Ginobili are healthy, Popovich and Co. still have an excellent chance to repeat as NBA champions.

But history is not on their side. Collapsing in regular-season games they should've won very well may cost a road-warrior San Antonio team during the playoffs.

Unless otherwise noted, stats are courtesy of Basketball-Reference and are accurate as of March 19.

Follow Bleacher Report NBA writer David Kenyon on Twitter: @Kenyon19_BR.