NBA: San Antonio Spurs on Cruise Control, Get Blown Out By the Miami Heat

The San Antonio Spurs have done more at this point in the regular season than they, or anybody else, would have thought.

They are the owners of the No. 1 record in the NBA, clinched a playoff spot for the 14th straight season and have won at least 50 games for 12th consecutive season.

With little left to accomplish, the Spurs have all but closed out their 2010-11 season despite 15 games left to play. With a full six-game lead on second place Dallas, the Spurs would need a late season slump to lose first place in the West.

Monday night's 110-80 blow out loss to the Miami was sweet revenge for the Heat who only 11 days earlier, were themselves blown out by 30 in San Antonio.

The Heat like the Lakers looked bigger, more physical, more talented, and more youthful.

The loss marked the second time the Spurs have been blown out to title contenders in the last eight days. Back on March 6, the Spurs were out classed, and looked old, slow and less talented than the defending champs, Los Angeles Lakers, who lead at halftime 65-37.

In the end, writers, analysts and NBA experts will look at Monday night's blowout and the Spurs slip-and-slide run two ways.

One, San Antonio is showing their age. Their proof is in the pudding. Blowout losses to Miami and Los Angeles only help to reinforce the image. Critics will also point to last year's playoff run against the Phoenix Suns in which the Spurs were swept and blown out, much in similar fashion to the way the Lakers and Miami did to San Antonio in recent days.

Two, this loss doesn't mean much when San Antonio really has nothing to play for. Unless San Antonio goes on a historic slide the last 15 games, the Spurs have all but clinched at worst the three seed. Critics will point to the fact that in the losses, Coach Popovich and the Spurs themselves seem to ease up or give up, as in the case when the Spurs emptied their bench midway through the third quarter against the Lakers last week.

In the final analysis, the Spurs 30-point blowout and third loss in their last eight games may be looked into to much. With the NBA season winding down, the Spurs have little to play for. They are an old team, a veteran team, and in the end, the Spurs age and mindset isn't thinking about the No. 1 seed in the Conference or league, but rather doing something they've never done in even years, win an NBA Title.