Michael Finley swished a 3-pointer, the Spurs' 28-point lead was down to nine, and the 18,797 fans filling the SBC Center seemed to groan at once. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, having seen it all before, signaled for a timeout.

As the Spurs took their seats on the bench midway through Wednesday's final quarter, Popovich told them something they already knew, but probably needed to hear: The game was not over.

"We wanted to calm ourselves down a little bit," Tim Duncan said.

So the Spurs did what they always do when they need to calm themselves.