After the first two games of this Western Conference Semifinals it seemed as if the Sonics did not have a chance in this series, the Spurs dismantled the Soups making the game of basketball look all too easy.  And the Sonics had their excuses as well, a hobbled Ray Allen, their sixth-man Vladimir Radmanovic out for the series and worst of all their all-star forward Rashard Lewis unable to play with a toe-injury.  

Yet it all came down to a fade-away Ray Allen 3-pointer with .5 seconds left.  A shot that would have taken the Sonics to Game 7 versus the rival Spurs.  Back rim clang and the season was over, a valiant effort by one of the purest shooters the NBA has ever seen.  But this was a season that met and exceeded any expectations Sonics fans could have ever had.  Truly a dream season with an almost ?Cinderella? ending.

So it was not meant to be.  The Sonics fell to the mighty San Antonio Spurs 98-96 in a thriller in the Key Arena.  This was a game that saw Tim Duncan shoot 6-21 from the field and still finish with 26 points while also hitting the game winner off a dime from Manu Ginobili.  This was a game that had no dead time, no chances for the average viewer to turn away.  A crowd that did not relent from screeching their high-decibel cheers, making for a Key Arena that, in this writer?s opinion, has never been so loud, so boisterous.  

With the win the Spurs move on to the Western Conference finals and a date with either the Phoenix Suns or Dallas Mavericks.