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   From: black.felons.matter@nba.com   
      
   Gregg Popovich didn't put much thought into San Antonio's   
   playoff streak when it was rolling along.   
      
   He's not thinking about it now, either.   
      
   The Spurs' record-tying run of 22 consecutive playoff   
   appearances is over, and the longest season in team history —   
   almost 300 days from the first game to the last — is also,   
   strangely, over earlier than the NBA is used to seeing. The   
   final outcome was a 118-112 loss to the Utah Jazz on Thursday   
   night, a game that was meaningless in the standings.   
      
   “Looking at the past doesn’t do much good,” Popovich said. “Any   
   success we’ve had has been because we’ve had some great players.”   
      
   Rayjon Tucker had 18 points for the Jazz, who finished with   
   eight players in double figures and used their regulars either   
   sparingly or not at all. Jarrell Brantley and Georges Niang each   
   added 13 for the Jazz and All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell had 11   
   points in just 11 minutes in his final tune-up before the   
   playoffs.   
      
   “You can't say enough about the Spurs," Jazz coach Quin Snyder   
   said. “They've been the premier franchise in the NBA for a long   
   time."   
      
   Keldon Johnson scored 24 points to lead seven Spurs in double   
   figures. Marco Belinelli and Luka Samanic each had 16 for San   
   Antonio.   
      
   The Spurs were officially ousted when Memphis beat Milwaukee,   
   and Phoenix completed an undefeated eight-game run in the NBA’s   
   restart bubble with a victory over Dallas.   
      
   Those games went final shortly before San Antonio-Utah started.   
   The Spurs needed the Grizzlies or the Suns to lose to have any   
   chance of getting into the West play-in series that begins   
   Saturday to decide the NBA’s final postseason berth.   
      
   “It's tough," Spurs guard DeMar DeRozan said. “It's more so   
   tough putting your faith in somebody else's hands."   
      
   Popovich's routine seemed normal. He met with assistants to   
   discuss strategy before addressing players during timeouts. When   
   someone needed a little 1-on-1 instruction, he approached and   
   offered a word or two.   
      
   It looked just as it always does. Only this time, it was very   
   different.   
      
   For the first time since April 1997, the Spurs played a game   
   knowing that the playoffs were out of reach. The 22-year run of   
   playoff spots tied the Philadelphia 76ers’ franchise for the   
   longest in NBA history. The 76ers, starting as the Syracuse   
   Nationals before moving to Philadelphia, went to the playoffs   
   every year from 1950 through 1971.   
      
   With San Antonio out, the longest active postseason streak now   
   belongs to the Houston Rockets. They’ll be in the playoffs for   
   the eighth consecutive year starting next week.   
      
   This is how long the streak went: David Stern wasn’t even   
   halfway through his 30-year run as commissioner when it started.   
   The Charlotte Bobcats — that’s what today’s Hornets went by then   
   — were still 6-1/2 years from playing their first game. Pat   
   Riley was still coaching, then with the Miami Heat.   
      
   And now, for the first time since 1981, the playoffs will happen   
   without either Riley or Popovich as head coaches.   
      
   The Spurs won five championships during the streak. They played   
   284 postseason games over those years; the only franchises   
   within 100 of that were the Lakers (218), Miami (196) and Boston   
   (192). And the Spurs won 170 playoff games in that span; only   
   seven franchises have more playoff wins in their entire history.   
      
   All 170 of those wins for the Spurs came under Popovich, a total   
   that gives him more career playoff victories than any two   
   current coaches combined. There were 102 players who got into at   
   least one Spurs playoff game during the streak, including   
   current NBA head coaches Jacque Vaughn, Steve Kerr and Monty   
   Williams.   
      
   The Spurs came into Disney as playoff long shots and felt the   
   eight games they were guaranteed of playing during the restart   
   would be ways to have young players grow from competition. They   
   made it to the last possible day of contention.   
      
   “At this point, it’s been a huge success for our team and our   
   young players, the development that we’ve talked about from the   
   beginning,” Popovich said. “We’re very happy with what’s gone on   
   here.”   
      
   He has given the restart rave reviews, both on and off the floor.   
      
   Popovich — an Air Force Academy graduate and the coach of USA   
   Basketball’s men’s national team — wore a shirt pregame that   
   read “Vote Your Life Depends On It.” He has remained outspoken   
   on the need to end racial injustice and police brutality during   
   the Spurs’ time in the bubble, talking about that perhaps as   
      
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