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CNN Live Sunday
San Antonio Spurs Could Clinch NBA Championship Tonight
Aired June 15, 2003 - 18:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: The San Antonio Spurs could clinch the NBA Championship tonight. They have a 3-2 game lead over the New Jersey Nets and home court advantage so what could go wrong?
CNN's Larry Smith is in San Antonio, Texas for the showdown. Why are you laughing, Larry?
LARRY SMITH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm laughing because we have all kinds of people walking in front of our shot here while you were talking. But no, it's so interesting because tonight we could witness what has become a rarity in the NBA, a team clinching an NBA championship on its home court but the San Antonio Spurs are ready to party in Texas tonight.
Admittedly, they have rarely played up to their potential in these NBA finals but they took a three games to two lead into tonight's game six versus the Nets who now must win two games or else come up just short for the second year in a row.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You talk about must wins. This is a must win. You know this is about, this is when you talk about those type of cliches, this is it. You know the bottom line is we have to go up there and concentrate on game six only, you know, and win that game before we can even start thinking about game seven.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're really not that concerned. We need to go up there and win game six. We're not worried about seven. We're worried about game six, go up there and win game seven. We won the last time we played in that building so we're confident.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's been a long time since we've been here. We feel we have the team and the opportunity to do it if we just don't let it slip by.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Tim Duncan (ph), he has averaged only 25 points per game during this series and put himself in position to become just the seventh player to be named finals Most Valuable Player twice.
But the eyes of Texas are on David Robinson, the seven foot center, future hall of famer. With a win tonight, he will close out his incredible career with the second championship ring and that's a nice parting gift for him, the admiral, who really people feel like he saved the Spurs back when he came into the league back in 1989, a franchise that was struggling but he kept them afloat and kept them in San Antonio for all these years. Andrea, let's go back to you.
KOPPEL: Well, we know they are not concerned about game seven. They're just focusing on game six. Larry Smith, thank you so much.
SMITH: Right.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 15, 2003 - 18:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: The San Antonio Spurs could clinch the NBA Championship tonight. They have a 3-2 game lead over the New Jersey Nets and home court advantage so what could go wrong?
CNN's Larry Smith is in San Antonio, Texas for the showdown. Why are you laughing, Larry?
LARRY SMITH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm laughing because we have all kinds of people walking in front of our shot here while you were talking. But no, it's so interesting because tonight we could witness what has become a rarity in the NBA, a team clinching an NBA championship on its home court but the San Antonio Spurs are ready to party in Texas tonight.
Admittedly, they have rarely played up to their potential in these NBA finals but they took a three games to two lead into tonight's game six versus the Nets who now must win two games or else come up just short for the second year in a row.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You talk about must wins. This is a must win. You know this is about, this is when you talk about those type of cliches, this is it. You know the bottom line is we have to go up there and concentrate on game six only, you know, and win that game before we can even start thinking about game seven.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're really not that concerned. We need to go up there and win game six. We're not worried about seven. We're worried about game six, go up there and win game seven. We won the last time we played in that building so we're confident.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's been a long time since we've been here. We feel we have the team and the opportunity to do it if we just don't let it slip by.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Tim Duncan (ph), he has averaged only 25 points per game during this series and put himself in position to become just the seventh player to be named finals Most Valuable Player twice.
But the eyes of Texas are on David Robinson, the seven foot center, future hall of famer. With a win tonight, he will close out his incredible career with the second championship ring and that's a nice parting gift for him, the admiral, who really people feel like he saved the Spurs back when he came into the league back in 1989, a franchise that was struggling but he kept them afloat and kept them in San Antonio for all these years. Andrea, let's go back to you.
KOPPEL: Well, we know they are not concerned about game seven. They're just focusing on game six. Larry Smith, thank you so much.
SMITH: Right.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
