Schedule and 2003 Results
Regular Season Records: San Antonio 60-22, New Jersey 49-33
Game 1 on Wednesday, 4 Jun: New Jersey loses at San Antonio, 101-pts-89
Game 2 on Friday, 6 Jun: New Jersey wins at San Antonio, 87-pts-85
Game 3 on Sunday, 8 Jun: San Antonio wins at New Jersey, 84-pts-79
Game 4 on Wednesday, 11 Jun: San Antonio loses at New Jersey, 77-pts-76
Game 5 on Friday, 13 Jun: San Antonio wins at New Jersey, 93-pts-83
Game 6 on Sunday, 15 Jun: New Jersey loses at San Antonio, 88-pts-77

SERIES NOTES:

After Game 6: The San Antonio Spurs rebounded from a six-point deficit at the end of the third quarter to defeat the New Jersey Nets 88-pts-77 in 2003 NBA Finals Game 6, thereby winning MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 902 and the 2003 NBA championship, 4-games-2. The win order for series 902 was WLWLWW: Series 902 thus becomes the sixth best-of-7 NBA Finals series, the 17th best-of-7 NBA series (all rounds), and the 31st best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL series (all rounds) to follow this win order. The San Antonio Spurs now have a best-of-7 series record of 12-12, while the New Jersey Nets now have a best-of-7 series record of 5-3. After three games of series 902, series-winning San Antonio had a 2-games-1 lead at site order HHV: MLB/NBA/NHL teams up 2-games-1 at site order HHV in the Finals are now on a 31-series winning streak.

After Game 5: The San Antonio Spurs visited and defeated the New Jersey Nets 93-pts-83 to take a 3-games-2 lead in MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 902. Game 6 (and Game 7, if necessary) will be played in Texas. When leading an NBA best-of-7 playoff series 3-games-2, the San Antonio Spurs have a series record of 5-1; when trailing 3-games-2, the New Jersey Nets are 0-1.

After Game 4: The New Jersey Nets hosted the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4, and defeated them 77-pts-76 to tie MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 902 at 2-games-all. When tied in a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 2-games-all, the San Antonio Spurs have a series record of 2-4 and a Game 5 record of 2-4, but have 2-0 series and Game 5 records in their two most recent such series. When tied 2-games-all, the New Jersey Nets have a series record of 2-1 and a Game 5 record of 2-1, but likewise have 2-0 series and Game 5 records in their two most recent such series. In best-of-7 NBA Finals-round playoff series from 1947 through 2002, teams with a win order of WLW at a site order of HHV through the first three games (such as the 2003 San Antonio Spurs) had a series record of 10-0 and a Game 4 record of 1-9 (which, with the Game 4 win by the New Jersey Nets, is now 1-10).

After Game 3: With MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 series 902 in New Jersey for Games 3-5 of the 2003 NBA Finals, the San Antonio Spurs rallied to win Game 3 by a score of 84-pts-79 over the New Jersey Nets, thus taking a 2-games-1 series lead. When leading a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 2-games-1, the San Antonio Spurs have a 7-1 series record (with a current six-series winning streak) and a 6-2 Game 4 record; when trailing 2-games-1, the New Jersey Nets have a 1-1 series record and a 2-0 Game 4 record. San Antonio trailed by six points after one quarter of Game 3: In best-of-7 NBA playoff games from 1947 through 2002, when the road team trailed by six points after one quarter, its game record was 16-71 (.184). Teams trailing 2-games-1 at site order VVH in the NBA Finals have only a 2-28 (.067) series record: The two winners were the 1969 Boston Celtics (in best-of-7 series 215 vs. the Los Angeles Lakers) and the 1977 Portland Trailblazers (in best-of-7 series 335 vs. the Philadelphia 76ers). Those 1969 Boston Celtics and 1977 Portland Trailblazers thus set a favorable NBA Finals precedent for the 2003 New Jersey Nets.

After Game 2: The New Jersey Nets visited and defeated the San Antonio Spurs 87-pts-85 to tie MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 902 at 1-game-all. When tied 1-game-all in a best-of-7 NBA playoff series, the San Antonio Spurs have a series record of 3-6 and a Game 3 record of 4-5, while the New Jersey Nets have a series record of 2-1 and a Game 3 record of 1-2. In best-of-7 NBA playoff series from 1947 through 2002, once before had a team won Game 1 by 12 points but lost Game 2 by 2 points (as San Antonio has in series 902): In best-of-7 series 230 (the 1970 NBA Finals), the New York Knickerbockers did so ... and proceeded to defeat the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games.

After Game 1: The San Antonio Spurs hosted and defeated the New Jersey Nets in Game 1 of MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 902 -- the 2003 NBA Finals -- 101-pts-89. The Spurs thus take a 1-game-nil lead in series 902. When leading a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 1-game-nil, the San Antonio Spurs have a series record of 9-2 (and a current eight-series winning streak) and a Game 2 record of 8-3; when trailing a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 1-game-nil, the New Jersey Nets have a series record of 0-1 and a Game 2 record of 0-1 (the Game 2 and series loss both occurred in the 2002 NBA Finals vs. the Los Angeles Lakers; the Lakers swept that series in four straight games). In best-of-7 NBA playoff series from 1947 through 2002, when the home team won Game 1 by a 12-point margin, its series record was 13-2 (.867).

Pre-series assessment: In the 2002-03 regular season, San Antonio finished 11 games ahead of New Jersey. From 1947 through 2002, when an NBA team led its best-of-7 playoff series opponent by 11 games, it has gone on to post an 11-4 (.733) best-of-7 series record in that series against that opponent. Series 902 is the first best-of-7 NBA playoff series between San Antonio and New Jersey.