Boston's 22-point collapse should give Spurs a brutal reminder about focus on opening night

Nobody in Spurs Nation needed a refresher on how fast a comfortable lead can turn into a Thanos snap consequence, and yet the NBA scheduled one for the middle of the afternoon anyway.

Boston went into Detroit and led by 22 until the Pistons answered with a 23-0 run bridging the third and fourth quarters and won 121-113. That's the biggest comeback on an opening day in decades.

Paul George dropped 38 in his Celtics debut, and in the end, as Linkin Park would say, it didn't even matter. It's so similar to the Spurs' painfully recent Finals experience that I cringe just typing it out.

The Spurs' wounds should be fresh enough to feel Boston's pain

The Silver and Black sure felt like the better team during overwhelming stretches of that series, but all that matters is the score at the end of the game. Game 4's loss happened after leading by 29 points, and there's no asterisk on New York's win that night. There are no moral victories in professional sports, especially when you're playing for a title.

You either win the games and celebrate, or lose and suffer.

The Spurs lost 4-1 after what felt like a pretty magical run up to that point, so there was a lot of suffering for the team and the fans. New York fans didn't make the offseason any easier, either.

The most benign fan posts completely unrelated to the Finals might still find a Knicks fan in the comment section dishing out the proverbial "Haha" of the Simpsons' bully, Nelson. Losing is bad enough, but the way the losses happened makes the pain sting more.

It would have been better to be dominated. The "youth" excuse, while still relevant, works differently on the psyche when you're whooped. Taking your medicine sucks, but I'd rather take a small tablet over a horse pill any day.

Playing 48 minutes is the only standard that counts for the Spurs now

There's no way around the truth. You have to play for the full 48 minutes. It doesn't matter who your opponent is or how you started. If you don't finish the deal, nothing that came before matters. That's the lesson Detroit just handed out for free at 2:00 PM Central on a Tuesday.

San Antonio is about to open with a new starting five, with Victor Wembanyama entering a season everyone expects him to arrive in. That's been made clear by the overwhelming GM votes choosing him to win MVP and DPOY. He's surrounded by lottery picks and first-rounders. Talent isn't the question. Finishing is and will be.

OKC and the Spurs are set to tip off in less than an hour. The Silver and Black are the team that put the Thunder out in their building. They'll want revenge. But it's only game one of an 82-game season, so what's more important is forming good habits. Let the first one be playing smart basketball from opening tip to closing buzzer. A title in June depends on it.

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