Spuriosity: Rolling Thunder spurs San Antonio sleepless nights

The San Antonio Spurs went to bed 49 straight nights without experiencing a loss. No trains to be heard and no bladder to empty for peaceful nights seemed aplenty between the evening of April 12 and the morning of May 31. Now, five games into the 2012 Western Conference Finals and Kevin Durant's Oklahoma City Thunder stormed the slumber and sounded the alarms in winning three straight. Trailing 2-3, the Spurs tip off tonight in Oklahoma City looking for the elusive Interstate 35-N road win that can save the season and force what would promise to be an epic seventh game Friday night at the AT&T Center.

Four years ago, during the 2008 campaign, the Spurs found themselves in a similar 2-3 hole against Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets. Granted, the settings were reversed with the sixth game at home and seventh on the road, but it ended with the outcome Spurs fans desperately desire now — a series win. Coach Popovich summed it up best tongue-in-cheek during a time-out in the second half of Monday night's game 5 defeat when he said the Spurs "spotted the Thunder the first 24 minutes of the game."

Aside from the obvious need to play better defense and commit fewer turnovers, the Spurs playoff pulse might rest in hoping Oklahoma City's erratic point guard Russell Westbrook delivers a game 6 performance as embarrasing as the wisps above his lips he calls a mustache. Here it is, San Antonio. Playoff pressure. Season on the brink. Will the Spurs lose four in a row? The answer comes Wednesday, and chances are either outcome could lead to a sleepless night. Let's just hope it's due to delight rather than depression.