Yea it wasn't a phantom call, it was just a really dumb play. Granted, there were still 20 seconds left, so even if Manu hadn't fouled Dirk, we would have had to perform at the FT line and hope for a stop (not a guarantee).
But yea, still a really dumbass play by Manu. No sense in giving them points.
We absolutely would have won the title that year if we'd won that series, but I'm hesitant to call 2004 a done deal. The series the following season easily could have gone either way, so who knows what would have happened if the same teams had played in 04.
Another fun coulda shoulda was 2008. After going to 7 against the Hornets, SA's plane to LA had engine trouble and didn't take off until like 3am. That night, SA raced to a big lead and then flat ran out of gas in the second half. Then there was the heinous Brent Barry no-call. Capture game 1 in LA, get that call in SA, and who knows what happens in that series. Then the Finals... Boston was really good that year, but I easily could have seen 32 year old Duncan rising up to once again crush Garnett's dreams in the playoffs.
It's funny. Winning a title takes a great team and then a few lucky breaks, and nobody knows that better than SA. The Spurs have come agonizingly close to repeating numerous times, but they either never got the break or had a bad break in the off years.
