spurs last won the premier league in 2008.
when did spurs last win the premier league?
2008
this series would mark only the second time in the last seven years that the top two seeds from the western conference faced each other in the conference finals. game 1 would be close, with the thunder taking a 9-point lead going to the fourth, looking poised to give the spurs their first loss of the postseason. however, the spurs took control on both ends in the fourth quarter to stay perfect in the playoffs. in game 2, the spurs started strong, at one point in the third quarter taking a 22-point lead. the thunder would try to climb back in the fourth quarter, eventually cutting the lead to 6 in the fourth quarter. however, the spurs would answer every run, en route to a 120–111 win over the thunder and a 2–0 series lead. manu ginobili sealed the deal by hitting a three-pointer that extended the spurs' lead to 10 with about a minute and a half to go. with the win, the spurs extended their 2012 playoff record to 10–0. this win also marked the spurs' 20th consecutive win, tied for the 3rd longest winning streak in nba history. it is also the longest winning streak that was carried from the regular season and into the playoffs. in game 3, the spurs were no match for the thunder. behind their thunder blue home crowd, the thunder blew out the spurs, 102–82, to give them their first 2012 postseason loss. game 4 was much closer. in the fourth quarter, kevin durant scored half of his 36 points as the thunder tied the series with a 109–103 win over the spurs. in game 5, the thunder started strong, at one point in the second quarter taking a 13-point lead. the spurs would still come back in the second half. fueled by two threes from ginobili, the spurs took the lead back. however, the thunder eventually outscored the spurs 25–12 for the rest of the quarter to take a 9-point lead heading to the fourth quarter. after a harden 4-point play that gave the thunder another 13-point lead, things began to unravel as the spurs staged an 11–0 run through the next 4 minutes to bring them back into the game. then, with the thunder holding on for a 103–101 lead with 28 seconds left, harden came up big by hitting a crucial three-pointer to give the thunder a 5-point lead. the spurs would not give up. following a ginobili layup shot that cut the lead to 3, a fullcourt press by the spurs forced a thunder turnover, giving them a chance to tie the game. however, ginobili missed a three-pointer that sealed a 3–2 lead for the thunder. in game 6, the spurs dominated early, outscoring the thunder by 14 in the first quarter and holding a 15-point lead at halftime. their largest lead of the game was 18. however the thunder rallied in the 3rd quarter, outscoring the spurs 32–18. with a few clutch shots by derek fisher and james harden, the thunder booked a trip to the finals with a 107–99 comeback win over the spurs. with the win, the thunder advanced to the nba finals for the first time since moving from seattle in 2008 and the franchise's first appearance in the nba finals since 1996, when the franchise was known as the seattle supersonics.
2012 nba playoffs
van der vaart made his premier league debut for spurs in a 1–1 draw against west bromwich albion on 11 september 2010, and his champions league bow for the club three days later against werder bremen, providing an assist for peter crouch in a 2–2 draw. van der vaart scored his first premier league goal from the penalty spot in a 3–1 win against wolverhampton wanderers on 18 september 2010. after starting his spurs career by scoring three goals in four premier league matches, and with a goal and an assist in two champions league matches, van der vaart was named goal.com world player of the week on 4 october 2010. he was later named premier league player of the month for october. a hamstring injury kept van der vaart out of action for much of december, but he returned to the tottenham side on boxing day, scoring both goals in a 2–1 away win over aston villa. on 20 april, van der vaart revived tottenham's champions league ambitions by scoring twice to hold north london rivals arsenal to a 3–3 draw at white hart lane. from then onwards, van der vaart became a fan favourite at white hart lane. after losing to manchester city and being knocked out of the champions league race, spurs traveled to anfield. van der vaart scored from 25 yards out in a 2–0 win that put tottenham in position to secure qualification for the europa league. he ended the season as spurs' top scorer in the premier league, scoring 13 goals – nearly a quarter of tottenham's total – while also providing the most assists, with nine.
rafael van der vaart