Eric Michael Garcia (The Independent) joins host Thomas Emerick for some Roundball Rock and the Memorial Day Miracle at the end of Game 2 of the 1999 Western Conference Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and the Portland Trailblazers.

Eric Michael Garcia, Washington Bureau Chief for The Independent (Archive) and author of We're Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation, came of age in San Antonio as Tim Duncan teamed up with David Robinson and Sean Elliott helped them avoid the fate of many snakebitten teams out west in the '90s.

Episode threads on this thriller that finished Spurs 86, Blazers 85:

• Respect to the Bob Costas-Doug Collins call that day for NBA on NBC
• Spurs postseason baggage before they ever got over the hump
• How Houston’s recent titles and Hakeem’s shadow loomed large down I-10
• Mario Elie calling out Tim Duncan, then delivering that inbound to Sean Elliott
• How fans saw the Blazers at the time and a reappraisal of a great, deep squad keyed by Rasheed Wallace
• Whether this was the most defensively adaptive Spurs team ever — and how Greg Popovich adjusted on the fly
• How this team sparked Eric's interest in newspapers and journalism
• Whether Pop could’ve made a real Senate run
• Texas public schools in the '90s and early 2000s
• And, of course, where Eric was when Sean Elliott found a way to stay in bounds and launch a dynasty

RotoViz contributor Thomas Emerick

Eric Michael Garcia, Washington Bureau Chief for The Independent and author of We're Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation (@EricMGarcia)

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