The last time there was a lockout in the NBA, the San Antonio Spurs beat the New York Knicks in five games in the NBA Finals to cap a 50-game regular season in 1998-99.

Tim Duncan was in his second season with the Spurs, but David Robinson and Sean Elliott were in their 10th seasons and Steve Kerr was in his 11th.

The Knicks had a similarly veteran team, led by Patrick Ewing in his 14th season, Larry Johnson in his eighth, Latrell Sprewell in his seventh and Allan Houston in his sixth.

So it would stand to reason that veteran teams like the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers or Miami Heat would have an edge in this shortened season, right?

Not necessarily, according to Cavaliers assistant coach Paul Pressey. He and Cavs assistant Joe Prunty were assistants on that San Antonio championship team. Asked for the key to the Spurs’ victory that season, Pressey smiled and said, “I thought we were lucky, right place right time, playing well at the right time.”

If luck is all it takes, that probably makes the shamrock-wearing Celtics the favorites. But older teams such as Boston know how to pace themselves throughout the regular season, even one as compacted as this one. Talented teams such as Miami that haven’t made a lot of changes don’t have to make a lot of adjustments.

Then again, shouldn’t teams with young stars and young legs – Derrick Rose’s Chicago Bulls or Kevin Durant’s Oklahoma City Thunder, for example – have an advantage when teams basically will be playing every other night from now until late June? Teams such as the Celtics and Lakers are going to go through a lot of heating pads and Ben Gay from now until then, right?

“I don’t think injuries are going to be an issue,” NBA TV analyst Chris Webber said in a conference call with the media before the season started. “You really can’t predict who is going to get hurt.

“The biggest difference on who will have the advantage is how well the teams know each other.”

That would point to the Celtics and Lakers again. But don’t underestimate last season’s finalists – the Mavericks and Heat – or their conference final opponents – the Thunder and the Bulls in the West and East, respectively.

Of those six teams, the defending champion Mavericks made the most significant changes, losing free agents Tyson Chandler and J.J. Barea, two big keys to the Mavericks’ victory.

“While it’s too early to tell who has the clear advantage, I will say that being a big fan of Dallas, I think they let the goods get away,” Webber said in the conference call. “I think that Tyson Chandler is a game-changer and he’s the only reason they won the championship last year.”

Some of the most interesting teams likely will be in the West, including the Los Angeles Clippers, the New Orleans Hornets and even the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Clippers, of course, got Chris Paul from the Hornets to team with high-flying Blake Griffin. The re-made Hornets got guard Eric Gordon, forward Al-Farouq Aminu and center Chris Kaman, along with a first-round draft choice.

Minnesota hired veteran coach Rick Adelman, who likely will bring some order to the talented-but-underachieving Wolves. Minnesota brought in first-round draft choice Derrick Williams, picked second overall behind the Cavs Kyrie Irving, to join Kevin Love, Michael Beasley and Barea, and 2009 first-round draft pick Ricky Rubio also will join the team for the first time.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: mschmitt@plaind.com, 216-999-4668

On Twitter: @pdcavsinsider

As we near the end of the year, remembering great moments for basketball fans of the San Antonio Spurs can bring a smile. Although these moments were still selected for their flash, they were also selected for the bigger picture they created. Here are 5 great moments for the Spurs from 2011.

Gary Neal 3-Pointer: As a rookie, your impact is not always as visible and as momentous; not so of this great play. Gary Neal’s Play of the Day had all the suspense of a buzzer shot and all the added joy of overtime potential, which the Spurs were able to turn their way into an OT victory. Winning game 5 of the first round of the playoffs against the Memphis Grizzlies on April 27, 2011 kept the Spurs alive in the series.

Block, Pass, Dunk: Tim Duncan gets the ball away and then Manu Ginobili scores at the other end of the court in this great moment, Duncan Blocks and Ginobili Jams. Highlights for the Spurs were plentiful this day including great teamwork, blocks, fast breaks and slams. This basketball game, played on April 6, 2011 at home in the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas opposing the Sacramento Kings, produced San Antonio’s 60th win during the season, securing them as the first seed in the Western Conference and entertaining the Spurs’ fans.

Parker to the Bucket: Tony Parker’s highlighted shot this game was just part of his overall 33 points, with Manu Ginobili adding 25 points and Tim Duncan adding 22 points. The Spurs gained the win against Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks. Beating a Southwest Division rival, especially one of the Mavericks caliber and on the Mavericks home court at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas was a top moment for the San Antonio Spurs in 2011.

All-Star Head Coach: The January 24, 2011 win against the Golden State Warriors along with other San Antonio Spurs’ wins led to Gregg Popovich, Coach Pop, being named the coach for the Western Conference all-stars. A winning coach is an important ingredient in San Antonio’s success so this distinction was a great moment for the Spurs.

Draft Night 2011: Another important element of success for a team is building a future. The Spurs gained Kawhi Leonard from the San Diego State Aztecs and Cory Joseph from the University of Texas Longhorns, Leonard and Joseph Introduction, as draft picks for 2011. Hopefully this 2011 draft moment will bring great future moments too.

Jade Harris first became a fan of the San Antonio Spurs during the David Robinson and Tim Duncan era. Since then there have plenty of moments in which to cheer for the Spurs and their great style of basketball.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

SAN ANTONIO – The Boston Celtics finally got a big win and their big man back. They might also reclaim the No. 1 seed in the NBA’s Eastern Conference.

And the San Antonio Spurs, at this dismal rate, might give away first place in the Western Conference.

Rajon Rondo had 22 points and 14 assists, center Jermaine O’Neal returned from knee surgery, and the Celtics ended a miserable March by not slipping farther from first in the East, beating the slumping Spurs 107-97 Thursday night.

Paul Pierce added 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Kevin Garnett scored 20. The Celtics won for just the second time in five games and, ending a 9-7 March, moved within two games of the Chicago Bulls for the East’s No. 1 playoff seed with eight games to go.

“This is a good place to try and gather some momentum,” Pierce said. “You talk about the team with the best record. What better place to get back on track than here?”

Yet these days, San Antonio’s luster isn’t what it used to be.

The Spurs lost their fifth straight – their longest skid all season – and the timing couldn’t be worse. San Antonio has seven games left but is in danger of falling out of first place after comfortably being No. 1 in the West all season.

San Antonio’s woes have renewed hopes the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas have of taking the top spot. The Lakers were three games back and hosted the Mavericks – who were 3½ games behind the Spurs – late Thursday.

“Of course we want to be No. 1. We don’t want to give it away just because we like being underdogs,” Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said. “We want to win it. We put ourselves in an unbelievable situation.”

Tony Parker led the Spurs with 23 points. Tim Duncan returned after missing the last four games with a sprained ankle and had 20 points and 13 rebounds.