Call off the search. We’ve found the real San Antonio Spurs.

Heading into a first-round playoff meeting against a surging Denver team, many observers thought San Antonio would be hard-pressed to fend off the Nuggets’ upset bid. Making their task more complicated was a late-season ankle injury to Tim Duncan. He returned only a week before the playoffs and still looked gimpy as he tried to play himself into shape.

The Spurs looked ripe for the picking when the Nuggets took Game 1 on San Antonio’s home court, especially since Duncan clearly wasn’t himself. In order to advance, the Spurs would need to win at least once in Denver, which is a tall order given the altitude that normally exhausts the Nuggets’ opponents.

Well, it turns out the Spurs did more than enough in Denver, winning not once but twice. We should have known better than to doubt them. Duncan’s ankle healed just in the nick of time, as he blew up for 39 points in the Spurs’ overtime win in Game 4. That gave the Spurs a 3-1 advantage with two of the final three games in the Alamo City, all but clinching the series for San Antonio.

The Spurs have taken control by using their favorite weapon: stifling defense. While Detroit gets most of the accolades, it was San Antonio that ranked no. 1 in the NBA in Defensive Efficiency (my measure of points allowed per 100 possessions). They’re doing it in the playoffs as well, despite facing a fearsome opponent that closed the year on a 25-4 run.

Just look at the variety of ways San Antonio is shutting down the Nuggets. Denver is shooting 41.2% on the series, 4.7% below its season mark. Duncan and frontcourt mate Nazr Mohammed are completely sealing off the glass, as the Nuggets are only rebounding 23.0% of their misses (they grabbed 28.4% in the regular season). And because the Spurs rotate so well on the perimeter, the Nuggets aren’t getting any open 3-point chances. They’ve made only 10 trifectas in the four games, one of which was a half-court shot by Andre Miller in Game 1.

Overall, the Nuggets are scoring a mere 95.5 points per 100 possessions against San Antonio, after averaging 103.5 in the regular season. The Spurs’ performance is even better than their regular-season Defensive Efficiency of 95.8, which already was one of the best marks of all time. It’s a scary proposition for the other contenders that such a mighty defensive team is tightening the noose in the postseason.

Offensively, the Spurs aren’t quite on their game yet, but it’s coming around. Duncan’s recovery has been a big factor. His 0-for-7 in the fourth quarter of Game 1 was a major factor in San Antonio’s lone defeat, and he shot 5-for-19 in Game 3 before bouncing back in Game 4 with a 13-for-23 shooting night.

However, what people consistently forget about the Spurs is how much more they have in the tank besides Duncan. In Game 4, the supporting cast got to strut its stuff in overtime after one of the refs from Athens was flown in to tag Duncan with a phantom sixth foul. Point guard Tony Parker led the charge, coming to life with 11 points in OT to lead the Spurs to victory. It was just in time, too – Mr. Longoria had been so bad in the first three games that he was about to be cast as the lead in “Desperate Point Guards.” While his inconsistency is troubling, the overall package is hard to deny – Parker had his best season as a pro this year and is still improving.

Manu Ginobili has also played brilliantly. Denver coach George Karl complained that Ginobili is a flopper, but Karl’s real problem is that nobody on the Nuggets can guard the Argentine guard. When he drives to the basket, Ginobili suddenly changes direction at odd angles, making it difficult for defenders to stay in front of him. As a result, he’s taken a whopping 43 foul shots in the four games. Between Parker and Ginobili, the Spurs have enough backcourt scoring to weather foul problems from Duncan.

Any discussion about the Spurs has to go beyond mere scoring exploits. This is the by far most cohesive team in the league. The Spurs are the anti-Blazers of the NBA – in their spare time, Duncan and Parker probably help old ladies cross the street. Perhaps this is why Gregg Popovich can get away with making moves for the good of the team that other coaches wouldn’t dare.

Consider this example from the Denver series. At the start of Game 3, the Nuggets took an early lead thanks to some uncharacteristically soft defense from Duncan. Popovich immediately called timeout and berated Duncan to step it up on defense. And get this: Instead of pouting, lobbying for a coaching change, or complaining to the media about being disrespected, Duncan simply took his medicine and played better defense.

Better yet, take Ginobili. Before Game 2, Popovich told Ginobili he was going to be brought off the bench while Brent Barry started. This switch had clear benefits for San Antonio: Barry is much more effective when Duncan is on the floor, while Ginobili historically has played very effectively as a reserve. But Ginobili is an All-Star with a big contract – wasn’t he perturbed? After all, lesser players like Bonzi Wells and Kwame Brown have had conniptions this postseason when their minutes were cut. In contrast, Manu seemed fine with it. Either that, or his English is worse than he’s letting on, because he calmly came off the bench and lit up the Nuggets for the next three games.

Ultimately, the Spurs’ willingness to curb their personal motives for the good of the team is the advantage they have over every other team. It’s the reason they can play such suffocating defense – everybody is in it for the bigger picture. More importantly, Duncan and Ginobili set the tone by checking their egos at the door. Since they aren’t above Popovich’s law, nobody else can be, either. As a result, the Spurs are a team in the truest sense of the word. This, ultimately, is why San Antonio is going to win the championship.