The Finals series between the Heat and the Spurs was epic not only because it took all seven games to decide, but because of the extremely high overall level of play that was displayed by both teams throughout.

It’s also likely to be among the most painful to remember by the losing team’s players.

San Antonio held a 3-2 series lead in Game 6, and was up by five with 28 seconds to play before Miami made its somewhat miraculous comeback. Without another season yet started to give the Spurs new memories to bury these ones that are just two months old, it’s not surprising that the way their championship chase ended is still on their minds.

From Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype:

How was the feeling following the Finals after losing against the Heat? Boris Diaw: It was tough, it’s never easy to lose. It was a tough time, you think about it… You try to take it off your mind. But there’s nothing you can change about it. Sometimes I still think about it, I’m still very disappointed that we lost. The only thing you can do is come back next year and try to do it again. Was there one moment at the end of Game 6, before Ray Allen hit the three, that you thought ‘We are champions’? Boris Diaw: Not champions but when we were +5 of course we were like, ‘OK, that’s pretty good so far’. We were pretty close but we weren’t champions yet.

The three from Ray Allen will go down as one of the biggest shots in NBA history, and the Spurs can take some comfort in knowing that’s only part of what it took to beat them in the series. Over time, the frustration may subside. But it’s still too fresh to be forgotten about just yet.