Especially Lewis, who was unexpectedly injured before the end of the regular season, had been out for nearly 10 games. Whether he could return for the playoffs remained an unknown.
As the Seattle SuperSonics' undisputed starting power forward this season, Lewis averaged 17 points and 7 rebounds per game for the team!
If Lewis couldn't play in the playoffs, the SuperSonics' offensive firepower would be greatly diminished.
To make matters worse, another pillar of the SuperSonics' interior, veteran Vin Baker, also got injured just as the regular season was about to end. Although the subsequent injury examination results indicated it was an old injury recurring and not too severe, it was still uncertain if he could return for the playoffs.
When healthy, Baker averaged 14 points and 6.4 rebounds for the SuperSonics.
However, this season, Baker had been plagued by injuries, playing in only 55 games, with over ten of those games played through injury. This meant he had played at most around 41 games in a healthy state!
In his prime, Baker was a dominant force in the paint, averaging 21 points and 10 rebounds, and was one of the league's top power forwards.
But now, hampered by his alcoholism and uncontrolled weight, Baker's condition had severely declined. More importantly, he was constantly injured and sidelined, which had long exhausted the patience of the SuperSonics' management.
Barring any surprises, Baker would also be a player the team would look to move on from after this season's playoffs.
But before being let go, Baker had one last chance to prove himself alongside Payton in this year's playoffs.
Baker thought so too, but the problem was that the playoffs hadn't even started, and his old injury had flared up again. It was questionable whether he could even play, let alone prove himself.
The SuperSonics' two most frequently used starting interior players in the regular season were both sidelined by injuries.
Head coach McMillan was forced to turn to bench players DelBiak and Jerome James.
DelBiak was a second-round pick in '97, a pure role player. Jerome James was a second-round pick in '98, also a pure role player!
Asking two pure role players to contend against the San Antonio Spurs' twin towers, a duo that would go down in league history, was a joke.
Even though David Robinson was getting older and nearing retirement, he wasn't someone you could just pit any role player against.
Moreover, while David Robinson was aging, Duncan was in his prime. Especially this season, Duncan had delivered his career-best performance and was a front-runner for MVP.
But what could Payton do against the formidable Spurs?
On April 20, 2002, the first round of the playoffs tipped off simultaneously on multiple home courts.
Targeting the SuperSonics' weakness in the interior while being strong on the perimeter, the Spurs devised a strategy of attacking the opponent's inside and tightly defending their perimeter.
As the game began, Duncan received a drive-and-kick pass from He Xi Meng and made a turnaround hook shot in the low post.
Payton attempted to retaliate, driving hard at He Xi Meng and then passing to Mason.
Mason received the ball and tried to dunk on David Robinson.
David Robinson naturally wouldn't indulge the young player, immediately swatting away Mason's seemingly sure shot with a powerful block.
Ginobili grabbed the loose ball and initiated a fast break.
He Xi Meng had been trailing Ginobili, wanting to cover for him. However, Ginobili faked out Brent Barry, who was trying to block him, Euro-stepped past DelBiak, who rushed from behind to challenge him, and scored a fastbreak layup!
The Spurs scored 4 unanswered points, starting strong!