Sure they gave up 97pts, but they held Denver to 43% shooting and forced them to take a lot of very tough shots.

If Denver had been a little less lucky on their shots and if SA had taken better care of the ball (most of their 19TOs were due to sloppy play), this would have been a 25 point blowout instead of a 13 point beating

When the Spurs play with intensity, they are absolutely dominant, it's like an NBA team against a college team. When they play casually, they are still better than just about everyone.