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Gregg Popovich reputation as the best coach in the NBA took another major hit in Game 3 of the NBA Finals Tuesday night as the Spurs crushed the Heat, 113-77, to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

Bench player Gary Neal took 17 shots and scored 24 points, Kawhi Leonard put up 14 points, 10 rebounds and four steals and Danny Green went for 27 points — two more than Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker scored combined. Yet Popovich bristled at suggestions that his team is falling apart as nameless role players are seizing marquee roles.

"That seems to me to be a very negative way to spin it," said Popovich in his post-game press conference, when asked if the stat sheet proves his team is hopelessly disorganized. "I feel we have a team that can get contributions from any number of players."

Tim Duncan also attempted to smooth over San Antonio's obvious locker room turmoil.

"We won by, what – 36 points? A win is a win by any score, but I think that margin shows there isn't really a lot of bad stuff you can take from that game from our end," he added, clearly trying to convince himself that is true.

But in an NBA where it is established that a set "big three" is needed to lead a team to a championship, what hope to the Spurs really have without one – or with three different players stepping up each game? With players stepping far outside their presumed roles?

League sources confirmed Monday afternoon that quarterback Tim Tebow has been signed by the New England Patriots, pending the quarterback's successful completion of a routine physical along with confirmation that this whole thing isn't a complete and utter fucking joke.

The physical, scheduled to occur some time within the next few days, should determine if Tebow is healthy enough for a return to playing in the NFL, barring this whole fucking thing being some GMs idea of a sick, sick ruse.  It almost has to be, doesn't it?  They have Tom Brady.  What the hell?

"I'm excited for the opportunity to start over again with the New England Patriots," said Tebow during a late afternoon press conference, "but I'm a man of faith, and even I'm skeptical."

Tebow, recently released by the New York Jets, had reportedly failed to muster up interest from a single other NFL team this offseason.  Other NFL teams including: The Oakland Raiders, Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, and the Jacksonville Jaguars. The fucking Jaguars.

Geneticists working with the Human Genome Project happily announced today that they have successfully uncovered and mapped the clutch gene, which determines human performance late in sporting events.

"There has long been a discussion in the scientific community about nature versus nurture when it comes to clutchness," said Craig Kent, who led the team that discovered the gene. "Many thought it was something an athlete could control via courage and mental toughness and simply wanting the ball. But now we know for sure that someone is either born clutch or they aren't. Only a small percentage of the population is born with the clutch gene."

Like many great scientific breakthroughs, the clutch gene discovery has many practical real-world implications.

"Teams will now be able to test prospective draft picks for the clutch gene," said Kent. "Would a player like Dwight Howard still be taken No. 1 overall if it was determined that he is clutch gene negative? Where would someone like Robert Horry have been drafted? This will replace scouting departments with labs."