“Finally, I belong in this league” – Goran Dragic on the game that put him on the NBA map originally appeared on Basketball Network.
It took Goran Dragic a while to find his footing in the NBA, but it couldn’t have come at a better time. At 23, “The Dragon” unexpectedly took over a 2010 playoff game against the San Antonio Spurs, and that was all the validation he needed.
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“That was the game that kind of put me out there,” Dragic said in an interview with Basketball Network, referring to his huge Game 3 performance vs. the Spurs.
Dragic detailed how the 2009-10 season differed from the previous year and how things finally started to click for him as a young player. It started with the Phoenix Suns’ coaching change implemented by Steve Kerr, promoting Alvin Gentry in place of Terry Porter.
Under Gentry, the Suns had won 54 games in the regular season and made a deep postseason run. They faced the Spurs, the team that eliminated them in four of their previous five playoff appearances (2003, 2005, 2007, and 2008).
“The Spurs at the time were tough, but we swept them four to zero. It was something unbelievable. Definitely, the game that I went off kind of put me on the map. I even said to myself, ‘Finally, I belong in this league,'” added Dragic.
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Dragic took over
At a glance, winning a series via a sweep gives the impression that one team was simply outclassed by the other. That wasn’t exactly the case. The Spurs were the 2007 league champions and a conference finalist in 2008. They had a rock-steady core led by Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, not to mention Gregg Popovich manning the sidelines.
To no one’s surprise, the Silver and Black kept most of the games close. They had a chance as they were down by single digits in the final minutes of Games 1, 2, and 4. Game 3, however, was a total takeover by Dragic.
Goran made nine out of his 11 shots in the fourth quarter, including all four of his three-point attempts. He scored 23 of his 26 points in the final frame, turning a 71-72 deficit at the start of the fourth into a 110-96 victory. Dragic’s performance was so sensational that the Suns kept Steve Nash on the bench until three minutes left in the game!
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“Coach said ‘Don’t be shy, just be aggressive, attack the basket,'” Dragic said, per Deseret News. “Third and fourth quarter, I just did it.”
At one stretch, Dragic had 16 of Phoenix’s 22 points. The last of this explosion included back-to-back triples, including a four-point play off a foul from Spurs guard George Hill. Dragic made another trey and a layup to effectively put the game out of reach, 100-86.
“I work hard for this moment, so I’m really happy for this,” stated an ecstatic Dragic in the postgame interview. “It’s great in playoffs against San Antonio. San Antonio is a great team, so I’m just really happy for that.”
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Breaking through
The sweep over San Antonio marked Phoenix’s first playoff series win against the Spurs since 2000, when Duncan was sidelined with an injury. This time, the Suns did it with both teams at full strength, and Dragic’s fourth-quarter takeover in Game 3 helped swing the series firmly in their favor.
That game convinced Dragic he could build a fruitful career in the NBA — and he did. Goran earned the Most Improved Player award in 2014, made the All-NBA Third Team in the same year, and became an All-Star in 2018. But for Dragic, everything traces back to that night when everything finally clicked.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 7, 2025, where it first appeared.