In the Spurs, a Model of How to Play When Gregg Popovich is referred to as an exceptional coach, it refers as much to his coaching style as it does his overall effectiveness. Sunday's game against the Dallas Mavericks was one display of that uniqueness. With nearly three minutes remaining in the third quarter and his team facing a 16-point deficit, Popovich pulled his starters and emptied his bench. Danny Green, Gary Neal, Tiago Splitter, Matt Bonner, and James Anderson took the floor in what most would consider an early fold. There's certainly some truth to that strategic classification; Popovich was undoubtedly planning for San Antonio's tough Monday night game in Memphis, and decided - for that reason among others - to prime Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and the Spurs" starters with a long rest. What happened next should need no reiteration at this point: The Spurs" reserves began the fourth quarter with a dominant 17-2 run, nearly won the game on a buzzer-beater from Danny Green, and took the defending champions to the limit on national television. Popovich didn't return his top players to the floor, even for the crucial closing possessions of a tight game. There aren't many coaches who would - or could - pull off that maneuver, a point that Henry Abbott of TrueHoop illustrated brilliantly in his examination of Popovich's coaching decision. Popovich is not a normal coach and the San Antonio Spurs are not a normal team. The culture of the Spurs franchise - which Abbott addresses indirectly in his analysis - is a big part of that. Yet even in their unconventional execution, Pop and the Spurs still provide a perfect example of the power of a fully stable offensive system, structured in a way that serves both player and principle. Somehow, while standing apart and walking their own path, the Spurs are still representative of what every team hopes to achieve. San Antonio's offense isn't always incredibly prolific, but there's a reason the Spurs always seem to come up with that much-needed basket to tilt a game's momentum: their offense, above all, excels in forcing defensive players to make difficult decisions. Observe, a few key buckets in the aforementioned 17-2 San Antonio run: On the most superficial level, all the Spurs really did is hit open shots. But why were a group of bench players able to create wide-open looks against one of the top defenses in the league? "You have to give Coach Popovich the credit," Mavericks guard Vince Carter said. He's a great coach and has a lot of great plays that put you in positions [as a defender] where you have to make a decision. When he went to that shooting lineup, they made us make decisions...He was just carving us up. We were trying to stick to our principles, but we had to make an adjustment. Popovich may be going about managing his team in a unique way, but at the core of the Spurs" offensive execution - that engine that erased a 16-point deficit with bench players in just a few minutes" time - is the same fundamental goal that should guide all teams in their offensive execution. Simply: Good offenses force the opposing team to make decisions. Mismatches and open shots are terrific outcomes, but forcing the defense into difficult, mid-play assessments is the mechanism that actually achieves those outcomes. The open layup is created because some defender made a poor decision in rotation. The open jumper is made because sometimes even the "right" play can turn out badly. But the important instrument is the decision itself - a choice that necessarily leaves some opening available to the offense, if only for a brief moment. In the video above, for example, a high pick-and-roll made Delonte West have to choose between covering a slashing Tiago Splitter or an open Danny Green. A quick transition push forces Dirk Nowitzki to commit to James Anderson rather than track down his man, and then allows for a three-pointer as Nowitzki overplays the drive. Shawn Marion, too, was caught in the Spurs" pick-and-roll trap, and chose to contest Splitter inside while leaving Green wide open from the perimeter. The Spurs moved the ball, triggered designed play action, and forced the Mavs to make decisions multiple times on almost every play. Success in the N.B.A. is forged with a commitment to process, and although the Spurs clearly didn't score on every play on Sunday, they showed - down to the last man - the impact of offensive continuity. The system endured, and San Antonio marched back into a game that should have been out of reach. Even beneath the weight of a tough, one-point loss, that fact alone should give the Spurs" ever stoic architect reason for the slightest smirk.