May

20

Ginobili’s Late Free Throws Elevate Spurs To Western Conference Finals, Hold Off Hornets 91-82

Posted by Stephen Rhodes under NBA PLAYOFFS 

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The San Antonio Spurs, like the Boston Celtics and a few other NBA teams, have their version of the “Big Three” - Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.? And more often than not, one of them winds up being the?hero whenever?the Spurs emerge victorious.? In Monday’s game against the New Orleans Hornets,?some timely defense plus four late free throws by Ginobili in the last minute of the game enabled San Antonio to emerge victorious as they held off New Orleans 91-82 at New Orleans Arena.

Neither team stood out in the first quarter as San Antonio outscored New Orleans 23-20; however, the Spurs opened the second quarter with a 12-5 run, capped by a 3-point play by Parker, giving San Antonio a 36-25 lead.? New Orleans’ Chris Paul made a floater off the glass which started a 12-0 run that included 3-pointers by Peja Stojakovic and Morris Peterson; Stojakovic’s jumper briefly gave the Hornets a 37-36 lead, but Ginobili would drain a 3-pointer, Parker would make a layup and Duncan made a jumper which would give back the lead to the Spurs.? Ginobili would then hit 2 more treys on back-to-back possessions, giving San Antonio a double-digit lead at 49-38 with less than a minute to go in the first half.? After Ginobili and Paul made jumpers in the waning seconds of the second period, the Spurs went into the third period leading 51-42.

The Hornets went through a 3-minute stretch without a basket in the third quarter before Paul hit 2 free throws, closing the gap to 58-50.? The Spurs’ Michael Finley then drained a 3-pointer and Parker added a jumper, giving San Antonio?a 63-50 lead; Finley would add another trey, as did Robert Horry, and free throws by Ginobili gave San Antonio a 71-54 late in the period.? But New Orleans would come back, thanks to 7 straight points by Jannero Pargo, pulling the Hornets to within 81-77 with 3:10 to go in the game; Pargo would drain a 3-pointer to cut it to 83-80 with about 90 seconds remaining.? But Parker would make a jumper with about 50 seconds left to go, giving the Spurs an 85-80 lead - ending the Hornets’ amazing season.

San Antonio was led by Ginobili with 26 points, including 4 three-pointers, 5 rebounds and 5 assists while Parker scored 17 with 2 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal and a block; Duncan added 16 with 14 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal.? New Orleans was led by David West with 20 points, 9 rebounds, an assist, a steal and a?block while Paul and Pargo scored 18 each - with Paul grabbing 8 rebounds, dishing out 14 assists and stealing 5 balls while Pargo grabbed 4 rebounds, dished out an assist and had 2 steals.? With the win in Game 7, San Antonio now advances to the Western Conference finals, facing the Los Angeles Lakers.



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