It was an exciting Tuesday night in the NBA as we saw the number two seed San Antonio Spurs go against the number three seed Houston Rockets in Game 5. With series tied at 2-2, both teams wanted to take this crucial win in Game 5 as they try to advance to the Western Conference Finals and square off against the Golden State Warriors.
It was a game that went down to the wire as the Spurs eventually took a 110-107 overtime victory against the Rockets. On a night when Kawhi Leonard scored 22 and Patty Mills added 20 points, it was Manu Ginobili who saved the day for the Spurs — just like he did many times before in his career.
Big time block by Ginobili at the buzzer
As the time was winding down with the Spurs leading 110-107 in overtime, James Harden took the ball on the left side of the court trying to hit the game-tying three-pointer. He dribbled the ball as the clock ticked down and rose for one final try and chance to send the game to the second overtime but then Manu Ginobili showed out of nowhere. He blocked Harden's shot from behind as the time expired and the Spurs celebrated their much needed victory in Game 5.
According to ESPN, James Harden attempted 862 3-pointers this season and it was only the 13th time that his three-point attempt was blocked. Up to that point, Ginobili hadn't blocked a 3-point attempt in more than a year.
It was a performance for the ages from the 39-year old Argentinian and his best game so far in this postseason.
Ginobili reminded as all once again why he is a first ballot Hall of Famer. He finished Game 5 with 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists in 32 minutes of playing time. Not bad for a guy in his 15th season.
With 2 minutes left in the second quarter, Ginobili cut to the basket and jumped off his right foot, and slammed home a right-handed dunk.
It was his third dunk since the season started and his first in the last four months.
Greg Poppovich on Ginobili: "He was a stud."
After the game was over, the head coach of the Spurs, Greg Poppovich talked to the media about Manu Ginobili's performance.
"Manu reached back and gave us one of his Manu performances from past years," Poppovich said.
"He was a stud. We actually went to him to generate some offense, and make some things happen. He did a good job, whether it was distributing or scoring. He was big for us."
His teammate Danny Green said, "Manu is the type of guy where he doesn't care about his points, assists or numbers. He just wanted to win the game. He did a great job, even at the end, blocking Harden on that 3-pointer."
When asked about the final play of the game, Ginobili said,"It was a risky play, but it was also risky to let him shoot so I took my chances."
The 39-year old Argentinian was a 57th pick in the second round of the 1999 draft. He has spent most of his career coming off the bench for the Spurs from which he’s made three All-Star teams and two All-NBA teams.
He is also a four-time champion with San Antonio and even in his 15th season in the league he continues to impact the game at the highest level.
We don't know how much he's got left but one thing is for sure — Ginobili is going to leave it all on the court, just like he did every time throughout his illustrious career.
