goliath
06-20-2005, 01:53 AM
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA062005.1S.BKNspurs.pistons.gamer5.27f6b715.htm l
Horry's big shot wins Game 5
Web Posted: 06/20/2005 01:26 AM CDT
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — The Spurs took their seats in the huddle late Sunday, the din of the 22,076 fans rising above them. No one said a word to Robert Horry. No one needed to.
Devin Brown watched Horry, that famously lethal right arm dangling at his side, stand up from his seat. Brown turned to a teammate and smiled. The shot's going in, he said.
The shot went in, of course, as it has so many times before when Horry has cocked his right wrist in such pressure-packed moments. In burying the 25-foot 3-pointer with 5.8 seconds in overtime, Horry not only lifted the Spurs to a heart-stopping 96-95 victory over Detroit in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, he also punctuated a performance that Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich both simply termed, "unbelievable."
Having left himself one victory away from his sixth championship — his latest franchise is working on only its third — Horry and his teammates departed for San Antonio after the game. They will have two opportunities, if necessary, in the next four days to close out the Pistons.
"It was probably the greatest performance I've ever been a part of," Duncan said. "To just see him as calm as he was, willing to do whatever."
Horry, whose late-game heroics have earned him the nickname "Big Shot Bob," scored 21 points, all in the final 17:01. He made five of his six 3-pointers, none bigger than his last.
Trailing by two in overtime, the Spurs called timeout with 9.4 seconds left after Duncan rebounded Chauncey Billups' missed shot. Horry wasn't the first option in the play Popovich diagrammed, but he soon became the best one.
After Horry inbounded the ball to Manu Ginobili in the left corner, Rasheed Wallace left him to trap the Spurs' guard. Ginobili threaded a pass to Horry, who set his feet and fired.
The shot silenced the Palace of Auburn Hills and left a few of the Pistons shaking their heads. After the teams traded three timeouts, Richard Hamilton dribbled into the lane, pulled up and missed just before the buzzer, sending the Spurs into a brief celebration on the court.
"Since I was shooting well, I wanted to let it fly," Horry said. "I'm the type of player, I want to win a game. I don't want to go to overtime. I'm always going to go for a three."
The Spurs almost didn't have to go to overtime. Duncan, who totaled 26 points and 19 rebounds, missed a tip-in just before the final buzzer in regulation. He also clanged six free-throw tries in the fourth quarter, including three in the final minute.
After Ginobili drove and tried to bank in a runner, the ball came off the rim to Duncan, who tapped it with both hands only to watch it bounce short as time expired.
Duncan clenched his fists in frustration. After taking his seat on the bench, he stared blankly.
"I think they were initially a little bit down, understandably so," Popovich said. "Manu ... went over there and grabbed Timmy and talked to him, touched him and, you know, got to him on the bench.
"We couldn't afford to hang our heads."
Horry didn't. With the Pistons leading by four points, he drove for a powerful dunk as Hamilton fouled him. Horry, who came up holding his left shoulder, missed the free throw, but the play seemed to energize the Spurs.
"When I was going through the air," Horry said, "I was like, 'Please let me get there.'"
He arrived just in time. Having missed his first four shots, he finally drilled a 3-pointer with a second left in the third quarter. He opened the fourth with another.
Though each of the series' first four games had been decided by at least 15 points, both teams thought Sunday's would go down to the final minutes. They didn't disappoint. Neither team led by more than four points after the third quarter.
"It's the kind of game you hate to see anybody lose," Pistons coach Larry Brown said. "We've got to just bounce back."
The Spurs did that themselves after spending the previous two days talking about how they needed to raise their aggressiveness and physicality to match that of the Pistons. A little more than an hour before tipoff, Ginobili said the Spurs would treat the game "as if it were Game 7."
"And if you don't give everything you have for Game 7," Ginobili said, "you better do something else."
Horry lives for such moments. On Sunday, with the Spurs down two points, with a hostile crowd smelling blood, he walked into history one more time.
"Once Rob goes out there," Devin Brown said, "you just know if he gets his hand on the ball ..."
Horry's big shot wins Game 5
Web Posted: 06/20/2005 01:26 AM CDT
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — The Spurs took their seats in the huddle late Sunday, the din of the 22,076 fans rising above them. No one said a word to Robert Horry. No one needed to.
Devin Brown watched Horry, that famously lethal right arm dangling at his side, stand up from his seat. Brown turned to a teammate and smiled. The shot's going in, he said.
The shot went in, of course, as it has so many times before when Horry has cocked his right wrist in such pressure-packed moments. In burying the 25-foot 3-pointer with 5.8 seconds in overtime, Horry not only lifted the Spurs to a heart-stopping 96-95 victory over Detroit in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, he also punctuated a performance that Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich both simply termed, "unbelievable."
Having left himself one victory away from his sixth championship — his latest franchise is working on only its third — Horry and his teammates departed for San Antonio after the game. They will have two opportunities, if necessary, in the next four days to close out the Pistons.
"It was probably the greatest performance I've ever been a part of," Duncan said. "To just see him as calm as he was, willing to do whatever."
Horry, whose late-game heroics have earned him the nickname "Big Shot Bob," scored 21 points, all in the final 17:01. He made five of his six 3-pointers, none bigger than his last.
Trailing by two in overtime, the Spurs called timeout with 9.4 seconds left after Duncan rebounded Chauncey Billups' missed shot. Horry wasn't the first option in the play Popovich diagrammed, but he soon became the best one.
After Horry inbounded the ball to Manu Ginobili in the left corner, Rasheed Wallace left him to trap the Spurs' guard. Ginobili threaded a pass to Horry, who set his feet and fired.
The shot silenced the Palace of Auburn Hills and left a few of the Pistons shaking their heads. After the teams traded three timeouts, Richard Hamilton dribbled into the lane, pulled up and missed just before the buzzer, sending the Spurs into a brief celebration on the court.
"Since I was shooting well, I wanted to let it fly," Horry said. "I'm the type of player, I want to win a game. I don't want to go to overtime. I'm always going to go for a three."
The Spurs almost didn't have to go to overtime. Duncan, who totaled 26 points and 19 rebounds, missed a tip-in just before the final buzzer in regulation. He also clanged six free-throw tries in the fourth quarter, including three in the final minute.
After Ginobili drove and tried to bank in a runner, the ball came off the rim to Duncan, who tapped it with both hands only to watch it bounce short as time expired.
Duncan clenched his fists in frustration. After taking his seat on the bench, he stared blankly.
"I think they were initially a little bit down, understandably so," Popovich said. "Manu ... went over there and grabbed Timmy and talked to him, touched him and, you know, got to him on the bench.
"We couldn't afford to hang our heads."
Horry didn't. With the Pistons leading by four points, he drove for a powerful dunk as Hamilton fouled him. Horry, who came up holding his left shoulder, missed the free throw, but the play seemed to energize the Spurs.
"When I was going through the air," Horry said, "I was like, 'Please let me get there.'"
He arrived just in time. Having missed his first four shots, he finally drilled a 3-pointer with a second left in the third quarter. He opened the fourth with another.
Though each of the series' first four games had been decided by at least 15 points, both teams thought Sunday's would go down to the final minutes. They didn't disappoint. Neither team led by more than four points after the third quarter.
"It's the kind of game you hate to see anybody lose," Pistons coach Larry Brown said. "We've got to just bounce back."
The Spurs did that themselves after spending the previous two days talking about how they needed to raise their aggressiveness and physicality to match that of the Pistons. A little more than an hour before tipoff, Ginobili said the Spurs would treat the game "as if it were Game 7."
"And if you don't give everything you have for Game 7," Ginobili said, "you better do something else."
Horry lives for such moments. On Sunday, with the Spurs down two points, with a hostile crowd smelling blood, he walked into history one more time.
"Once Rob goes out there," Devin Brown said, "you just know if he gets his hand on the ball ..."