SPARKY
05-29-2007, 08:45 AM
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May 28, 2007
The Utah Jazz had splintered another Spurs lead, bumping and clawing their way within a single point as the frenzied sellout crowd filling EnergySolutions Arena roared its approval.
Manu Ginobili, apparently, had seen and heard enough. Having watched the Spurs wither under Utah's physicality just two days earlier, he cradled the ball with both hands and barreled into the lane, crashing into Jazz forward Paul Millsap before dropping to the court.
Ginobili picked himself up, then stepped to the free-throw line, a process he would repeat time and again for the remainder of the game. Drive. Crash. Free throw. Drive. Crash. Free throw.
By the time Ginobili was done Monday, he had scored 16 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, sent Utah coach Jerry Sloan and Derek Fisher marching to the locker room in frustration and pushed the Spurs to a 91-79 victory that left them on the edge of the NBA Finals.
"I just tried to do the same thing," Ginobili said. "Play as tough as them."
That was enough to give the Spurs a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference finals. They will attempt to close out the best-of-7 series Wednesday at the AT&T Center.
May 28, 2007
The Utah Jazz had splintered another Spurs lead, bumping and clawing their way within a single point as the frenzied sellout crowd filling EnergySolutions Arena roared its approval.
Manu Ginobili, apparently, had seen and heard enough. Having watched the Spurs wither under Utah's physicality just two days earlier, he cradled the ball with both hands and barreled into the lane, crashing into Jazz forward Paul Millsap before dropping to the court.
Ginobili picked himself up, then stepped to the free-throw line, a process he would repeat time and again for the remainder of the game. Drive. Crash. Free throw. Drive. Crash. Free throw.
By the time Ginobili was done Monday, he had scored 16 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, sent Utah coach Jerry Sloan and Derek Fisher marching to the locker room in frustration and pushed the Spurs to a 91-79 victory that left them on the edge of the NBA Finals.
"I just tried to do the same thing," Ginobili said. "Play as tough as them."
That was enough to give the Spurs a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference finals. They will attempt to close out the best-of-7 series Wednesday at the AT&T Center.