PDA

View Full Version : NBA.com greatest game 5's



WildcardManu
06-15-2008, 12:21 PM
Dunno if it's been posted but here it is..

http://www.nba.com/finals2008/greatest_game5s.html

Big Shot Rob’s OT Heroics | Roberty Horry Top 10 Moments
(June 19, 2005 San Antonio Spurs 96, Detroit Pistons 95)

A series that featured blowouts in each of the four games was now tied at halftime. The pressure mounted in the second half as both teams were fully aware of what was at stake. In the previous 23 times a Finals was tied 2-2, the Game 5 winner had gone on to win the title 17 times. After getting poor percentage looks at the basket for much of the third quarter, the Pistons finished strong, ripping off an 11-2 run before Robert Horry scored his first points of the game by nailing a three-pointer with one second remaining.

Nine seconds into the fourth quarter, Horry was at it again, hitting another three giving the Spurs a four-point lead. Horry, who surpassed Michael Jordan for the most three-pointers in NBA Finals history in Game 3 with his 43rd, kept adding to his tally ……Spurs down three with 3:47 remaining …Boom! … a 25-foot shot …79-79 … Whenever the Pistons responded, whether it was Richard Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace or Chauncey Billups, Horry answered with free throws, tip-ins or more threes, including another 25-footer with 1:16 remaining that quickly erased a Pistons’ two-point lead, giving the Spurs a one-point advantage.

Billups, Mr. Big Shot, who carried the Pistons down the stretch, drove to the basket and scored with 51 seconds left to give the Pistons a one-point lead. Duncan, who struggled from the line, especially in the fourth quarter, missed all his previous six attempts before converting one with 33.8 seconds remaining to tie the game at 89. The frustration would continue for Duncan when he missed a golden opportunity to win the game in the closing seconds when he couldn’t slam home Ginobili’s running layup that rolled off the rim and into his hands as regulation expired.

In overtime, the Pistons jumped out to a four-point lead before Horry decided to add to his personal highlight reel. He faked his defender, Tayshaun Prince, to the left on the free throw line and floated to the hoop before throwing down a left-handed dunk while getting fouled in the process by Richard Hamilton. This cut the lead to two. Duncan, who hadn’t scored a field goal in the last nine minutes, uncharacteristically let an Horry pass slip through his hands on the Spurs next possession. Prince quickly retrieved the ball as the Pistons looked to add to their lead.

When Chauncey Billups missed a layup, Duncan scooped the rebound and quickly called timeout. With 9.4 seconds remaining, the Spurs had one last opportunity and Horry had a chance to cement his legend as one of the NBA’s greatest playoff clutch performers. Horry inbounded the ball to a cutting Ginobili, who drew the attention of Rasheed Wallace, who made the fatal mistake of leaving Big Shot Rob open. He received the pass and rattled in a three to give the Spurs a one-point lead as the 22,076 fans stood stunned. The Pistons called time out and drew up a play for Hamilton who missed badly on his field goal attempt as Parker blanketed him.

It was a classic game, featuring 18 ties and 12 lead changes, as the Spurs flew to San Antonio with a 3-2 series lead, thanks in large part to the man with five NBA championship rings who came off the bench and scored 21 of his team’s final 35 points.

Eighteen of Horry’s 21 points came in the fourth quarter and overtime as he converted five three-pointers in the second half. It was yet another spectacular performance by Horry who had performed similar clutch time heroics for the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers.

Dex
06-15-2008, 01:31 PM
One of the greatest games I've ever seen. I still get goosebumps thinkin' about that shot.

Old or not, I'm gonna miss Big Shot when he's gone. Considering how much I loathed him when he was with Houston and LA, to how much I respect him now, he is definitely one of the greatest stories the NBA has produced.

You don't gotta be the best to win. You just have to know how to work with the best, and how to be in the right place at the right time.

angelbelow
06-15-2008, 01:58 PM
oh mna... the good old days =)