SAN ANTONIO (CT) - With the NBA title on the line, Tim Duncan
and the San Antonio Spurs proved themselves worthy champions.
Duncan came up huge in the second half and was chosen finals
MVP after having the worst playoff series of his career, and
Manu Ginobili had another breakthrough performance Thursday
night to lead the Spurs past the Detroit Pistons 81-74 in a Game
7 that was as thrilling as it was rare.
In a matchup of the past two NBA champions, the Spurs came
through in the clutch to win their third title in seven years
and deny Detroit the chance to repeat.
The Spurs are certainly not a dynasty, but their staying
power as a championship caliber team helps validate a legacy
that history will revere with an added measure of respect.
Duncan had 25 points and 11 rebounds while shrugging off a
stretch of eight straight misses that ended in the third quarter
with the teams tied. Ginobili scored 23 points with a series of
slashing, scintillating drives and big passes.
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(CT) San Antonio Spurs' Robert Horry , right,shoots over Detroit Pistons' Ben Wallace
during the first...
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Behind Duncan, the stoic established star, and Ginobili, the
flashy young Argentine, the first Game 7 in more than a decade
ended with the Spurs celebrating on their home court as silver
and black confetti streamed down from the rafters.
"We just played a great team. I don't know how the hell we
did it, but I am thrilled," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said
after embracing his good friend, Detroit coach Larry Brown, as
the game ended. Popovich became the third coach with three
titles, while Brown headed into an uncertain future still stuck
on one.
"I'm just as proud this year as I was last year," said Brown,
whose team recovered from two early blowout losses and dictated
the series for four straight games before San Antonio - and
especially Duncan - reasserted itself at the end.
The NBA had waited a long time for a game with so much at
stake and so little room for error. And the difference came in
the fourth quarter, when the Spurs were able to make the plays
the Pistons couldn't.
Midway through the period, Ginobili assisted on a 3-pointer
by Robert Horry and Duncan found Bruce Bowen alone outside the
arc for another 3 that put San Antonio ahead 67-61. Detroit
pulled within four before the Duncan-Ginobili combo clicked
perfectly on two straight possessions.
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(CT) San Antonio Spurs' Tony Parker of France,
reacts during third quarter in game seven of the
NBA...
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First, Ginobili drove the lane and drew Duncan's defender,
zipping a pass to Duncan all alone on the baseline for a
19-footer. Next, Duncan had three defenders collapsing on him
when he saw Ginobili all alone at the 3-point line. The shot was
perfect, and San Antonio led 72-65 with 2:57 left.
Detroit's next three possessions brought an airball, a foul
shot and an offensive foul, but all San Antonio could produce
over that shot was a single free throw by Duncan. The score was
73-68 entering the final minute when Ginobili made the play that
clinched it, weaving through several defenders for a layup that
was almost too easy, making it 75-68.
The Pistons, who were outscored 24-17 in the final quarter,
couldn't recover.
Detroit had won 10 straight postseason games with a chance to
eliminate its opponent and was trying to become the first team
in NBA history to win two Game 7s on the road in a postseason.
As resilient as they were, that turned out to be too tall of a
task.
"I am unbelievably happy. I couldn't be happier," Ginobili
said. "It's just an unbelievable feeling. I need another body to
feel it."
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(CT) San Antonio Spurs' Tim Duncan goes to the
hoop as Detroit Pistons' Antonio McDyess, left,
and Ben...
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Duncan's legacy was as much in question as his team's. He had
struggled through out the series against a superior defensive
team, the Pistons presenting the toughest test the Spurs had
faced in the finals after defeating the 1999 Knicks and the 2003
Nets, teams that might have been a little too pleased just to
have a shot at the title.
"I don't listen to anything that was said. I wanted to come
out here and give my best effort," Duncan said after winning his
third finals MVP. "We fought for this thing."
Duncan came up short on a dunk and a 21-footer early in the
third quarter, giving him six consecutive misses, and Detroit
slowly began to build upon its lead. A dunk by Tayshaun Prince,
a steal and two foul shots by Chauncey Billups, a poor
possession by San Antonio and a spin move by Antonio McDyess
made it 48-39.
Duncan's string of misses reached eight before he converted a
three-point play, and Ginobili drove for a score off a turnover
to complete a 7-0 run that got the Spurs right back in it. A
14-foot bank shot by Duncan - a part of his usual repertoire
that had been absent in this series - produced a 53-53 tie
before he knocked down another shot off the glass, this time
from a few steps farther away, to help produce a 57-57 tie
entering the fourth.
Duncan had 12 points and six rebounds in the third quarter.
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(CT) San Antonio Spurs' Tim Duncan (21) holds
his MVP trophy, left, and the NBA Championship
trophy,...
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"Tim came out huge today. He was very focused this morning and
he played like an MVP," teammate Tony Parker said.
After a flat start, Popovich told the Spurs during a timeout
to start creating for each other - to stop standing around on
offense and letting the Pistons be the aggressors with their
defense. There was a change in Duncan immediately thereafter as
he had a blocked shot, an assist and a tip-in to start a 10-0
run that gave San Antonio a 16-12 lead.
Each team's defensive intensity was a bit sharper than their
offensive execution, in large part because Billups and Ginobili
each picked up two early fouls, and the first quarter ended with
the Spurs ahead 18-16.
Points continued to be difficult to come by in the second
quarter, the Pistons hurting themselves with too many long
outside shots and too few possessions in which the ball moved
around, and not enough second-chance points generated by their
better work on the offensive boards.
The Spurs were having their own problems, almost never
getting an easy shot while trying as hard as they could - too
hard, perhaps - to force their offense through Duncan. Ben
Wallace had dunks on three consecutive possessions late in the
first half to give him a team-high 12 points on 6-for-7 shooting
as Detroit led 39-38 at halftime.
