Ginobili drains game-winning 3 in San Antonio
The NBA is spread with young talent that leave fans amazed night in and night out. However, it was a 40-year-old Manu Ginobili who took center stage Friday night to give the Spurs a victory over the many fresh legs of the Boston Celtics.
Over the past few summers, Ginobili has taken his time deciding whether or not to call it quits and hang up the jersey. While he can be a bit erratic with his decision making, his call to lace up for another season has given San Antonio the sort of late game poise and confidence that they’ve needed when the game’s on the line.
With twenty-five seconds left in regulation and the clock winding down, Manu Ginobli secured the most important rebound of the game to give the San Antonio Spurs one last chance to put themselves ahead of Boston. Following a great screen from LaMarcus Aldridge, the Argentine two guard escaped from his defender and fired away a jumper from downtown that kissed the back iron and fell through the net.
Ginobili bricked his other two attempts from three point land, but no one will remember those shots. What they will remember is his dagger at the half to give the Spurs their first lead of the night, and his game-winner from beyond the arc that put the nail in the coffin and lifted San Antonio to victory 105-102.
The veteran saved the day for silver and black, but Kyrie Irving was the main attraction through the first 47 minutes and some odd seconds of the game. The clever point guard was in his bag all night as he pulled out his many tricks to burn the Spurs defenders for 36 points.
Rookie Jayson Tatum put his full array of skills on display for 20 points and Boston’s starters combined for 77 of their 102 points. Unfortunately while the Celtics first unit was cooking with fire, their bench couldn’t shake the rust and underperformed to finish with 25 points on 10-33 shooting.
San Antonio have already lost Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Anderson to injury and they added Danny Green to the growing list in the first half. The three and D specialist exited the game early with tightness in his groin and isn’t expected back for the upcoming road trip.
LaMarcus Aldridge dropped 27 points and 10 rebounds for the ailing Spurs, and they’ll need him to continue his recent streak of big games in order for them to keep their head above water while their key role players recover from injury. The five-time All-Star’s 53-63-97 shooting splits are out of this world and he’s been on a tear over his last six games, averaging 26.3 points a contest.
San Antonio has leaned on their star big man all season and he’s more than done his part to keep the team running on the right track. Fortunately for the storied organization, Finals MVP and two-time Defensive Player of the Year Award winner Kawhi Leonard is expected to make his long-awaited debut this Tuesday agains the Dallas Mavericks.
The Spurs will likely look to Leonard going while keeping Aldridge on a role. They’ve flown under the radar and been surprisingly dominant without their superstar on the way to a third place record in the Western Conference.
Don’t look now, but the San Antonio Spurs are 18-8, recovering and making their move to the top of the leaderboard. I’d say it’s surprise, but are we ever really surprised by the greatness that comes from The Alamo City?
