Ginobili defuses Rockets at NBA
Los Angeles, May 10: Manu Ginobili pulled off an astonishing last-gasp defensive block as the San Antonio Spurs dug deep to claim a 110-107 victory over the Houston Rockets in their Western Conference playoff series on Tuesday.
Kawhi Leonard — who limped off late in the game with an ankle injury — top scored for San Antonio with 22 points as the Spurs took a 3-2 lead in their best of seven series.
But it was Ginobili’s heroics in overtime — athletically denying James Harden as the Rockets star shaped for a game-tying three-pointer — that stole the show at San Antonio’s AT&T Center.
It was a superb clutch defensive play from the 39-year-old Argentinian, which gives the Spurs a precious lead as the series heads to Houston for Game 6 on Thursday.
“We went to him with Kawhi off the court and asked him to make some things happen, generate some offense. He did a good job, whether distributing or scoring — he was big for us,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said, praising his team’s defensive resilience after the loss of Leonard in a tense finale.
But it was a frustrating night for Harden, who led the scoring for the Rockets with 33 points and a triple-double but was unable to provide his team with the breakthrough in overtime.
Harden made only four of 15 attempted threepointers and crucially coughed up nine turnovers — including three in overtime.
San Antonio’s scoring was spread throughout the team, with LaMarcus Aldridge adding 18, Danny Green 16 and Patty Mills 20.
San Antonio meanwhile played the final minutes of regulation and the overtime period without Leonard, who appeared to twist his left ankle during a drive in the third quarter.
Houston looked to have edged clear when Ryan Anderson’s three-pointer put them ahead with 47.6 seconds on the clock.
Danny Green then drew a foul attempting a layup to give San Antonio a 109107 buffer, with a further free throw making it 110107.