SAN ANTONIO — Just days after fielding questions about retirement amid recent struggles, San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili turned in his best game of the season on Sunday to put his team on the cusp of an NBA championship.
The 35-year-old Argentine player turned back the clock with a 24-point performance as San Antonio beat the Miami Heat 114-104 to take a 3-2 lead over the defending champions in the best-of-seven series.
“I really didn’t expect a 24-point game. It didn’t happen all season long,” said Ginobili. “But I needed to feel more important, more of a threat attacking the rim, and (it’s) good to see it happen.”
Following his team’s Game 4 109-93 loss on Thursday in which he shot 1-for-5, the three-time NBA champion said he was pondering retirement after a season where injuries have taken a toll.
Ginobili had averaged 7.5 points over the first four games of the Finals and his 38 per cent play-off shooting percentage heading into Sunday’s game was a career worst.
There were questions as to whether Ginobili, a two-time All-Star who has spent his entire career with the Spurs, would even start for the pivotal Game Five. He found out he would ahead of Saturday’s practice.
On Sunday, he had the AT&T Center crowd chanting his name as he went 8-of-14 from the field and added a team-high 10 assists. He was also instrumental during a dazzling stretch that spanned the third and fourth quarters, scoring 11 points as the Spurs built a game-high 20-point lead with nine minutes to play.
His performance could not have come at a more opportune time for the Spurs, who head to Miami needing to win one of the next two games for their first championship since winning a fourth NBA title in 2007.
Meanwhile, the Heat are at a loss to explain their stunning inability to win consecutive games for nearly a month, a sequence they must break if they are to repeat as NBA champions. The reigning champs now need to win two straight or surrender their crown.
Game 6 is in Miami today (tomorrow morning, Singapore time).
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