Manu carries the load as Spurs hang on

It was the most quiet of the big three, the man who had been so unassuming all game, that came through in the clutch.

All game, he looked lost, getting in foul trouble and barely registered on the score sheet at the half. But by games end, the Spurs made sure it was in his hands, and he came through.

If anything, Manu Ginobili earned his sixth man award tonight in San Antonio in a series-clinching 92-87 win over the Phoenix Suns.

At halftime, he had scored just two points and three fouls in 11 minutes of play. By games end, he would have only eight, four of those from the charity stripe.

But it was a big eight.

After Boris Diaw cut the Spurs lead to one, Ginobili came up strong. First, after a risky inbounds pass up the middle, he was fouled going for a lay up and hit one of two, giving the Spurs a two-point lead.

Phoenix called a twenty second timeout, advancing the ball to half court – but turned it over on the inbounds pass. Ginobili was fouled and went to the line with the chance to ice it.

He did, hitting both and giving the Spurs a commanding lead of four points and that was the ball game.

But it was far from just him tonight – he got a ton of help from a Phoenix team that collapsed down the stretch and a stellar night from both Tony Parker and Tim Duncan.

The Suns turned the ball over seven times in the fourth quarter and looked panicky down the stretch, forcing shots against a San Antonio defence that kept them outside.

And their big acquisition – Shaquille O’Neal – was a problem all game for the Suns, too. As early as the second quarter, San Antonio went into hack mode, fouling him away from the ball and sending him to the line, where he was far from effective.

He would miss 11 free throws in the game, more then the difference in the outcome. In the second quarter, he missed nine free throws, while San Antonio took a 54-45 lead at the half.

“We wanted to make Shaq work,” said Kurt Thomas at the half.

However, when Shaq sat for most of the third, Phoenix roared back, going on a 13-4 run that gave then a lead of five late in the third.

But this was a strategy that almost backfired for the Spurs. Going into the fourth quarter, they had three players with four fouls, and another two with three. And when Shaq entered the game again in the fourth, their strategy was much less effective, as he started hitting more of his free throws. Soon, he showed glimpses of his old self, driving to the basket over Duncan and getting the foul.

However, a glimpse was all the Suns would get.

As effective as Ginobili was late, it was Tony Parker, the point guard who had been taking flak all season, who exploded for the Spurs. In the first half, he had 20 points, five assists and was a perfect 8/8 from the line.

He finished with 31 points and eight assists and a number of clutch shots, including two late daggers that kept San Antonio in front late.

“We just treated it like a game seven,” he said after the game.

Indeed they did, with a defence that kept Phoenix away from the basket and ran down the clock. On the offensive boards, they were stellar too: three-time MVP Tim Duncan was a monster throughout, finishing with 29 points and17 rebounds in 41 minutes of play.

On the other side, two-time MVP Steve Nash was ineffective at best. He shot a dismal four of 16 and didn’t register an assist until late in the third quarter. He finished with just 11 points, three assists and turnovers, hardly his kind of stat line.

Even before this game, but especially as it finished, rumours were flying about the Suns. Is this the last game for head coach Mike D’Antoni? Are the missed free throws and riding the bench the last memory we will have of the force formerly known as the Diesel? And what of Nash? He looked ineffective all game and was completely outplayed by Parker.

Perhaps the only bright spot for the Suns here was the play of Boris Diaw. He finished with 22, eight rebounds and eight assists. Where Nash faltered, Diaw shined. He was the driving force that kept the Suns in the game early on.

On a night where two series ended – Dallas also fell, to New Orleans – it seemed a sober reminder of last year. The Suns, collapsing down the stretch. San Antonio, getting baskets when it counted. And a semi-final matchup that everybody’s set for: San Antonio vs New Orleans.

“It’s going to be a great series,” said Parker. “I can’t wait.”

Neither can anybody else.

Suns vs Spurs an OT Classic

It was a game that had everything: a comeback, a duel, buzzer-beaters and huge shots. It was a game you could write a thesis on.

And it was only the first game of the series.

For four quarters and two heart-stopping overtimes, the Suns and the Spurs faced each other once again, in what is maybe the most heated – and most hotly anticipated – series in recent memory. It didn’t disappoint.

Leading by as many as 19 in the first half, and by as many as nine in the fourth, the Suns struggled late, under the oppressive settings of San Antonio’s AT&T Center.

But this wasn’t another Phoenix playoff collapse. They battled in OT and it came down to San Antonio taking the final shot, twice. Problem was, they hit it twice.

No, this was a duel. Steve Nash and Tim Duncan, battling again. Duncan would finish with 40, 15 rebounds and five assists. Nash finished with 25 and 13 assists. But the numbers almost don’t matter; it’s their shots that will be remembered.

Duncan, nails his first and only three of the game, tying it at the end of the first OT.

Nash, hitting a three while falling sideways, ties the game with 15 to play in the second OT.

It’s a cliché to say it’s a shame one team had to lose, that they both played so well nobody deserved to lose. And it’s surely a cliché that could be applied here.

But it’s another that fits a lot better: the team that wanted it more, won. It. The win.

Item: Late in the second OT, there was a struggle under the phoenix basket. One missed layup, then another. Bodies flying all over the place. Duncan reaches up and stuffs it in on the Spurs third chance.

Item: With 15 to play in the second overtime, San Antonio rolls the dice, taking the ball upcourt and went for the win. No timeout, no set plays. No waiting it out, going for a third OT. End it now.

Manu Ginobili hits a layup with 1.8 to play. Nash takes a half-court shot that sails wide as the final buzzer sounds.

It’s scenarios like that, where they had to grind it out, that showed how determined, how dedicated, how good San Antonio is. They played hard, they didn’t let up and they kept the pressure going, attacking the basket and Shaquille O’Neal, who with five fouls, often shied away from drawing contact under his own basket.

Yet it was O’Neal who tied the game in the second overtime, stuffing a rebound to make it 112 all.

About halfway through the game, ESPN flashed a little statistic. Over 80 per cent of the teams that win game one win the series.

But here’s something else. Last year, San Antonio won game one, 111-106, and won the series in six. In 2005, they won game one 121-114, and the series in five.

If this series goes to form, it should go to seven.

And if it goes that far, all bets are off. Especially if it’s as tense as game one.