Rack GINOBILI

Fat Bones · Post by **Fat Bones** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 9:42 am

The Spurs handed the Suns their notice to extinguish all hope of a championship tonight.

Manu caved in the net.

PHOENIX (AP) -- Manu Ginobili's career night ruined Steve Nash's return to the Phoenix Suns' lineup.

Ginobili scored 48 points and the San Antonio Spurs rallied from a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit to hand the Suns their sixth consecutive loss, 128-123 in overtime, on Friday night.

``He was remarkable,'' San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. ``He's such a competitor.''

Tim Duncan had 30 points and 19 rebounds for the Spurs, who became the first team to beat Phoenix twice this season.

Nash had 16 points and 13 assists in 46 minutes after missing the last 3 1/2 games with injuries.

Shawn Marion scored 37 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for the Suns. His 3-pointer at the fourth-quarter buzzer that sent the game into overtime. Amare Stoudemire, coming off a season-low eight-point game on Wednesday, scored 35 in an intense matchup befitting the teams with the two best records in the NBA.

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``I think they're tired and dejected right now,'' Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said of his players, ``but in the back of their mind, they know `Hey, we're pretty good.''

Brent Barry sank clutch 3-pointers late in regulation and early in overtime and scored 16 for San Antonio. Ginobili, whose previous career best was 33, made 16-of-22 shots, 5-of-7 3-pointers, and 11 of 12 free throws. His 3-pointer with 56.7 seconds left in overtime sealed the victory.

``What can I say? This was a game that I probably would never expect to have,'' Ginobili said. ``I'm not the first option on this team. I came in really strong, making shots, so my confidence was built up already. Then I started making tough shots. I was feeling it and they were all falling.''

With Nash out, the Suns' energized game had also left. But Phoenix was back in high-gear for this one.

``Getting Steve back was a huge boost for us, and we played well,'' Quentin Richardson said, ``but we just showed our youth tonight. They're a veteran team, and they've won two championships.''

The victory kept the Spurs (33-9) ahead of the Suns (32-10) for the league's best mark.

Down 88-71 after three quarters, San Antonio came back behind Ginobili and took a 109-108 lead on Barry's 3-pointer from the top of the key with 16.9 seconds left in regulation. After Nash missed a jumper, Duncan was fouled and made two free throws to put the Spurs up 111-108 with 7.3 seconds to go.

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AP - Jan 22, 1:45 am EST
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But Marion leaned into a 3-pointer at the buzzer to tie it at 111 and send the game into overtime.

Ginobili's free throw on a defensive three-second call started a 7-0 San Antonio surge in overtime. Ginobili's driving stuff, Duncan's dunk and another Duncan basket made it 123-115 with 1:55 left.

Marion scored 14 consecutive points, igniting a 23-6 run over the final six minutes of the third quarter to put the Suns up 88-71 entering the fourth. Nash capped the outburst with a 13-footer with 9.8 seconds left.

But San Antonio outscored Phoenix 19-6 to start the fourth quarter, cutting the lead to 94-90 on Ginobili's fast-break basket with 7:15 left.

The Suns responded again.

Joe Johnson sank a 3-pointer and Marion stuffed it on a breakaway after a San Antonio turnover to boost the lead to 99-90 with 5:51 left in the fourth.

Notes

Phoenix had only nine players in uniform after a trade earlier in the day that sent reserves Casey Jacobsen, Maciej Lampe and Jackson Vroman to the New Orleans Hornets for Jim Jackson. ... Jackson is expected to be in uniform for the Suns' game against New Jersey on Sunday. ... The Spurs snapped Phoenix's 11-game winning streak with a 115-94 victory in San Antonio on Dec. 28. ... The Suns shot 14-for-20 (70 percent) in the third quarter. ... Spurs center Rasho Nesterovic went down with a sprained left ankle with 9:20 left in the second quarter and did not return.

bbqjones · Post by **bbqjones** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 3:15 pm

i hate this thread veryr much.

i always knew ginobli was a decent player, but last night dude was unstoppable. that dunk came out of nowhere and the suns break my heart again. it seems evertime they are on tv, either i jinx them with my new staudemire jersey or they lose after holding a huge fourth quarter lead. same fucking shit earlier in the season when they played cleveland. hopefully this is a reality check for the suns and someone other than marion starts playing som e fucking defense. if the suns and spurs meet in the playoffs, its going to be one hell of a seven game series.

RadioFan · Post by **RadioFan** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 5:48 pm

Hell of a game last night -- probably in the top 5 of regular-season games we're likely to see this year. Both teams played excellent, with Stoudemire and Marion both playing awesome. But Ginobili was simply out of his mind.

OUMO · Post by **OUMO** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 11:46 pm

My buddy said it was over when SA went down by 15, I knew they would make a run.

That Ginobili dunk was sick.

SA is my pick as of now for the title, probably playing the Heat.

RadioFan · Post by **RadioFan** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 11:50 pm

OUMO wrote:My buddy said it was over when SA went down by 15,

Same here. In fact, told a relative on Thursday night that I wouldn't be surprised if the Spurs got blown out. They historically have not done well in that building. My prediction came true ... for a while. Unwar former SA residents losing faith.

Vito Corleone · Post by **Vito Corleone** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 11:31 pm

bbqjones wrote:i hate this thread veryr much.

if the suns and spurs meet in the playoffs, its going to be one hell of a seven game series.

Sorry bbq but if the Suns and Spurs meet in the playoffs it's going to be one hell of a 5 game series.

Fat Bones · Post by **Fat Bones** » Mon May 30, 2005 2:58 pm

bumpity bump.

bwaahahaaaaaaa.

Diogenes · Post by **Diogenes** » Mon May 30, 2005 4:39 pm

Bite Me, Bitch.

Bet yes, you have to rack him.

One of the most underrated players in the NBA (not anymore though)

I hate that guy.

Cicero · Post by **Cicero** » Mon May 30, 2005 4:46 pm

I guess you cant win a champ if all you care about is scoring.

RadioFan · Post by **RadioFan** » Mon May 30, 2005 5:21 pm

Diogenes wrote:I hate that guy.

The friend we stayed with is a human resources director at a department store in SA. She said they can't keep dude's jerseys in stock, they sell out so fast.

At the game, the most numerous jerseys I saw were Duncan, but Ginobli was a close second. The fans in SA love this guy.

Btw, I didn't see anybody else with an Elliott jersey. :twisted:

Diogenes · Post by **Diogenes** » Mon May 30, 2005 7:16 pm

RadioFan wrote:
Diogenes wrote:I hate that guy.
The friend we stayed with is a human resources director at a department store in SA. She said they can't keep dude's jerseys in stock, they sell out so fast.

At the game, the most numerous jerseys I saw were Duncan, but Ginobli was a close second. The fans in SA love this guy.

Btw, I didn't see anybody else with an Elliott jersey. :twisted:

Hope you enjoyed the game.

As far as the Suns fans go, it's not like we're Chargerfan delusionaly thinking this is the year before the deed is done.

On the other hand, this team is brand new, young and confident.

I seem to rember people thinking that Chicago could never get past the Pistons in the '80s.

Of course, once they did........

RadioFan · Post by **RadioFan** » Mon May 30, 2005 9:13 pm

Diogenes wrote:Hope you enjoyed the game.

As far as the Suns fans go, it's not like we're Chargerfan delusionaly thinking this is the year before the deed is done.

On the other hand, this team is brand new, young and confident.

I seem to rember people thinking that Chicago could never get past the Pistons in the '80s.

Of course, once they did........

Exactly.

We were listening to the local sports radio guys once we got near Austin for the final few hours of the drive in. They were talking about how there weren't as many car flags/signs, etc. as in past years. And they were right. I noticed not nearly as many car flags as the last time I was down there in 1999 for Game 2 of the Finals.

They made reference that the fans should get their shit together and support the team ... that the opportunity to have a shot at a championship only comes around very rarely, ect.

But as least the crowd was very loud at the SBC center. First time I've been there -- beautiful facility.

Our seats were in the last row of section 224, across from the benches, and right at center court.

The building has escalators, that take fans to the upper deck. When you get off the escalator, there's a red carpet and mounted lighting on either side, with something like a 16-member full mariachi band that starts playing whenever a group of fans makes their way up to the red carpet. People get off the escalator and feel like they're movie stars or something -- kind of a nice touch for folks who have to sit in the upper deck.

And, yes, I had an awesome time.

You should try to make it out for a playoff game in Phx sometime, if you haven't been before. I imagine the atmosphere is similar.

bbqjones · Post by **bbqjones** » Tue May 31, 2005 3:07 am

block of the decade goes to staudemire.

that was sick.

RadioFan · Post by **RadioFan** » Tue May 31, 2005 2:50 pm

bbqjones wrote:block of the decade goes to staudemire.

that was sick.

Indeed.

The Suns played a great game last night.