10/05/2024 14:41hs.
This Friday, May 10 Seven years have passed since Manu Ginobili’s historic block on James Harden in game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals of the NBA. An indelible memory because, apart from having blocked the shot of one of the best players in world basketball, He did it in the death throes of the game and it was worth a key victory.
At 39 years old, Ginobili continued to show what he was capable of. Without his two historic teammates (Tony Parker and Tim Duncan), the Argentine basketball player was the great emblem of Poppovich’s Spurs along with the figure Kawhi Leonard, who that night twisted his ankle and could not continue on the court. To make matters worse, in the semifinals of the Western Conference, the rival was one of the toughest: they faced some Houston Rockets commanded by the eccentric James Hardena player who was fighting to be the MVP of the season at that time.
With the series tied 2-2, the fifth game was played at the home of the San Antonio Spurs. The match went back and forth and had the Barba on fire (33 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and 9 turnovers). For his part, Manu had not added many minutes in the match but in the last quarter, Poppovich sent the Bahian to the court to provide poise and experience.
At the end of the last quarter 101-101, the Spurs and Rockets went to overtime. There, the figure of the great Manu Ginobili emerged. The Argentine, in his 208th playoff game, He was the one who converted the double to take the game to overtime, with 34 seconds left. Later, with the game 110-107 in favor of San Antonio and with seven seconds left in the game, the ball fell into Harden’s hands. And there the story was written.
The day Ginobili gave the Spurs more than a victory.
With a feint, the Yankee got two players off of him and was free on the three-point line to tie the game. As he took flight and was about to release the shot that would force an extra second, a magical hand appeared from behind the Bahiense who blocked the shot. A dream night for Manu who finished the game with 12 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists in 33 minutes. But Harden’s block got all the flashes. An image that was framed in the history of the NBA.
After the victory, the Spurs took the lead in the series and in the sixth game they finished defining the key after winning at the Rockets’ home by 114-75. Unfortunately for them, in the conference finals They ran into Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors, who swept them 4-0 and they declared their place in the final against the Cleveland Cavaliers of LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, whom they would later defeat to be crowned with their third ring.
Video: Seven years have passed since Ginobili’s historic block on Harden
Ginobili’s words after his great night against Houston
“It was a risky move,” said the four-time NBA champion around the agonizing cover, and added: “You make decisions with so little time left, and it happened to me. I tried to bother him from behind as much as I could and I found the ball very close, so that I went for her. It turned out well, luckily.”.
“Historically the fifth games have been important, especially for us,” he remembered. “We didn’t want to go to Houston on the brink of elimination, so it was key to win, but it doesn’t mean we finished the series, we have to win one more,” she concluded. And everything went as expected.
Ginobili and a historic blockade.
2024-05-10 17:41:29
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