SAN ANTONIO, Texas: Manu Ginobili’s three-pointer with 1.2 seconds left lifted San Antonio to a 129-127 double overtime win over Golden State as the Spurs rallied from a 16-point deficit in the fourth to win the series opener.
Ginobili’s late heroics capped a furious comeback by the Spurs and spoiled a 44-point performance from Warriors’ Stephen Curry in yesterday’s game, one of their National Basketball Association second-round series.
“I was wide open so I didn’t have any options,” Ginobili said. “Good timing though.
“I have really got to watch the film and see what happened. I know they started to miss shots. They ran out of options and we kept going.”
The Spurs fell behind 104-88 with 4:31 left in the fourth before storming back to force overtime. They wiped out the 16-point deficit with an 18-2 run to close the fourth quarter.
In the second overtime, Ginobili found himself left wide open on the left side. He nailed the three-pointer with 1.2 seconds left after taking a cross-court pass from teammate Kawhi Leonard.
Argentina’s Ginobili had missed seven consecutive shots before draining the game winner.
“I went from trading him on the spot to wanting to cook him breakfast tomorrow,” said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.
“When I talk to him he will tell me ‘This is what I do’. I stopped coaching a long time ago.”
Curry put on a shooting clinic during one three-minute stretch in the third. He scored 12 unanswered points for Golden State who built an 18-point lead. Curry had 22 of his 44 points in the third quarter.
“You should win but we are not the first team to lose a game like this,” Warriors coach Mark Jackson said. “It doesn’t mean we are going to accept it.
“We will get better. They made plays and we didn’t make enough. We made mistakes.”
Golden State’s Kent Bazemore converted on a driving layup under the basket to give the Warriors a one-point lead with four seconds left in the second overtime.
But instead of holding up, it set the stage for Ginobili’s game winner.
“We just wanted to make stops and make adjustments and stay in the attack mode on offence and it worked out. It was anybody’s game, that is for sure,” Popovich said.
Meanwhile, Nate Robinson had 27 points and nine assists and hit the go-ahead shot with 1:18 remaining as visiting Chicago stunned top-seeded Miami in the opening contest of the Eastern Conference semi-finals.
Jimmy Butler had 21 points and 14 rebounds and Joakim Noah had 13 points and 11 boards for fifth-seeded Chicago. The Bulls had a dominating 46-32 rebounding edge and again played without forward Luol Deng (illness) and point guard Kirk Hinrich (calf).
LeBron James scored 15 of his 24 points in the final quarter and Dwyane Wade added 14 points for the Heat, who shot 39.7 percent from the field.
The Heat had a 76-69 lead with 6:30 remaining after back-to-back three-point plays by James.
Miami’s advantage was down to three, before Marco Belinelli hit a tying three-pointer with 1:59 left to start a game-ending 10-0 run that featured Robinson scoring the final seven points.AGENCIES
