Manu Ginobili hits game winner in double overtime to seal win for Spurs in Game 1.
Despite an incredible show from Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, the San Antonio Spurs were able to edge their rivals out to seal a hard-fought 129-127 win on Monday night.
Manu Ginobili’s three-pointer from the wing with just 1.2 seconds left in double overtime ensured the Spurs sealed a thrilling victory to take a 1-0 series lead.
Arguably the star of the night though, Curry scored 44 points and had 11 assists as he led the Warriors to the cusp of a famous win in San Antonio, which would have been their first since February 1997.
However, it wasn’t to be as Ginobili’s three capped off an improbable comeback for the Spurs, who trailed by as many as 16 points with just four minutes remaining in regulation, before then going on a 18-2 run to close out the fourth quarter and take the game into overtime.
“I went from wanting to trade him on the spot to wanting to cook breakfast for him tomorrow morning. That’s the truth. When I talk to him and say, ‘Manu,’ he goes, ‘This is what I do.’ That’s what he’s going to tell me. I stopped coaching him a long time ago,” coach Gregg Popovich told reporters after the game according to NBA.com.
San Antonio had 28 points from point guard Tony Parker, while Danny Green added 22 points. The points were shared across the line-up, as Kawhi Leonard contributed 18, Ginobili added a further 16 while Tim Duncan finished with 19 points as well as 11 rebounds.
As noted by Curry in his post-game interview, the Warriors have been here before having fallen short in a heart-breaking Game 1 defeat to the Denver Nuggets in the last round.
Despite being closely guarded by Leonard, Curry showed he is capable of leading this team to a shock along the way, and coach Mark Jackson will be hoping it arrives in Game 2 at the AT&T Center.
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