Father Time Defied with Spurs Championship

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

You got your wish, John Q. Public. The ‘villains’ have been defeated as the Heat were denied a three-peat at the hands of a dominant San Antonio Spurs team, a squad which won by a margin of at least 15 points in all four of its Finals victories (with the lone loss by merely two points). Now, before you go back to hating the Spurs next year for being too ‘boring’ (i.e. they don’t have stars making a media circus about their impending free agency, locker room confrontations, or coaches on the hot seat), I hope you took some time to appreciate watching offensive basketball at its peak. San Antonio assisted on two-thirds of its field goals in the series, personifying the team-first attitude people always claim to want but quickly forget about when they rail against a star for not taking a contested final shot. That great ball movement and willingness to find the next man who was even more open allowed the Spurs to shoot nearly 53% during the series, an NBA Finals record.

Kawhi Leonard was the well-deserved Finals MVP, leading the team in scoring the final three games, and putting forth about as good a defensive effort on LeBron James as anyone could rightfully expect. Fittingly, at 22 years of age, he became the youngest Finals MVP since teammate Tim Duncan won the honor back in 1999. Years from now, if the Spurs continue to have a high level of success, we may look back on this series as the passing of the torch. First, however, let’s appreciate a couple members of the old guard who also stepped up in a big way to make this 5th San Antonio championship possible.

At 38 and 36 years old, respectively, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili are older than everyone on the Miami roster aside from Ray Allen (a physical marvel in his own right). Still, watching those two on the court Sunday night, you would have thought the millennium had just rolled around. First, after the Heat jumped out to a 22-6 lead and looked poised to reassert themselves in the series, Ginobili whipped off a three-point play and a three-pointer on consecutive possessions. After getting Rashard Lewis on him following a switched pick-and-roll, the Argentinean guard barreled into the paint, absorbed the contact from Shane Battier and still managed to finish in the lane. His dagger three off a catch-and-shoot the next trip down got the crowd on its feet, forced the Heat to call a timeout, and completely turned the game around for San Antonio.

Then, in the second quarter, Ginobili helped cap a 19-5 San Antonio run to end the first half, one that turned a 7-point deficit into a 7-point advantage. Manu went 3-3 from the field in the period, including an incredible reverse lay-in, a posterization of Chris Bosh that turned back the hands of time through sheer ferocity, and yet another step-back three-pointer. He and Tim Duncan combined for 14 points during that pivotal 2nd quarter, with Duncan breaking out some of his old-school post moves for three buckets to help San Antonio climb back into it. Tim Duncan, never flashy, usually effective.

Duncan has now won NBA titles 15 years apart, the 2nd longest span between titles in league history behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabber (h/t @EliasSports). Duncan also joined John Salley as the only players to win titles in three straight decades. Salley still has Duncan beat 2-0 in Bad Boys movies appeared in though, so Timmy has some things yet to check off his resume. So many times over the last few years, people said the San Antonio window had closed, these guys were too old. With Duncan earning the thumb ring of NBA championships, and Ginobili right there behind him with his fourth, they showed that sometimes old dogs can do just fine with old tricks.