San Antonio, TX (Basketball News) - Tim Duncan posted 25 points and 11 rebounds, leading the San Antonio Spurs to their third NBA title in seven years with an 81-74 victory over the Detroit Pistons in the deciding Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
Duncan shot just 10-of-27 from the field, but scored 17 of his points in the second half. He was named the Finals MVP for the third time in his career.
"This trophy is definitely an honor, but this team has so many MVPs," said Duncan. "There are just some many different guys here that just laid it on the line."
Manu Ginobili finished with 23 points for the Spurs, who won their first title since 2003 when they beat the New Jersey Nets in six games.
Robert Horry, who leads all active players with six NBA titles, added 15 points in the victory.
"It’s the third team I’ve won a championship with," said Horry. "I’ve been with a bunch of great guys. That’s the only reason I wanted to come back here, to win another championship."
Meanwhile, the Pistons had their dreams of winning back-to-back championships crushed. Detroit won the NBA title in shocking fashion last season, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers in five games. Detroit had won consecutive NBA titles in 1989 and 1990.
Richard Hamilton notched 15 points and eight rebounds for the Pistons, who are now 0-2 all-time in Game 7s in the NBA Finals. They also lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1988.
Chauncey Billups, last year’s Finals MVP, scored 13 points and dished out eight assists in the loss. Ben Wallace added 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Rasheed Wallace posted 11 points.
Thursday’s contest marked the first Game 7 in the NBA since 1994 when the Houston Rockets defeated the New York Knicks. After San Antonio won the first two games of the series at home, the Finals hardly seemed like they were headed for a seventh game. However, Detroit won two of three on its homecourt before taking Game 6 here on Tuesday night.
The Pistons were trying to become the first team in NBA history to win Games 6 and 7 on the road in the championship round.
Thursday’s tilt may also have been the final game for Detroit coach Larry Brown. It has been widely rumored that Brown, who has battled numerous health problems over the past year, could be ready to put his coaching days behind him. However, Brown remained confident that he would return.
"Let’s talk about the game," said Brown when asked about his future plans. "I hope to be around and coaching next year."
The score was tied at 57-57 heading into the fourth quarter, but the final 12 minutes would belong to Duncan and the Spurs. Fittingly, Duncan started the fourth quarter with a dunk to give San Antonio a 59-57 edge. Rasheed Wallace answered with a turnaround jumper at the other end, but the Spurs then used a 10-4 run to take the lead for good. Horry and Bruce Bowen each hit three- pointers in the run for the Spurs.
Duncan capped the stretch with a jumper to make it 69-63 with 3:38 remaining. The Pistons would get within four points on a few occasions in the closing minutes, the last time coming after Rasheed Wallace drilled a three-pointer with 23 seconds left.
San Antonio would seal the win by hitting 6-of-6 from the foul line in the closing seconds.
"It was hard to say much," said Brown regarding what he said to his team after the game. "We accepted it when we won and we accept it when we lost. I’m just as proud to be around these guys this year as much I was last year."
Not surprisingly, the game was marked by excellent defense. as the Spurs shot 43-percent from the floor in the game and Detroit hit 42-percent. The total points in the game were the lowest in a Game 7 of the NBA Finals in the shot clock era.
Detroit led 39-38 at the half and that lead would grow as large as nine points in the opening minutes of the third quarter.
Ginobili hit 1-of-2 from the foul line to tie the game at 39-39, but the Pistons rattled off nine straight points to grab a 48-39 lead with 7:43 left. Tayshaun Prince highlighted the run with a slam dunk and Antonio McDyess capped it with a layup.
However, the Spurs answered with a 14-5 stretch to even the score at 53-53 with 2:56 left. Duncan scored 10 points in the run and his bank shot ended the run. San Antonio would take a 57-55 edge on Duncan’s baseline jumper with 53 seconds left, but the teams would be tied by the end of the period after Lindsey Hunter hit a long jumper with just under a second left.
The Pistons jumped out of the gate quickly in the first quarter and soon held a 12-6 advantage. Ben Wallace sparked the game-opening run with six points. However, San Antonio responded with a 10-0 burst to grab a four- point lead of its own. Horry had six points in the run, including a three- pointer to make it 16-12 with 2:45 remaining.
The Spurs would hold a slim 18-16 advantage after the first quarter of play.
Neither team did much scoring in the opening minutes of the second quarter and the game was deadlocked at 25-25 for over three minutes until McDyess’ 15-foot jumper gave Detroit a two-point edge with 4:58 left.
Each team would hold leads in the closing minutes of the first half, but neither club was ahead by larger than a two-point margin. The Pistons would carry the 39-38 edge into the break.
Ben Wallace led all scorers with 12 points at the half and Hamilton added eight points and five rebounds. Horry had 10 points to pace the Spurs at the end of 24 minutes.
The Pistons shot 45-percent from the floor in the opening half and San Antonio hit 43-percent of its attempts.
Detroit Pistons 
San Antonio Spurs 
