(Basketball News) - Tim Duncan earned his third NBA Finals MVP, as he led San Antonio to an 81-74 victory over the Detroit Pistons at the SBC Center in the decisive Game 7 of the finals. The Spurs captured their second championship in three years and third (1999, 2003, 2005) in franchise history.
A two-time NBA MVP, Duncan, who played in the first Game 7 of his career, scored a game-high 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in 42 minutes of action in Game 7’s victory. The Wake Forest product averaged 20.6 points and 14.1 boards per game in the championship round. He became the fourth player in league history to win three NBA Finals MVPs, as he joined Michael Jordan (6), Magic Johnson (3) and Shaquille O’Neal (3).
"I felt like the game was going bad for me, yeah, I did feel that," said Duncan after Game 7’s win. "But it was about just kind of pushing through it and just the perseverance. Those guys, my teammates just continue to throw the ball in and to feed me. They were more confident in me than I was, and that is so appreciated. They will never even understand, and they just kept coming to me and kept giving me the opportunities and I got one to fall in and two to fall in and things started happening.
"Then I was able to draw some double teams and got some guys some open shots. The whole game was about perseverance, sticking to it, keeping it going, things not going well, don’t really care and keep on going."
Duncan was just 10-of-27 from the floor in the clinching victory against Detroit, and made 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. For the playoffs, the seven- time All-Star averaged 23.6 points, 12.4 rebounds and 2.26 blocks in 23 contests. He made 46.4 percent (197-for-425) of his attempts from the field and played just under 38 minutes per game.
San Antonio’s head coach Gregg Popovich, who won his first Game 7 as a general, became just the fifth coach in NBA history to win at least three NBA titles. Popovich knows that the All-Star Duncan has mad his job a lot easier.
"Well, you know, when you call plays or do things on the court, it always works better when he’s out there," said Popovich after Game 7’s win. I do the same things with someone else on the court, it doesn’t work. So obviously Tim is a factor. He’s the reason things go. If he scores, that’s great. If he doesn’t score, he’s spacing the floor, getting the ball to other people who do score, and he’s always rebounding and playing D. So his complete game is so sound, so fundamental, so unnoticed at times, because if he doesn’t score, people think, well, he didn’t do anything. But he was incredible and he was the force that got it done for us."
The 29-year-old Duncan has cemented his place in history, but he had plenty of help from his supporting cast. Fellow All-Star Manu Ginobili netted 23, pulled down five boards and handed out four assists in Game 7’s win over the Pistons, while the clutch Robert Horry, who earned his sixth championship ring, came off the bench and scored 15 in 32 minutes of court time.
Ginobili had a very strong showing in the postseason. The 27-year-old guard, who turns 28 on July 28th, averaged 20.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.8 assists in San Antonio’s 23 playoff contests.
"Manu is unbelievable," said Duncan. "You can say this about so many people, and whether it be true or not, I think it’s absolutely true for him. I don’t think we’ve even scratched the surface with him. He’s got so much to him. He just plays with reckless abandon, he doesn’t care the time or the situation, he doesn’t care if it’s a preseason game or it’s a Finals game. He plays the same way. He’s going to continue to grow and we’re going to continue to grow around him. We’re going to continue to understand what he wants to do and when he wants to do it.
"He was so big for us, every game, in the fourth quarter, he was the guy that took things or really made things happen, and to play besides someone like that who can do that in that situation, it takes so much pressure off of myself, off of Tony. It helps our team so much, and you can see it, and he doesn’t care. He’s going to make the play. He’s going to make it happen, and he got a lot well, he gave himself a lot of crap for the finish of Game 6 or whatever, he thought he took some bad shots. He thought he would make some plays down the stretch and make some shots. He got on himself about it more than anybody else got on him and that’s what he’s going to do. We understand it now and we love having him and we love we love what he does down the stretch."
Duncan did struggle at times in the playoffs and in the NBA Finals, but when the Spurs needed him most he came through. The All-Star forward has many productive years left in the league, and one can be sure that he will win more championships and his legacy will continue to grow.
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