Tim Duncan: 10 Greatest Postseason Moments

3. The Third Title

This Finals matchup featured two teams that had won the championship the previous two seasons. As you might expect, the series wasn’t going to conclude with a sweep on either side.

Through the first four games, both teams held serve on their home court in convincing fashion, and the Pistons were on the verge of winning Game 5, leading 95-93 with 9.4 seconds left in regulation.

That is until Robert Horry, a.k.a., Big Shot Rob, nailed a clutch three-pointer to give the Spurs a dramatic 96-95 victory.

Despite the heartbreaking loss, the Pistons staved off elimination with a 95-86 victory in Game 6, which set the stage for a seventh and final game.

Both teams battled back and forth in a low-scoring, grind-it-out affair producing just 57 points apiece through three quarters. The Spurs finally pulled away in the final frame en route to an 81-74 victory.

Duncan posted a game-high 25 points to go along with 12 rebounds and became just the fourth player in history (at the time) to win the Finals MVP award three times — joining Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Shaquille O’Neal. LeBron James would be added to the list in 2016.

In the seven-game set, Duncan averaged 20.6 points, 14.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per contest. Although he connected on just 42 percent of his attempts, the subpar shooting numbers were due to the Pistons being a great defensive team more so than Duncan being inefficient.

Next: No. 2