San Antonio Spurs: Manu Ginobili still clutch at 40

Manu Ginobili of the San Antonio Spurs is still having a huge impact on games at the age of 40. His defense and offense down the stretch are still critical.

At the ripe of age of 40, Manu Ginobili of the San Antonio Spurs is still having a huge impact. Ginobili has made a career out of doing what needs to be done for his team to win. Against the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday, he had three huge clutch plays that led to a victory for the Spurs.

The shot clock violation

There is nothing a coach hates seeing more than the 24-second shot clock running out without a shot being put up. During one possession late in the game, the Mavericks were moving the ball around the court when the play was broken up and the ball was loose on the floor.

The first player who was on the floor to win the loose ball was Ginobili. He ended up sitting on the floor with the ball under his legs, Mavericks players were trying to get the ball to no avail. Two of the younger Spurs then went to ground to help the veteran.

The end result was a shot clock violation that helped keep the Mavericks scoreless for the final few minutes of the game. This allowed the continuation of an 11-0 run that tied the game with 23.4 seconds left.

The inbound

Ginobili is one of the better inbound defenders the league has ever seen. He showed the world this again with less than 24 seconds left on the game clock. Ginobili had found LaMarcus Aldridge for two straight field goals, which tied the game.

After the second, Dallas called timeout and the equation was simple. Get the ball in and score, running down the clock if possible. The problem with that is the Mavericks needed to get the ball in.

As Wesley Matthews tried to inbound, the entire Spurs team locked down their individual opponents. However, the most important man was Ginobili, made it hard for Matthews to get the ball in by staying active on the inbound pass.

Matthews tried to pass the ball a number of times and each time, Ginobili had a part of his body cutting off the passing lane. Finally Matthews gave up and threw the ball off Ginobili, but the official has already called a five-second violation, giving possession back to the Spurs.

The game-winner

On the Spurs’ next possession, the ball went in to Ginobili. The shot clock was off and Ginobili dribbled it down to under 10 seconds. The screen was set and Ginobili just had to beat his man — Matthews again — and score.

When games are tied, most younger players tend to take a 3. Not Ginobili. The veteran saw the opportunity to make a high percentage shot so drove to the hoop to score. This put the Spurs up with only 3.1 seconds on the clock.

Dallas put up a half-court prayer, but the ball was nowhere near going in. The Spurs had been out of the game for the first three quarters, but thanks to the incredible play of their veteran star down the stretch, they managed to snatch the victory.

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Is it any wonder the San Antonio Spurs have been the benchmark of NBA competition for the past two decades?