NBA Recap: Manu Ginobili lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 90-87 win over the Indiana Pacers
Manu Ginobili scored game-high 25 points, including two go-ahead free throws down the stretch as the San Antonio Spurs scrambled to a 90-87 win over the Indiana Pacers at Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis.
Tim Duncan had 15 points and 15 rebounds; George Hill scored 16 points for the Spurs while Gary Neal contributed 10 points for San Antonio, who overcame a 15-point deficit to become the first team in the league to win 30 games.
Tyler Hansbrough had career highs of 23 points and 12 rebounds for Pacers, who lost the nineteenth game of the season. Danny Granger registered 15 points and Mike Dunleavy also posted 14 points in the defeat. Roy Hibbert played well and contributed 10 points
and 14 rebounds for the Pacers, who have lost five of their previous six games.
"I'm very disappointed for our guys," said Pacers head coach Jim O'Brien. "We played a solid defensive game. For them to come back and beat us, it's painful."
Hansbrough started the night with eight points in the first quarter. Indiana Pacers hit only 31 percent from the field in that frame but also kept the squeeze on the Spurs as they took a 20-19 lead into the second stanza. In the second quarter, Ginobili
led San Antonio with 13 points as Spurs came back to take a 48-47 lead at the intermission.
The Pacers upped the ante in the third quarter. Hansbrough hit back-to-back shots, and then Granger drained a 3-pointer to give the Pacers a 60-55 lead, with 07:29 remaining. Indiana then quickly began to build their lead, taking a 75-64 lead into the final
stanza.
Spurs fought hard from the start of the fourth quarter as Gary Neal's 3-pointer early in the fourth cut Indiana's lead to 75-69.
Indiana led by 87-83 when Hill came off the bench and scored a basket. He was then fouled and he made a three point play to cut Indiana's lead to 87-86, with 1:07 to go in the final buzzer.
Tony Parker made two free throws with 0.8 seconds left to make it 90-87. Indiana's James Posey missed a 3-pointer from the left corner in his only action of the game as time expired.
"They took their defense to a whole different level in the fourth quarter," "That's why they are the Spurs," O'Brien said.
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