Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl
Just 1.7 seconds is all that remained for Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker in what has been a wasted and humiliating dud of a playoff run.
An undrafted rookie didn’t let them go down that quickly.
Catching the inbounds pass with 1.7 seconds left, Gary Neal forced overtime with a spectacular 3-pointer in the face of O.J. Mayo as time expired, and the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs staved off elimination by stunning the Memphis Grizzlies 110-103 on Wednesday night.
“It felt good. I knew I had good legs going into it,” Neal said. “It felt good. I followed through and it went in.”
The eighth-seeded Grizzlies lead the best-of-seven series 3-2. They will host the Spurs on Friday night, but left town knowing they missed a knockout punch.
“They’re down by three, you’ve got to run them off the 3. You can’t let nobody shoot an open 3,” Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph said. “You’ve got to contest the 3, you’ve got to deny the ball.”
The straightaway 3-pointer was the second of two remarkable San Antonio baskets in the final 2.2 seconds of regulation. Manu Ginobili, who scored 33 points, hit the other with a long corner jumper while falling out of bounds in front of the Spurs bench, in what was originally ruled a 3.
A video replay confirmed Ginobili’s left toe was on the line. That left the Spurs still trailing 95-94, and after two free throws by Randolph, San Antonio needed another miracle.
WRITTEN BY STATS LLC and The Associated Press & FULL STORY HERE
