It would be an understatement to argue that the Spurs had their backs to the wall heading into Game Four of their opening-round series against the Warriors. Down zero to three, they needed to put together an outstanding effort on both ends of the court in order to stave off elimination, and not just because they faced the far superior defending champions. For the second straight match, they trekked to the AT&T Center without head coach Gregg Popovich, who was grieving the loss of his wife; the development meant they had to find an answer to their predicament, a seemingly Sisyphean task as evidenced by the 21-, 15-, and 13-point setbacks they hitherto absorbed.
Nonetheless, the Spurs were sure of one thing despite their tribulations: They would be fighting to the end. Regardless of score or circumstance, they would be hauling backsides, scrapping for the ball, and showing their capacity to be the best they can. For all their relative lack of talent, they knew exactly what it took to be greater than the sum of their parts. And so they remained confident of their chances, especially since they figured to have the support of a capacity crowd in one of the best homecourt venues in the league.
As things turned out, the Spurs exceeded themselves en route to forging their own double-digit victory. All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge was a rock, but the game ball belonged to 40-year-old sparkplug Manu Ginobili, whose tenacity on defense and utter fearlessness on offense forwarded the cause of the black and silver. He was particularly transcendent in the crunch, puncturing the hoop with consistency under pressure in a marked departure from his scoreless stint in Game Three.
In the aftermath of the upset, Ginobili touched on the motivation he derived from playing for acting head coach Ettore Messina; under the latter’s tutelage, he had thrived in the Euroleague prior to joining the National Basketball Association, and he relished the throwback opportunity. “Good memories,” he said. In any case, the Spurs continue to be the underdogs, and if they’re keen on staying alive, let alone advance to the conference semifinals, they’ll need more of his heroics.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.
