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Be sure to check out the first 11 parts of the "best of" series if you missed them the first time.
Boris Diaw's best playoff passes.
Tony Parker's best scoring plays vs. Dallas and Portland.
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Here's a link to part one of the Gino scores.
We'll jump right into it today.
Number Eight:
Manu gets the inside position on Lillard here, and Duncan sees it. Timmeh finds Manu with a nice pass for the layup alley-oop. Beautiful chemistry from the longtime teammates.
Number Seven:
Here we see Manu use another high pick-and-roll to score. Boris sets the pick for the wily one which leaves Manu with just Dirk Nowitzki between him and the basket. The Manu wastes no time attacking the big German and easily beats him to the hole for a quick two.
Number Six:
Six passes, every Spur on the floor touches it, good movement - ball and player, and a brilliant cut from Manu Ginobili ends in two points for the good guys in what is one of the Spursiest plays you'll see.
Number Five:
Here's Lillard guarding Ginobili near the end of the first quarter. Boris Diaw comes out to set a high screen, Lillard is immediately beat as Ginobili goes right before finishing left with a hanging chip shot and a soft bounce.
Number Four:
Manu goes 7/8 court and just gently lays it in after going right around Kevin Durant in transition. Boris Diaw keeps Ibaka away from the shot. Excellent work all around.
Number Three:
Watching Ginobili attack and will his team back into Game 5 was a ton of fun. This vintage, driving reverse-layup gave the Spurs a two-possession lead, and gave his fans one more play to remember forever.
Number Two:
Manu Ginobili threw down this absolutely amazine dunk on Chris Bosh to put the Spurs up seven amidst a first-half rally. As much as we love the way this team has played, sharing the ball and putting the team first, this Gino Jam is as great as it gets for Spurs fans. Our aging hero took it straight to the hole in transition with purpose and determination. I feel completely confident in saying that there was no fan of the Spurs that remained silent when this happened. It's too magnificent, too vintage, and Manu's fire is too palpable to not elicit a guttural response. I bet almost all of you even stood up. The reaction from the bench is pretty great as well. Patty with "The Slapper", Danny Green holding his brothers back, Cory Joseph and Aron Baynes (who didn't see meaningful minutes in this game) lost their minds, Jeff Ayres is pumped up, and even the coaches had to stand up.
Number One:
He's one of the all-time great competitors and winners in all of sports, and when his team needed something, anything at all, he delivered. In a non-modern-Spursian but classic Manu display, Numero Veinte saw an opportunity to get into the paint with Rashard Lewis switched onto him on the left side of the floor and drove to the hole from 30+ feet out. A subtle fake crossover/hesitation gave the veteran Spur just enough to explode to his right, getting to the boundary of the restricted area and drawing a foul on a just-a-fraction-of-a-second-late Shane Battier. Gino gets the ball to fall through the net, and the Spurs' rally was underway.
As great as that dunk was, and it was truly otstanding, for me this play is number one because of when it happened and what it started.
Bonus GIF for smiles:
