Instant Classic

Well, that one cetainly has to go down as one of the great Finals (or any other NBA) game ever.

What a fascinating dichotomy. On the one hand, you had Horry, the guy whose career has been defined by being the man among boys in the clutch in big games. And on the other you had Duncan, who has spent his career disappearing in those kinds of situations, shiveling like a raisin in the desert. The irresistable force of Rob's clutch play vs the immovable object of Timmy's. It was amazing to watch, and you had to know by the last minute or two of regulation that whether the Spurs won or lost would be decided by whether or not they allowed Horry to carry them to the win or instead put it in somebody else's quivering hands.

Which begs the question...what the hell were they thinking running the last regulation play for Ginobili? You had one guy who craves the ball right then and four who don't want any part of it. Drive, kick, and go home happy, but they somehow forgot option one and almost lost the game as a result. To their credit, they learned from their mistake and knew what to do in an even worse situation later.

One final bit of fascination here...the fate of the Spurs season, and indeed the NBA title, came down to the result of one Robert Horry three pointer in two of the last three years. To the Spurs great fortune, they ended up on the right side of both.