After having a rough going in the games before Game 5 of the NBA Finals, San Antonio Spurs' guard Manu Ginobili finally stepped up to lead his Spurs to a 114-104 victory over the Miami Heat to take control of the series at 3-2.
"I was angry, disappointed," Ginobili said.
"We are playing in the NBA Finals, we were 2-2, and I felt I still wasn't really helping the team that much," Ginobili said. "And that was the frustrating part."
Ginobili broke out of his shooting slump in a big way, scoring 24 points and 10 assists in his first start of the season.
"He's such a huge part of what we do and how far we've come. You can see it tonight in how we played and the results of the game," Tim Duncan said. "We're always confident in him. ... We know he has it in him. We hope he can bring it forward for one more win."
Tony Parker scored 26 points, and Duncan contributed 17 points and 12 rebounds.
However, Ginobili and teammate Danny Green were the players of the evening in Game 5. Ginobili had his highest-scoring game of the season, while Green smashed the NBA Finals record for 3-pointers.
LeBron James and Dwyane Wade each scored 25 points for the Heat, and will look forward to defending home court in Game 6 on Tuesday night.
The Heat have once again found themselves down 3-2 in the NBA Finals and are now one loss away from going just 1 for 3 in the Finals since the formation of the Big Three.
"This is the position we're in and the most important game is Game 6," James said. "We can't worry about a Game 7, we have to worry about Game 6."
Miami last won two in a row in a playoff series almost a month ago against the Chicago Bulls. Since then they've gone 0-5 in winning consecutive wins, and if they want to keep their NBA champion crown in South Beach they'll need to win Game 6 and 7 back in Miami.
"It's time," LeBron James declared. "We're well overdue and it's time to win consecutive games. Enough is enough."
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