| Horry-Book Finish For Spurs Authored by Graham Flashner - May 25, 2005 - 4:05 am
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In 2002, he won the Lakers’ first-round series against Portland with a three-point shot, then saved the season with a buzzer-beating three-pointer that evened the Western Conference finals series with Sacramento at 2-2.
In 2003, a three-point shot at the buzzer that would’ve given the Lakers a 3-2 lead against the Spurs rimmed out, ending the Lakers season.
In 2004, having switched uniforms, he couldn’t hit a three-point shot to save his life against his old team, which wound up beating his new team in the Western Finals.
In 2005, with no sentimental attachments to any former teams, Horry was at it again, putting the Spurs ahead to stay for good with an enormous trey, right after Steve Nash had given the Suns a 102-100 lead with his three-point bomb.
After Horry’s shot, the Spurs never trailed.
The box score will show that Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili combined for 80 points, and that it was Ginobili who sealed the victory with a spectacular reverse layup and a jumper that put the Spurs up 108-102.
But it was Horry who set it all up. And lest you think Horry is only about the big shot, he goaded Amare Stoudemire into a technical foul and an offensive foul on two consecutive plays late in the fourth quarter.
If you’re Phoenix, you expect to be sliced to ribbons by Parker, to be beaten off the drive by Ginobili, to be abused in the paint by Duncan. You really don’t want to be beaten by a guy who is pretty much invisible for most of the game – except when it counts.
The Suns threw everything they had at the Spurs. They made 55% of their field goals. They shot 6-12 from beyond the arc. They matched the Spurs dead-even off the boards. They got 37 points from Stoudemire, 29 (and 15 assists) from Nash, and they even wiped out a 13-point second half deficit to go up by 5 in the fourth.
What they don’t have – besides anyone who can play consistent defense, of course – is experience in important playoff games. The Spurs have been there before, the Suns haven’t – simple as that.
And no one’s been there more often than Horry, who’s got the bling to prove it.
What odds do the Suns face? The Spurs are 10-1 when leading 2-0 in a playoff series, their lone defeat coming last season, when Horry threw up bricks against the Lakers.
The Suns have never won a playoff series after trailing 2-0, and now they have to hit the road to do it. They can take some comfort in this year’s Dallas Mavericks, who dropped the first two games at home to Houston before rallying to win in seven. The Suns and the Mavs have at least one thing in common: they don’t guard people much.
But if they want to keep their hopes alive in Game 3, they’ll remember to guard Robert Horry when it counts most. |
