AUBURN HILLS, Michigan, 21 June 2005 — “Big Shot Rob” came up huge again.
Clutch-shooting Robert Horry scored all 21 of his points in the second half and buried the game-winning 3-pointer with 5.9 seconds left in overtime, lifting the San Antonio Spurs to a dramatic 96-95 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night for a 3-2 lead in the NBA Finals best -of- seven game series.
“He was unbelievable, that was probably the greatest performance I’ve ever been a part of,” said teammate Tim Duncan. “To just see him there as calm as he was and willing to do whatever. He was picking up charges, getting rebounds, and all they’re going to show are the shots he knocked down. He did so much more down the stretch.”
The Pistons led 95-91 on a jumper by Rasheed Wallace with 1:43 in overtime before Horry capped off his heroic night.
He drove the lane for a monster slam and drew the foul while re-injuring his sore left shoulder.
After missing the free throw, Chauncey Billups missed two shots, including a driving lay up at the other end. Duncan grabbed the rebound and called time out with 9.4 seconds remaining.
Horry in-bounded the ball to Manu Ginobili in the left corner and when Wallace came over to double-team, the Argentine rifled it back to Horry, who drilled the go-ahead 3-pointer from the left wing.
“I wasn’t even thinking about taking the shot,” Horry admitted.
“I was thinking, OK let me cut through because it was set up to be a pick and roll with Tim. But when I passed the ball into Manu, I saw Rasheed bite and said, Oh let me stay out here. I just got the ball back and since I was shooting well I just let the ball fly.”
“It was a miscommunication problem,” Pistons coach Larry Brown said. “You’re up by two with nine seconds to go and all you’re thinking of is no three-point shots. The worst thing that can happen to you is a lay up and you still have two timeouts. But give credit to Robert, he still had to make the shot.”
The Piston had a last chance to pull out the victory but Richard Hamilton missed a forced jumper at the buzzer while being guarded closely by Tony Parker.
Duncan had 26 points and 19 rebounds, Ginobili had 15 points and Parker added 14 for San Antonio, which bounced back from a pair of blowout losses by an average of 24 points.
The Spurs will be back home with two chances on Tuesday night and Thursday, if needed, to win its third NBA title in the last seven seasons.
“We know Game Six is the one we have to get,” Duncan said.
“Those guys are great in Game Sevens, they’ve been through a bunch of them. Facing elimination they’re probably the best team around. We know that, we came with much greater focus and well have that same focus and well have our crowd behind us.”
Billups scored 34 points, Hamilton had 15 while Ben Wallace finished with 13 and 12 rebounds for Detroit, which must win the next two games on the road to defend its title.
“This is tough, we had a great opportunity,” Brown said. “Give them credit, they did a lot of good things, Robert made some huge shots when they needed it. He did everything. Thats why he has five rings. Hes a big time player. In moments like that, thats the difference.
Added Brown: “You don’t play on championship caliber teams unless you have what he has. Robert’s done it with Houston and the L.A. Lakers and now with San Antonio. He usually does it at the most important times. But we have to bounce back. We have to figure out we have to make it a one-game series.
Ben Wallace expects the Pistons to overcome adversity again.
“This series is not over, we still have a lot of fight in us,” he said.
“We’re not going to lose confidence by losing one game. We have a tough task but weve been in tough situations before. Were going to continue to fight to the end.”
