Despite coming to end the third quarter, this was the key run that blew the game open and essentially sealed the Spurs’ Game 1 win over the Lakers.
L.A. had managed to hang around within a manageable seven or eight points most of the afternoon, but then Manu Ginobili got loose for eight points in a span of just over a minute and a half that pushed San Antonio’s lead from seven to 13 entering the fourth period.
You can see it unfold beginning at the 48-second mark in the video clip above. Ginobili starts by executing a nice two-man game with DeJuan Blair that ends with him converting a left-handed runner over Pau Gasol, before then connecting on two three-pointers in transition, both of which were absolute daggers.
Ginobili finished with 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting, in just 19 minutes of action.
