Ginobili Powers Spurs Past Pelicans in Overtime Thriller

. 95. 29. 93. 69

The San Antonio Spurs had two future Hall-of-Famers and a little luck on their side on New Years Eve as they defeated the New Orleans Pelicans at home 95-93 in an overtime thriller.

The word thriller might not even be enough to capture how great this game was. The Spurs, down by two with 0.7 seconds left, made probably the most exciting play of the night as Tim Duncan was able to tip in an inbound pass aimed at the basket to tie the game at 84 and send it into overtime.

Dec 31, 2014; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs power forward Tim Duncan (21) shoots the ball over New Orleans Pelicans power forward

Ryan Anderson

(33) during the second half at AT&T Center. The Spurs won 95-93 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

Although it seemed momentum was on San Antonio’s side following that outrageous tip in, it was the Pelicans who raced out to a quick point lead in the overtime period. The Spurs remained resilient, however, allowing San Antonio to claim a one point lead with 24 seconds left in the extra period of basketball.

New Orleans had a chance to take the lead in the final seconds of the game but Tyreke Evans was unsuccessful on a three-point attempt, leading to a loss for the Pelicans.

Manu Ginobili was the hero of the night for the Spurs as he scored seven of his game-high 26 points in overtime. Tim Duncan also played well for San Antonio recording a 16 point, 10 rebound double-double.

That double-double was even more special as it tied Duncan with Karl Malone for fifth most double-doubles all-time. Duncan also reached another milestone on the night, claiming the 18th spot all-time for games played.

For the Pelicans, it was once again the Anthony Davis show. The former Kentucky Wildcat had another great game, recording 21 points, 12 rebounds, and four steals.

Ryan Anderson was also a bright spot for New Orleans, putting in an 18 point, 11 rebound performance off the bench.

While tonight’s game will be mostly remembered for Duncan’s great shot in the final second of regulation it is also important to note how much both sides struggled offensively in the first half.

Scoring was hard to come by for both teams in the first 24 minutes as the score was 38-28 halfway through the game.

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Those early struggles were still evident in the final box score as the Spurs ended up shooting 43.8% from the field, 25% from deep, while the Pelicans shot a poor 38.2%, 28.6% from three.

With the win, the Spurs ended the year and the month of December on a high note, improving to 20-14 on the season. The Pelicans dropped to 16-16 with the loss.

Next up for San Antonio is another home game. The Spurs will host the Washington Wizards on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CT.

What do you think about the way San Antonio closed out the year? Let us know in the comments!

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