nice job by duncan and ginobli...

just a sidenote, in the back of the duncan photo, is that an israeli flag? are the jews of san antonio throwing down at the alamodome? i hope so. mazel!


SAN ANTONIO, June 23 - When the defending champion Detroit Pistons were storming toward a repeat and critics' whispers were growing louder, Tim Duncan grew more determined to take over Game 7 of the N.B.A. finals.

After struggling to score 8 points in the first half, Duncan popped in 17 points in the final 18 minutes, leading the Spurs to an 81-74 victory Thursday night at the S.B.C. Center.

The Pistons, a resilient and unselfish group of players, forced the N.B.A. finals into a Game 7 for the first time in 11 years, but it was Duncan, who had led the Spurs to their first two titles in 1999 and 2003, who proved he was worthy of superstar status. He collected his third Most Valuable Player award, joining Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal as players who had won three or more of them.

"I got on a roll there for a little while, my shot felt good, things started to go down for me," said Duncan, who added 11 rebounds, giving him an average of 20.5 points and 14.1 rebounds for the series.

There were times - especially when he was shooting 4 of 15 midway through the third quarter - when Duncan knew he was not playing well.

"I felt the game was going bad for me, but it was about pushing through and persevering," he said. "My teammates continued to throw the ball in to me. They were more confident in me than I was. I got one to fall, two to fall and things started happening."