San Antonio – San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan opened a seldom-used door Thursday night and found Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Shaquille O’Neal inside.
Duncan earned his third NBA Finals most valuable player award after the Spurs claimed the NBA championship with an 81-74 victory over the Detroit Pistons in Game 7 at the SBC Center. He scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Jordan has claimed six MVP trophies that were first passed out in 1969; Duncan tied Johnson and O’Neal for second with three.
“He put the team on his shoulders and carried them to a championship,” Detroit center Ben Wallace said. “That’s what the great players do.”
The Spurs won their third NBA title in seven seasons in the first Game 7 in 11 years.
The Pistons fell shy of defending their crown and winning a fourth. Spurs forward Robert Horry, meanwhile, won his sixth NBA title.
“We just stuck with it,” Duncan said. “We just kept on pushing. We just kept on fighting. We didn’t do anything special that we had not done the first six games. We stuck with it. We believed in what we were doing, and we believed if we did it the right way, we’d get it done.”
San Antonio was confident about a Spurs title on this night.
Downtown hotels gave guests notice that 100,000 fans could be cheering and cruising downtown until as late as 5 a.m. today with a Spurs win. Fans were chanting “Go, Spurs, go” outside the SBC Center two hours before tip- off.
“It’s time,” Spurs owner Peter Holt told a security guard outside the team locker room minutes before the game.
The Pistons held a 39-38 lead in a first half that included 11 lead changes and nine ties.
Detroit’s Lindsey Hunter’s 20-foot jumper with 0.9 seconds remaining in the quarter tied the game at 57. Manu Ginobili’s 3-pointer with 2:57 remaining in the fourth quarter gave San Antonio a 72-65 advantage.
A jumper by Chauncey Billups (13 points, eight assists) trimmed Detroit’s deficit to 72-68 with 1:20 remaining. Duncan made 1-of-2 free throws, giving San Antonio a 73-68 lead with 1:01 left.
Ginobili’s layup with 35 seconds left gave the Spurs a 75-68 lead. Rasheed Wallace trimmed the Spurs’ lead to four with a 3-pointer with 22 seconds left. But Ginobili (23 points) then ended the Pistons’ championship reign with two free throws that gave the Spurs an insurmountable 77-71 lead.
The Pistons were outscored 24-17 in the fourth and held to 36.8 percent shooting.
“It’s paying attention to detail,” Spurs forward Bruce Bowen said of the key to his team’s defensive success in the stretch.
While the Spurs celebrated on the court, the Pistons slowly walked off the floor to a tunnel leading to the locker room without a championship title. Leading the way was a shirtless McDyess, a former Nugget who nearly retired last season because of lingering knee injuries and hoped to ease his pain with a title. Detroit coach Larry Brown described McDyess after the game as “dying.”
“I’m as proud of my team today as I was June 16 last year,” Brown said, recalling the Pistons’ most recent title.
Said Ben Wallace: “It’s tough. It’s tough anytime you come this close to winning the championship and have it slip through your fingers.”
While it was sad time for the old champs, it was party time for Duncan and the new champs.
“Kid in a candy story,” Bowen said. “Party. Party. Candy. I’m hyper. I’m energetic. This is a beautiful moment.”
Duncan, who averaged 20.5 points and 14.4 rebounds in the Finals, said, “It’s a great feeling, a great feeling.”
Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-820-5449 or mspears@denverpost.com.
