Thomas Campbell-USA TODAY Sports
San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili spent the majority of the regular season looking like a player that was nearing retirement. But so far in the Spurs first round series against the Los Angeles Lakers, Ginobili is back to his old ways of making plays and hitting big shots in key situations.
Ginobili only averaged 11.8 points per games this season for the Spurs, his lowest output since his rookie season and also missed 22 games, a high amount for a player of Ginobili’s caliber. While Ginobili did average 4.6 assists, showing that he was still able to make plays, his play was noticeably not up to his usual standards.
But so far in the series against the Lakers, Ginobili has looked like a brand new player. Ginobili is averaging 15.5 points and five assists in the first two games against Los Angeles, in only 19 minutes per game at that. Ginobili is also shooting lights out from long range, knocking down six of his nine three point attempts in the series for a .667 percentage.
For years Ginobili has been one of those players that elevates his game in the clutch, and this postseason appears to be no different. At 35 Ginobili is no longer a younger player and may indeed be nearing the end of his career, but he is proving that he still has enough in the tank to help the Spurs make one more run at the NBA Finals.
If Ginobili can continue to play this well, the series against the Lakers will end sooner rather than later and allow the Spurs to rest up for their next opponent.
