#Tim duncan championships series#

He went for 41 and 15 in Game 7, but an equally excellent Dirk Nowitzki got a bit more help from his supporting cast to advance.

#Tim duncan championships series#

Duncan averaged a career-best 32.3 points in a seven-game series against the Mavericks. 'The angry Duncan years, the years coming off when he didn’t win the title, look out,' Wright said.Īfter taking some recent fire by placing former San Antonio Spurs power forward Tim Duncan ahead of Kobe Bryant on his Top 50 NBA Players of the last 50 Years list, Nick Wright details why Tim Duncan and LeBron James are both better than Kobe Bryant.

In the Finals, he led all players in scoring and rebounding and dropped 25 and 11 in a tight, low-scoring Game 7 win over the defending-champion Pistons. Thanks to his marvelous two-way game, the Spurs relatively cruised through the Western Conference. Derek Fisher then hit an even more miraculous shot to give the reloaded Lakers a series lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.ĭuncan remained a top-five player yet looked like more than that in the 2005 postseason. wasn’t quite as prodigious in 2003-04, but he had the Spurs vying to repeat when he made an improbable go-ahead jumper at the top of the key with less than a second remaining in Game 5 of another conference semifinals meeting with L.A. 'Just absolute bananas production to win his second Finals MVP and second ring,' Wright said. He averaged 25-15-5 with three blocks and 53% shooting for the postseason. Over the next two rounds, he put up a 40-15, two 30-20s, and a 21-20-10 with eight blocks to close out the Finals over the Nets. In the playoffs, he narrowly outproduced Shaq in an epic second-round showdown, posting 37 and 16 to clinch the series for the Spurs in six. For the second straight year, he led the league in win shares and won league MVP.

With San Antonio rebooting on the fly - Robinson was in his last year, while 20-year-old Tony Parker was in his second and Manu Ginóbili was a rookie - Duncan emerged as a captain, set several career highs and guided the Spurs to a No. He was clearly the best player on the planet the following season. For what it’s worth, Duncan averaged 29-17-5 in the 2002 meeting with L.A., proving to be the best player during the series while being awarded his first league MVP. They’d then fall to the Lakers, who were in the midst of a three-peat, two years in a row. The Spurs’ repeat bid, however, was dashed when a late-season injury to Duncan sidelined him for the playoffs. 'It gets forgotten because it was a lockout year, first year without Jordan,' Wright said.

He went for 33 and 16 in his Finals debut and averaged 27 and 14 against the Knicks to claim series MVP. dominated Shaquille O’Neal in a sweep of the Lakers, averaging 29 and 11. After winning Rookie of the Year and making the first of eight consecutive All-NBA first teams to begin his career, Duncan recorded 32 points and 10 rebounds in his playoff debut. The top pick of the 1997 NBA Draft, in fact, was in his prime from Day 1, seamlessly pairing with David Robinson to spark a 36-win turnaround for Gregg Popovich's Spurs. Dominant in the paint on both offense and defense, Duncan led the San Antonio Spurs to five championships over 19 seasons while collecting three NBA Finals MVPs along the way.