As far as I can tell, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili only scored 30 points in the same game twice.
I remember both instances well.
The first came during the clinching Game 6 win against the Phoenix Suns in the 2007 Western Conference Semifinals, a critical home win with the series potentially going back to Phoenix for a deciding Game 7.
The second came the following year, in Game 3 of another hotly contested Western Conference Semifinal against the Chris Paul-era Hornets (now Pelicans), in a series that
did go seven games.
Parker and Ginobili were 24 and 29 respectively in the 2007 postseason — 25 and 30 the following year.
And last night, at the tender ages of 21 and 20, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper not only came within a three-pointer of duplicating that feat, but they also nearly became the youngest pair of Spurs to score 30 points in a postseason game, period.
On the one hand, it’s almost shocking to find that Tony and Manu only combined to score 30 points together twice in all the years they played together.
On the other hand, it’s absolutely crazy to think of Castle and Harper following in their footsteps when only one of the two can even legally buy an alcoholic beverage.
Crazier still to consider that they performed the way they did in the absence of San Antonio’s franchise player.
That the fledgling duo effectively carried the Spurs in the fourth quarter of a dark postseason hour left me sitting there in shock at what I’d just witnessed.
With 5:09 left in the 3rd quarter, the Spurs were down 65-80, and ESPN had Portland’s chance of winning at 91.4%, their highest percentile of the game. Things looked grim. I had long ceased my pacing over the officiating, and that propulsive agitation had largely left me.
I was sitting in my brother’s most comfortable chair, engaged in conversation about Wemby’s concussion, discussing how Game 4 might go, brainstorming what I could even write about on a night that had felt deflating.
The Spurs were flailing. They couldn’t seem to stifle Portland’s guard duo of Scoot Henderson and the well-heeled Jrue Holliday. The offense that had worked so well against most teams in the absence of Victor Wembanyama just couldn’t find that extra gear.
Possessions looked stagnant as Portland’s game plan to minimize De’Aaron Fox’s effectiveness (and an unusually early four fouls) had San Antonio’s 2nd leading scorer of the regular season looking overly careful as ball movement stalled along with him.
Twitter was awash with tweets crashing out about both Fox and the team at large, so I closed it out and started thinking ahead, as my brothers asked about San Antonio’s chances for the rest of the series.
Caught up in conversation, I almost missed Dylan Harper blocking the snot out of 17-foot driving jump-shot, and then following it up with a clutch three-pointer about 30 seconds later.
I did not miss the slo-motion hand-switching dunk around the reaching arms of Robert Williams III that would have made Michael Jordan proud.
The bench went wild. Wemby was so blown away that he turned around and put his head in his hands in disbelief, and I felt that same thing in the pit of my stomach that I’d felt back in 2014 when Manu Ginobili threw down a statement dunk on Chris Bosh — certainty.
The Spurs were only up by three points with that dunk, but I (and I think both Portland and their crowd) knew it was over. The Spurs certainly played like they knew it was. Whatever well of confidence it was that had dried up over the previous four-and-a-half quarters was overflowing and pouring out all over the hardwood.
Luke Kornet and Carter Bryant had come together in the most wholesome of combos to stifle the Trailblazers every moment that they shared the court. Stephon Castle was driving with such a ’damn the torpedoes’ attitude and ferocity that he was drawing fouls seemingly at will, and making the Blazers pay any time they sagged off of him a little around the arc.
Even De’Aaron Fox was finally finding space as the Portland players frantically shifted focus from threat to materializing threat. It was over, everywhere but the clock. They weren’t letting this one go.
Whether they were seizing their destiny or forging it, it seemed that nothing could bother them. Nothing could disturb the flow they were in. And when you get to witness something like that, you don’t say anything.
You just sit there and shut up, and cheer, and hope that it lasts for the rest of the postseason.
My brothers aren’t really big basketball fans, and yet, for a few minutes, the entire living room went quiet.
Every Spurs fan who had seen it before knew what they were watching, even if they didn’t know how to say it, and every Spurs fan who hadn’t got the thrill of watching it for the first time.
For a moment, I had that great line from the U.S. version of The Office echoing in my head: “I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them.“
Last night Stephon Castle scored the 2nd most points in a player’s 1st playoff road game ever. Dylan Harper became the youngest guard in NBA history with a playoff double-double, the second youngest player to score 20+ points off the bench in the playoffs (after Kobe Bryant), the fourth rookie to ever score 25+ points and tally 10+ rebounds in a postseason game, and tied Manu Ginobili’s rookie record for most points in a postseason quarter.
Together, they joined Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook as the only duos age 21 or younger to each score 25+ points each in the same playoff game.
Sometimes in life, we do get to know exactly when we’re living in a special moment.
It was Game 3 of a first-round series. It meant nothing and everything. But it felt like an omen of things to come, and there’s a good chance I’ll remember it until I can’t remember things anymore.
I suspect I won’t be the only one.
Takeaways
- Absolutely no one is ever going to be able to convince me that Luke Kornet’s contract wasn’t a significant underpay. That the Spurs were able to take advantage of the Celtic’s being relatively cash-strapped (and sold) has made this one of the best San Antonio free-agent signings of my lifetime. With Wemby and without, he’s been absolute nails, not just rim-protecting and doing the dirty work, but also taking advantage of any defensive lapses from the opposition in a way that he didn’t for most of the regular season. The Spurs needed every point and heady pass that he had in him, and he rewarded them with what was pretty arguably his best performance of the season. Even with positive comments from Boston fans, no one really understood what a playoff riser Kornet is. He’s been worth every penny, and more.
- If there weren’t already going to be some questions about the off-season fate of Harrison Barnes, there almost certainly will be now. After Carter Bryant performance, I expect the Spurs will only be willing to keep Barnes on the cheap. Barnes is a great teammate who clearly missed winning after time in the basketball purgatory that is Sacramento, so he may very well do that, but Bryant’s box score does not fully express how vital he was to last night’s win. Seemingly, all 6 of his rebounds were heavily contested and/or kept possessions alive, and once he was paired with Kornet in the latter half of the game, San Antonio’s defense began to find stop after stop. Adding to that his three very timely blocks, and as long as he can splash the occasional three, I think the Spurs have their power-forward for the postseason (at least), as there’s just no other player who can match his athleticism on the roster, now that it’s mostly under control.
- Also, I think a lot of credit has to go to Mitch Johnson on this one, who’s figuring out how to mix and match his roster to Portland’s adjustments (and in the face of some questionable calls) seemingly on the fly. Whether pairing Kornet and Bryant was a preconceived strategy or an act of desperation hardly matters because at least we have the satisfaction of knowing that Johnson won’t play it safe in the face of defeat. This was one of his most canny adjustments this year, and I think it says a lot about how much faith he has in an incredibly young roster, and how much faith they have in him. I have to say, I think the Spurs got this one right again. Shocker.
Playing You Out – The Theme Song of the Evening:
Come Sail Away by Styx
