Manu Ginobili misses wide-open dunk on fast break, minutes after detonating on Jazz (VIDEO)
After missing Game 1 of the San Antonio Spurs' opening (and, as it turned out, only) playoff series in 2011 due to injury, reserve guard Manu Ginobili entered the 2012 postseason healthy, ready and eager to make a splash. Judging by the results of this fast break during the second quarter of the top-seeded Spurs' first game against the Utah Jazz, though, he might have entered a little too eager.
Missing "a room service bucket." I rather like that, ESPN play-by-play man Mark Jones. I kind of think Manu would, too; he's a worldly, comedic sort, and if he had to choose which kinds of phrasing commentators would deploy to discuss him taking off a step too early, getting caught a little too far out in the air, and not being able to rely on go-go Gadget arms for that extra couple of inches he needed to secure the stuff, I think he'd appreciate the ingenuity.
[Related: Parker leads Spurs past Jazz in Game 1]
The first half wasn't all bloopers for Ginobili, though. In the interest of providing equal time for successful endeavors, hit the jump to check out Manu pump-faking a hard-closing DeMarre Carroll into the next ZIP code before detonating on the drive.
Now that's what Spurs coach Gregg Popovich likes to see.
Ginobili went just 3 of 10 in 25 minutes off the bench, but he dished out four assists — including this over-the-shoulder beauty to a diving Tim Duncan — to go with seven points, three rebounds and two steals in San Antonio's 106-91 win over the Jazz on Sunday, which gave Manu's squad a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Tony Parker (28 points on 19 shots, eight assists, four rebounds, just two turnovers in 36 1/2 minutes) and Duncan (17 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, two steals in 31 minutes) starred for the Spurs. The frontcourt tandem of Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson combined for 36 points and 18 rebounds to lead the Jazz, while second-year Utah guard Gordon Hayward impressed in his playoff debut, scoring 17 points on just six shots by hitting all 12 of his free-throw attempts.
Game 2 tips Wednesday night at 7 p.m. ET at the AT&T Center in San Antonio.
Original video of the miss via @Jose3030. Video of the make via nbainfos.
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