International players prove key to Spurs' triumph
(Reuters)Updated: 2007-06-15 14:49
CLEVELAND - The San Antonio Spurs may herald from the heart of Texas but there was a distinctive international flavour to the team that clinched an NBA finals sweep over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday.
 San Antonio Spurs' Tony Parker (L) and Manu Ginobili (R) celebrate after beating the Cleveland Cavaliers to win Game 4 of the NBA Finals basketball series and the 2007 NBA Championship in Cleveland, Ohio, June 14, 2007. [Reuters] |
Belgium-born Frenchman Tony Parker scored 24 points in the 83-82 Game Four triumph and was named the MVP of the finals, the first European to claim the prestigious award.
Argentine shooting guard Manu Ginobili scored 13 of his team-high 27 points in the fourth quarter, while compatriot Fabricio Oberto had five key points in the final frame to help the Spurs secure a third title in five years.
Parker's accolade comes on the heels of German Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks being named league-wide MVP, a first for a European player.
"European basketball is improving every year," Parker told reporters.
"You've got Dirk Nowitzki the MVP for the first time and now the MVP finals. There's going to be more. I'm on the list now."
Parker met the media with a French flag draped around his shoulders.
"It's just to show some love to my country," he said. "I don't forget about them. I know a lot of people wake up at three in the morning to watch me play.
"I'll be ready this summer to play with the national team."
Ginobili scored just three points in Game Three but came back with his best effort of the series, hitting clutch jumpers or free throws to thwart Cleveland's late comeback bid.
"He did what he's done so many times, in Olympic games, in European (Euroleague) championships, in NBA championships," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
"He's just an ultimate competitor."
Oberto said Ginobili, who has three championship rings with the Spurs, had been "a big help" in preparing him for life in the NBA.
"Two years ago I was watching this on TV, the finals, when Manu got the second one," said Oberto, who won an Olympic gold medal in 2004.
"Two years after, I'm part of the team and the team gives me a lot of love. I'm enjoying this moment a lot."
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