Tim Duncan may be on the back end of his career, but the 38-year-old showed why he's a future first-ballot Hall of Fame selection on Wednesday night.
The top overall pick of the 1997 NBA Draft scored 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as the Spurs survived a fourth-quarter meltdown to win 111-107 in overtime, tying their series with the Clippers at one game apiece.
A look at what else happened around the NBA on Wednesday:
The Hawks struggled to put the Nets away until the very end of the game. Brooklyn point guard Deron Williams missed a wide-open jumper with just under nine seconds remaining that would have tied the game at 93. Instead, Hawks guard Kyle Korver grabbed the ball and hit two free throws to give the Hawks a four-point lead, which sealed the win.
Paul Millsap goes up for two of his 19 points on this assist from Jeff Teague.
Jeff Teague to Paul Millsap! (Vine by )
— Rickard Bergquist (@sportblogg) "We feel fortunate that we made just enough plays, just enough stops," Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said after the game, .
Saturday at Brooklyn, 3 p.m. ET, TNT
Once again, the battle-tested Grizzlies proved to be too much for the shorthanded Trail Blazers. LaMarcus Aldridge (24 points, 14 rebounds) and Damian Lillard (18 points) came to play, but didn't get the help they needed from their teammates. The Grizzlies had seven players score at least nine points as they took their first 2-0 playoff series lead in team history.
Tony Allen's loose ball save embodied the gritty Grizzlies on Wednesday night.
"All we did is just take care of home court, which we were supposed to do," Grizzlies guard Courtney Lee said, . "We didn't want those guys to come in here and get one and switch home-court advantage in their favor."
Saturday at Portland, 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
While Duncan was the hero in the first three quarters, the fourth quarter and overtime belonged to Spurs guard Patty Mills. He scored all 18 of his points after halftime, including a pair of crucial free throws to tie the game and force overtime. For his finale, Mills scored eight points in overtime to send the Spurs back to Texas with the series tied at one game apiece.
Blake Griffin became the second player in Clippers playoff history to record a triple-double (29 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists), but committed five turnovers — one leading to Mills' game-tying free throws. Speaking of free throws, the Clippers went 20-for-37 (54.1 percent) from the charity stripe.
Oh yeah, and Duncan has scored a lot of points in the playoffs.
RECORD: Tim Duncan becomes just the 5TH player in NBA history to score 5,000 playoff points.
— Spurs Nation (@SA_Spurs_Nation) Duncan was playing like it was 1999 all over again.
'03 Duncan
— Steven J. Gaither (@stevenjgaither) "Tonight, he was spectacular," Spurs coach Greg Popovich told TNT of Tim Duncan's performance after the game. "He continues to amaze me with the things that he's able to do."
Friday at San Antonio, 9:30 p.m. ET, TNT
Cavs at Celtics, 7:00 p.m., TNT
Bulls at Bucks, 8:00 p.m., NBATV
Warriors at Pelicans, 9:30 p.m., TNT
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