Danny Green Leads Spurs Past Rockets in OT to Take 3-2 Series Lead

In a game that was defined by lethargy late, the oldest player on the floor stepped up and sealed things for the San Antonio Spurs as they escaped Game 5 with a 110-107 overtime win over the Houston Rockets at AT&T Center. 

With time winding down and the Spurs clinging to a three-point advantage, 39-year-old Manu Ginobili capped off a vintage performance with a game-saving block on James Harden to give the Spurs a 3-2 series lead: 

Ginobili finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists off the bench Tuesday, and his play proved praiseworthy in the eyes of head coach Gregg Popovich, according to ESPN.com's Tim MacMahon: 

Ginobili's block will be the lasting image from a dramatic back-and-forth game, but it was just one of many. 

In fact, the Spurs had a chance to claim a victory in regulation, but Patty Mills' three-point attempt—which found the bottom of the net—came just after the final buzzer sounded, as the NBA on TNT documented on Twitter: 

Of course, it didn't help that the Spurs had to sit Kawhi Leonard (22 points, 15 rebounds) for what could have been the game's final possession after he rolled his ankle in the third quarter. And according to ESPN Stats & Info, not having Leonard on the floor foreshadowed a slip-up in such a clutch situation:

However, the Spurs were able to overcome their initial final-second failure and hold on.

Even though Leonard was glued to the bench throughout the extra session, Danny Green (16 points) propelled the Spurs ahead with a clutch triple that was immediately followed by a layup through contract to put the Spurs up two with 30.1 seconds to go: 

San Antonio was also aided by a Rockets offense that was in disarray throughout the closing stages of the fourth quarter and overtime.

While the Rockets were humming through two quarters, they started to show signs of tired legs in the second half. Of course, that was to be expected since head coach Mike D'Antoni rolled with a short seven-man rotation following Nene's season-ending adductor tear in Game 4. 

Ultimately, that strategy proved costly. 

Although Harden triple-doubled (33 points, 10 assists, 10 rebounds) in an admirable effort, he appeared gassed once overtime rolled around, as several observers noted on Twitter: 

"

Harden looks tired, he’s stretching possessions way too far out.

— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) May 10, 2017"

All told, Harden scored four points on 1-of-6 shooting (0-of-5 from three) and committed four turnovers in minutes defined as the clutch in Game 5, according to ESPN Stats & Info. 

The other noteworthy trend for the Rockets revolved around inefficiency from deep on a night when they shot 33.3 percent on long-range attempts and watched as wide-open looks repeatedly clanged off iron. 

To that point, the Rockets shot better on contested attempts (45.1 percent) than they did on uncontested ones (42.9 percent), according to NBA.com's player tracking data. 

If Houston is going to stave off elimination when the scene shifts back to Toyota Center, some regression toward the mean will have to be in order for D'Antoni's space-oriented attack. 

Game 6 will tip off Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.