<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">SAN ANTONIO - Manu Ginobili wore the dreary expression of a scolded puppy at the end of Game 3. That's when the Spurs guard was stripped of the ball in the closing seconds by Mike Bibby in what led to Kevin Martin's buzzer-beating, game-winning layup at Arco Arena. By the end of Game 4, Ginobili had been stripped of his game and a good part of his athletic dignity. He was reduced to a sweaty, frustrated nonfactor, slumped at the end of the bench in the closing moments of an 18-point Kings rout largely because Ron Artest had his game figured out. After Game 5 Tuesday night, there was Ginobili, freshly shaved, basking with a satisfied grin of achievement. He had regained his game, and the Spurs, perhaps not coincidentally, have regained control of this Western Conference playoff series. Ginobili had 27 points to key a 109-98 victory at the AT&T Center as the Spurs flexed some of that championship grit and avoided their first three-game losing streak of the season. And Ginobili, seemingly, has recovered from his Game 3 gaffe that carried into a Game 4 hiccup (three points). "Sometimes you have hangovers of different types," said Spurs forward Bruce Bowen, explaining Ginobili's recent doldrums. "He's a competitor, and he takes a lot of things on his shoulders. He is the ultimate competitor, so you can understand how he was feeling the last couple of games. We need him to play like this." From the start, Ginobili looked like the All-Star performer who has emerged as the ideal complement to Tim Duncan and not some shaken soul. Ginobili took Artest off the dribble with a crossover early and later. In all, he hit a three-pointer, made all eight of his free-throw attempts, soared for nine rebounds, had four assists and blocked two shots in his best effort against Artest (Ginobili had 32 in a Game 2 victory while Artest was suspended for the game). "I felt better tonight, no doubt," Ginobili said. "It wasn't hard to feel better than (in) Games 3 and 4. I'm very happy." Ginobili, revered in his native Argentina and beloved as a second son in this part of Texas, never denied that his Game 3 turnover bothered him like so much whiplash in Game 4, when all of his teammates insisted beforehand he'd be just fine. "My team was very supportive, and then I calmed down," Ginobili said. "I was too frustrated in Game 4 because of what happened in Game 3. I played more calm, and things came easier."</div> Source
