Spurs G Ginobili wins Sixth Man Award

Apr 21, 2008 - 4:26 PM NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Manu Ginobili clearly was the NBA's top reserve this season. The super sub officially was rewarded after recently reminding the league of his talent.

Ginobili, the high-scoring reserve guard of the San Antonio Spurs, won the NBA Sixth Man Award in a landslide Monday.

The announcement came two days after Ginobili scored with 1.8 seconds left to lead the defending champion Spurs past the Phoenix Suns, 117-115, in the opener of their Western Conference first-round series.

The performance came after balloting among media members had been tabulated but served as a reminder of what Ginobili had done all season for the Spurs. The Argentinian led the Spurs in scoring by averaging a career-high 19.5 points while also adding 4.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.47 steals.

The end result spoke volumes of the overall perception of Ginobili, who received 615 out of 620 total points and 123 of a possible 124 first-place votes.

Last year's winner, Leandro Barbosa of the Phoenix Suns, was second with 238 points, followed by Jason Terry of the Dallas Mavericks with 44.