SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Manu Ginobili knows fortunes can change quickly in the NBA.
Last week, the Spurs were in jeopardy of losing the top seed in the Western Conference to the Los Angeles Lakers after dropping six straight games.
Now, San Antonio has home-court advantage throughout the West playoffs after Ginobili scored 25 points in a 124-92 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night.
The Spurs improved their NBA-best record to 60-19 and clinched home-court advantage throughout the West playoffs later Wednesday when the Lakers lost at Golden State.
“We knew we weren’t going to lose every single game (the rest of the way),” Ginobili said. “We had a few good games we just couldn’t win. We had a better schedule over the last three games. We won an important game in Atlanta and we got lucky that the Lakers lost to the Jazz.”
George Hill scored 12 of his 19 points during the third quarter, when the Spurs outscored the Kings by 20 in their best offensive quarter of the season.
“(After the first half), I knew we needed some fire coming off the bench,” Hill said. “I just tried to be aggressive and give a spark. I think it helped and got other people involved, too.”
