Los Angeles - Manu Ginobili of the defending NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs proved best off the bench by being voted the runaway winner of the NBA's Sixth Man Award, the league announced on Monday. The energetic Argentine received 615 out of a possible 620 points from a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada to easily outdistance last year's winner Leandro Barbosa of the Phoenix Suns.
Nicknamed "The Brazilian Blur," Barbosa finished with 283 votes, while Jason Terry of the Dallas Mavericks placed third with 44 votes.
As a reserve in 51 of the 74 games played this season, Ginobili led the Spurs in scoring with a career-best 19.5 points along with 4.8 rebounds and 1.47 steals.
On Saturday, Ginobili hit the game-winning layup with 1.8 seconds left in the second overtime, lifting the Spurs to a dramatic 117-115 victory over the visiting Phoenix Suns in the opener of their Western Conference playoff series.
