The San Antonio Spurs bested LeBron James and the Miami Heat Sunday night by a score of 114-104. Perhaps the most interesting story of the game, however, was not just how the Spurs won, but rather, who led them to victory.

The undisputed hero of Game 5 was none other than embattled guard and longtime member of the team, Manu Ginobili. Though head coach Greg Popovich has often made Ginobili a sixth man throughout his career for strategic reasons, this year he held that position more because of his lackluster performance. That all changed Sunday night.

"I just had a good game," Ginobili said. "Playing with Tony (Parker) in the first few minutes helped me," Ginobili said. "I tried to be aggressive. I haven't been making shots lately, but I've been passing well. Today, I was just able to get it going."

Ginobili finished the game with an impressive stat line: 24 points, 10 assists, and 2 rebounds. He was zipping up and down the floor all night, often finding long-range assassin Danny Green for three pointers.

Ginobili's performance may have been due in part to a brilliant coaching move by Popovich. Long known as one of the brightest minds in the game, Popovich made the bold move to put the offensively anemic Ginobili into the starting lineup for the first time all season. Ginobili made sure not to disappoint.

"I didn't expect it; I've been a backup for 80-90 games," Ginobili said about starting. "The way they were playing small, I wanted to play more minutes and (Popovich) told me yesterday I'd start."

Though many Spurs fans have been perplexed by Ginobili's uncharacteristically poor play this year, his teammates never doubted his ability to help the team when they needed it most.  Along with Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, Ginobili has been the cornerstone of the Spurs' organization for 10 years now, and has earned the admiration of many in San Antonio.

"He's such a huge part of what we do and how far we've come. You can see it tonight in how we played and the results of the game," Duncan said. "We're always confident in him. ... We know he has it in him. We hope he can bring it forward for one more win."