It was as close to a unanimous choice as you can get.

 Manu Ginobili, arguably the Spurs best player this season, was snubbed for the West all-Star team but was the easy winner of the  NBA Sixth Man Award as the league’s best player in a reserve role for the 2007-08 season.
 Ginobili received 123 of a possible 124 first-place votes from NBA sportswriters and broadcasters around the country. (615 out of a possible 620 points) to easily outdistance last year’s winner, Leandro Barbosa of the Suns (one first-place vote, 283 points) while Jason Terry of Dallas was third with 44 points.

 Barbosa is still an effective player off the bench for Phoenix. And while he has not been as explosive this season, he might prove to be the swing player against the Spurs. He had a productive Game 1 with 12 points and eight rebounds and was asked to play big minutes (41) with Grant Hill hurting. But the Spurs took advantage of his defense at several points and he missed all three of his 3-pointers — two of them wide-open, which is a rarity against San Antonio.

 Ginobili needed 24 shots to get his 24 points, but had 19 in the second half and overtime while Barbosa had two points after intermission. And when Barbosa had a chance to win the game in regulation, he missed. Ginobili didn’t.

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