SPF 21

The three brightest stars on the Spurs all came through in Game 6, with Parker, Ginobili and Duncan each delivering 11 baskets and tons more clutch rebounds, assists and all-around hustle plays. But as has so often been the case during their previous three title runs, it is #21 who once again proved to be the greatest of them all.

More than any other single stat in this entire series, the one that proved to be the ultimate difference maker was the blocked shot total put up by Duncan: nine. That's not only one short of giving TD a triple-double, it's one short of the NBA's all-time single-game playoff record. While Amare Stoudemire proved his equal on the offensive end and on the boards throughout the series, just as he did in 2005, Duncan emphatically proved his defensive superiority over his younger, more athletically spectacular counterpart.

In the end, it probably can even be further distilled to a significant gap between the two in the oft-referenced "Basketball IQ." Duncan still knows how to play through foul trouble, whereas Stoudemire repeatedly dug himself an even deeper hole by not adjusting his game whenever the refs whistled him for contact. So, even as he approaches the twilight of his illustrious career, Tim Duncan remains the Superior Playoff Finisher.