Brilliant San Antonio Earn Their Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs staged a stirring fourth-quarter comeback to beat the New Jersey Nets 88-77 and claim their second NBA championship in five years.

For much of the night the championship appeared headed for a deciding Game Seven, and it took the Spurs until deep into the final quarter before taking their first lead of the night.

With just over six minutes on the clock Stephen Jackson's three-pointer put San Antonio in front 73-72 and the Spurs never trailed again as they won the title by four games to two.

Centre Tim Duncan, the star performer on the night, described the feeling as "incredible" and dedicated the victory to the home crowd.

He said: "It's an incredible feeling. I don't think I've ever won a series at home in the playoffs. To be here and have an opportunity to win in front of our fans, to give our fans a treat, it's great for them and it's great for us."

Duncan capped his season by being named as the Most Valuable Player for the regular season and the playoffs, only the ninth player to hold both honours at the same time.

He joins a distinguished list of names that includes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Shaquille O'Neal.

The Spurs also bid farewell to David Robinson, who retires after 14 seasons with the club.

He said: "My last game, streamers flying, world champions, how could you write a better script than this. I've had my ups and downs in my career, but I'm going to end on the highest of highs. It's unbelievable."