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SAN ANTONIO -- Tony Parker is still thankful for the role players who helped carry San Antonio to its last NBA title in 2007. There was Robert Horry, a seven-time champion and official finals good-luck charm if there ever was one. Michael Finley, who was hitting 3-pointers at a much better rate in those playoffs than he did in the regular season that year. Fabricio Oberto, who probably never had a play called for him but found ways to get things done. The Spurs had a Big 3 then, the same one that they have now. But three is rarely enough, and thats been proven once again in these NBA Finals. Kawhi Leonard and Boris Diaw have been exactly what San Antonio needed in this matchup against the Miami Heat, and might be the two biggest reasons why the Spurs are one win away from their fifth NBA championship. The Spurs lead these finals 3-1, and will look to end Miamis reign in Game 5 at home on Sunday night. "If you want to win championships, obviously you need a Big 3," Parker said. "But you need your role players to play great too. And every time we won championships in the past, the Big 3, we played great, but we had great role players. ... If you want to go all the way, you need the whole team to play great." Thats what the Spurs are getting. Parker is leading the Spurs in scoring, Tim Duncan is leading in rebounding and the Western Conference champions are outscoring Miami by 62 points so far with Manu Ginobili on the floor -- so yes, the Big 3 is doing its part. But when the Spurs took control of the series by winning Games 3 and 4 in Miami, Leonard led the charge by averaging 24.5 points on 68 per cent shooting. And Diaw has 23 assists so far in the series, more than anyone else and none probably better than his behind-the-back offering out of the post that set Tiago Splitter up for a dunk in Game 4. Theres already talk that Leonard could be in line to win MVP of the finals. In an absolutely not-shocking development, he wanted no part of that talk. "It feels the same for me as any game going into it," Leonard said of the anticipation level for Game 5. "All Im thinking about is playing. Im not worried about what if we win or lose, and we just want to go out and play." Such is the Spurs way. The makeup of a player who perfectly fits into the San Antonio system has remained unchanged for the better part of two decades. He values team play over any individual accolade. He never says too much, particularly about himself. He stays in the moment, avoiding the urge to look ahead or behind. Leonard and Diaw meet all those characteristics. "San Antonio is playing great," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Theyre moving the basketball. Theyre exploiting where were normally good, so we have to do a better job. Even when weve made adjustments, theyve still been able to stay in a rhythm and a flow." Its hard to remember now that Diaw couldnt get minutes with the 2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats -- a team that finished with the worst record in NBA history -- in part because then-coach Paul Silas was frustrated with Diaws penchant for passing the ball instead of taking shots at times. So the Bobcats waived him late that season. The Spurs picked him up and in Game 4 of these finals, Diaw had more assists (nine) than shots (six). Go figure. "He really has a high basketball IQ," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of Diaw. "I think he raises the level for everyone. At the defensive end, hes pretty heady, not the quickest guy in the world, but really smart. Does his work early and understands whats going on. At the offensive end, he can score inside and out, and he passes the ball really well. Hes a consummate team sort of guy." Diaw is just the third player to have a game with at least nine rebounds and nine assists during these playoffs, with Oklahoma City stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook being the others. For his part, Diaw said hes never cared about scoring. If the team scores, thats good enough for him. "Its just moving the ball, playing with everybody," Diaw said. "There is nobody really just watching. Everybodys involved, and everybody gets the ball at some point. So its been good." Good, indeed. One more win, and these Spurs officially become great. Shelby Miller Jersey . They all do actually — Joel-Hans Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) July 22, 2014There is no confirmation that the date is actually happening, but that didnt stop Embiid from getting dressed up. Fresh cut..... Getting ready for dinner http://t.co/NNIfKyZQzx — Joel-Hans Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) July 23, 2014 Almost 930.. Jorge De La Rosa Jersey . Atletico Madrid made it three wins from three thanks to a double from in-form striker Diego Costa in a 3-0 victory at Austria Vienna, leaving the Spanish side on the brink of the last 16 already to continue its brilliant start to the season. http://www.cheapdiamondbacksjerseys.com/...w-chafin-jersey. The roster changes have been constant and continuous since late last year, but even with their 46-man roster set for the start of the season, the banged-up Bombers will be kicking off Week 1 with a handful of fresh faces and back-ups in the starting lineup. Brad Boxberger Jersey .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner. Curt Schilling Jersey . We wonder if the price of a Roberts rookie card has at least gone up a few cents? Tribute Tweets #Padres Tony Gwynn had 287 career plate appearances against #Braves trio of Maddux, Glavine, & Smoltz, he hit .PHILADELPHIA - Ellen DeGeneres used her monologue on Wednesdays show to speak right to the heart of Philadelphia 76ers fans.I want to be a glow where its gloomy, she said.Around the NBA, no city is gloomier these days than Philadelphia. Turns out, she said, the Sixers are having a bad season.And where did they get that name?I believe theyre named after the 76 gas stations, she said.Rim shot!And just like most of the 76ers shots at the rim, it was a clunker.She should have tried this one — I believe theyre named after the number of games theyll lose this season.Of course, the Sixers would have to roll into quite the hot streak to win six games this season, so perhaps that one-liner aims a bit high for the worst franchise in sports this side of the Oakland Raiders.The 76ers are the Hacky Sack of the NBA. Watch as Larry Brown kicks an insult to Eric Bledsoe who punts it to Fred Carter who may as well just let it drop to the court and let the other 29 NBA teams stomp and romp all over it.Yes, the 76ers were supposed to be bad — the only one smiling after this 0-11 start is team president and tank mastermind Sam Hinkie — but this bad?Using old school stats or modern analytics, the Sixers are the worst of the worst by any set of numbers.The 76ers are only seven defeats from tying the 2009-10 Nets for the worst start in NBA history.They have five more straight losses ahead to top the 1972-73 team for worst start (0-15) in Sixers history and are the No. 1 contenders to wrest away the crown from those Sixers (9-73) as the worst 82-game season team in NBA history.Keep going?The Sixers are 15 straight losses away from matching an NBA record of 26 straight in a season held by ... set by ... cmon, the answer is on the tip of your tongue ... Yes! The 2013-14 Philadelphia 76ers.The Sixers have done so much deep-hole drilling on second-year coach Brett Browns career record, hed need a Phil Jackson/Michael Jordan run to climb out and see .500 daylight.The 76ers did get a boost this week when they signed the No. 1 pick of the draft! The D-League draft. Robert Covington simply took a roster spot that once belonged to a former All Star. Malcolm Thomas, a D-League All Star.The 76ers have sold fans on the Together We Build slogan. But all theyve built is a D-League team at NBA prices.Around Philly, rebuilding has a different nickname: Tankadelphia.Larry Brown, the vaggabond coach who led the Sixers to the 2001 NBA finals, said the last two seasons have made me sick to my stomach.ddddddddddddCan you imagine telling Allen Iverson that this is a rebuilding season so were going to be bad on purpose? he said last month.Bledsoe, the Phoenix Suns guard and former Kentucky standout, said Wednesday that the top-ranked Wildcats could defeat the 76ers.Thats certainly in doubt. But not Wednesdays result at the Wells Fargo Center: Boston Celtics 101, 76ers 90.We have to keep the locker room together, Brown said. We have to keep our guys believing that if they dont cheat days, if they really come in and invest in what were selling, then we believe we have a chance of finding some wins.But when?The Sixers play Friday against Bledsoe and the Suns, then hit the road Saturday against the 3-10 New York Knicks. Maybe the Knicks are the tonic for what ails the Sixers. It cant be worse than last week when the Sixers were thumped 100-75 against San Antonio and 123-70 against Dallas.Carter, who played on that 1972-73 Sixers team and would coach the team in the 1990s, said this years team is worse because of how open the franchise has been about the plan to hit bottom for a few seasons before potentially climbing back into contention with great draft picks.There was no intentional dumping. There was no plan to lose games to get better because people didnt think that way, Carter said. Dump a whole season like whats being done now? Its really sickening to the stomach to hear and see that.The 76ers hope a nucleus of Michael Carter-Williams, Joel Embiid, Nerlens Noel and Dario Saric can become winners in three or four seasons.In a column for Derek Jeters new sports website, The Players Tribune, Carter-Williams wrote that he escaped from the grind by watching The Ellen DeGeneres Show with his stepfather.DeGeneres read the column, thanked MCW for watching, and said, Im sorry youre having a tough season. She said everyone on the Ellen team was rooting for him — and brought out characters like Giggles the Clown, Nick the Gardener, and Dave the Stagehand.Somewhere, Hinkie had to wonder if he could sign them to 10-day contracts.Allen Iverson was figuratively castrated for saying, practice, practice, practice, Carter said. What the organization is doing is intentionally losing. Losing, losing, losing.You tell me which is worse? ' ' '