Ginobili scored nine of his season-high 29 points down the stretch as the San Antonio Spurs held on for a 93-84 victory over the Heat, who have lost two in a row.
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"It was a good win against a very good basketball team," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "We were fortunate to beat them. We got a break with them not playing Dwyane Wade."
That opened the door on the perimeter for the Spurs' backcourt of Ginobili and Tony Parker, who combined for 36 points through three quarters as San Antonio took a 72-60 lead into the final period.
Miami responded by scoring the first seven points and cut the deficit to 77-76 on a layup by Shaquille O'Neal with just under five minutes to play.
"Our guys showed tough resolve to come out on the road and deal with the adversity we had tonight," Miami coach Stan Van Gundy said. "I feel like tonight's game was a step forward for us."
But Ginobili scored six points in the next minute to spark 13-3 run that sealed the win for the Spurs.
"It was one of the best games of my career so far," said Ginobili, who also had seven assists, seven rebounds and a career-high six steals. "I'm happy that I can help my team win." O'Neal had 23 points and 21 rebounds for the Heat in his matchup inside with Tim Duncan, who countered with 17 and 13.
"(O'Neal) played great tonight," Duncan said. "He played aggressive. He went to the glass hard. But, all in all, I thought we did a great job containing him down the stretch."
The win was the 400th of Popovich's career, making him the quickest to reach that plateau.
Ginobili's 3-pointer with 7:45 to go in the first quarter started a 13-2 run that gave San Antonio a 21-10 lead. But Damon Jones, who started in place of Wade, hit two shots from the arc in a 10-2 spurt that cut Miami's deficit to 25-22 after 12 minutes.
The Heat took a 28-27 lead on a jumper by Wesley Person two minutes into the second, but Ginobili took over, scoring eight points and recording an assist as San Antonio outscored Miami, 12-1, over the next four minutes to move ahead for good.
"It was a heck of a game for Manu," Popovich said. "He brought a lot of energy."
O'Neal, who scored just six points on 2-of-8 shooting in the first half, had 10 and seven rebounds in the third. But the Heat turned over the ball six times in the period, leading to 10 San Antonio points.
Overall, the Spurs scored 24 points off 22 Miami turnovers, while committing just nine themselves.
"They are a very disciplined team," O'Neal said. "They are very focused and very good defensively. They don't make many mistakes."
"You can't come to San Antonio and turn the ball over 22 times like we did tonight and win against a team like (the Spurs)," Van Gundy said.