No slow start in this game. I thought the Spurs should have blown out the Grizzlies from the get go, but they couldn't knock down their 3PT shots. If they were just shooting their average from 3PT range, they would have been up by a lot more than 24-14 after the 1st, and 44-38 at the half.
I still never had the sense that the Spurs were in danger of losing this game. The 3rd quarter was the crucial one for the Grizzlies. They put up 28 points and Quincy Pondexter was hot, but the Spurs managed to put up 28 themselves and the lead stayed at 6. With Zach Randolph struggling again, the Grizzlies just don't have the shooters to be consistent on offense.
Grizzlies once again destroyed the Spurs on the boards, 41-34 and got 16 offensive rebounds. The difference was this time they failed to hold the Spurs under 90 and the turnovers were almost even (14-13 Grizzlies). Tony Parker was just too good in this one. The Spurs shot .513 for the game, but as a group didn't shoot that well. They hit just 3-13 from 3PT range. The scoring efficiency came courtesy of Parker, who made 15-21. That's a .714 shooting percentage! Not only did Parker score a season high 37, but it was timely scoring. Just about every time the Spurs needed a basket to stem a Grizzlies run, Parker delivered.
Tim Duncan put in a pretty pedestrian game (at least for him) with 15
PTS (.467 shooting) and 8 REBS. Kwahi Leonard was the only other Spurs
in double-figures with 11, but only took 7 shots. Duncan (4 blocks) and
Leonard (5 steals) made their mark on the defensive end. 4 more
blocked shots came from Tiago Splitter. Manu Ginobili was just 1-6, but contributed 6 REBs and 6 STLs.
It may sound like an easy win, but the series could just as easily been 3-1 or 2-2 at this point. The Grizzlies just never put together enough offense and I never thought Zach Randolph would struggle for 4 straight games. Quincy Poindexter led the Grizzlies with 22 PTS (7-11) for the 2nd time all year, both coming in this series.
Did you happen to catch the Western Conference Championship trophy presentation? I thought it was interesting that all the new guys were right behind the presenters. Duncan and Ginobili was out of camera range on the far right (left of the screen) and you couldn't even see Parker until he stepped forward to hold the trophy. That was typical Spurs...I can't think of one other team where the main players wouldn't have been up front soaking in all the attention.
There's been a lot of congratulations after games from the bench players focused towards Duncan. Splitter also gave him a few head pats and a big smile. The other thing was Parker, in the post game interview, talking about winning another one for Duncan. I wouldn't be surprised if Duncan mimics David Robinson and retires if the Spurs win the Championship this year. It would be just like the Spurs to keep something like Duncan playing in his last season in house.
I'm going to just relish the fact the Spurs are heading to the NBA Finals for the 5th time and post about their chances of winning once the Eastern Conference Finals are over.
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