If there was a defining play in the Spurs’ 94-68 Game 2 win over the Grizzlies that was it. The Spurs, as the top ranked defensive team in the league, swarmed the undermanned Grizzlies, whose leading scorer, Tony Allen, finished with 12 points. With none of the starters player more than 27 minutes, it was Patty Mills who led the team in scoring with 16 points off the bench while Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge added 13 and 10 points respectively.
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San Antonio’s defense was the story in Game 1 and it was the story once again on Tuesday.
San Antonio outscored the Grizzlies 24-6 over the final 8:04 of the third period, turning a contentious game into a runaway, and led 81-51 with a quarter to play. It doesn’t matter where we play at if we play the way we’ve been playing, the court doesn’t matter.
Randolph has averaged 8.5 points on 8-of-30 shooting (26.7 percent), although he played better in Game 2, scoring 11 while also grabbing 12 rebounds.
The team’s first postseason game didn’t go according to plan at all, though.
Boban Marjanovic #40 of the San Antonio Spurs dunks in front of Jordan Farmar #4 of the Memphis Grizzlies during Game One of the Western Conference Quarterfinals during the 2016 NBA Playoffs at AT&T Center on April 17, 2016 in San Antonio, Texas.
San Antonio led from the start and methodically took apart the Grizzlies. Memphis has a good SU record over the last 10 games (7-3), but have a 3-7 record ATS. Either way, he did kind of kick Memphis while they’re down, and we’d expect Memphis to work even harder than usual to try and prove Miller wrong.
“We are learning a lot from these two games already”.
“They are coming across from the middle, they are coming across from the baseline”, Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger said.
I wish I could tell you that there’s a particularly compelling reason to watch the next meeting between these teams on Friday night. Zach Randolph had 12 rebounds and 11 points, but was just 5 of 17 from the field.
San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili (20) is fouled on a shot, by Memphis Grizzlies forward Matt Barnes, left, during the second half in Game 2 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series, Tuesday, Apr… Like some of us, he probably would have chosen to lie down in the comfort of his own home. As a result of injuries, the Grizzlies are giving heavy minutes to guys they signed in free agency late in the regular season. Ranked 14th, the San Antonio Spurs average 43.9 rebounds.
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San Antonio fashioned a 15-6 run in the second quarter and eventually settled for a 49-35 lead at halftime.
