Helping Leonard in the drubbing of the Grizzlies was fellow All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge who had 17 points, and point guards Tony Parker and Patty Mills who added 15 points each.
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“(They’ll) be more physical defensively and get in us and try to change the game like that, and play some bully ball”, Spurs guard Danny Green said. Matt Barnes took the second most shots for the team, but made just three of them for nine points.
Predictions for the first-round playoff series between the 67-win San Antonio Spurs and injury ravaged Memphis Grizzlies were fairly consistent in expecting a dominant showing for the higher-seeded team.
“You’ve got the strength and conditioning coaches here that know how to prolong your body throughout the season”, Leonard said. That’s why we have days in between, so we can get better and learn.
“We turned it over too much”, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
San Antonio’s suffocating defense held Memphis to franchise lows in total points and points in a quarter 12 years to the day after establishing those records on its way to a series sweep.
The 68 points were Memphis’ lowest offensive output of the season, supplanting the 74 points the Grizzlies scored Sunday in a 106-74 defeat in Game 1 of the series.
The Grizzlies went 3 1/2 minutes without scoring beginning midway through the second quarter and then failed to score in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the second half. The Spurs led 22-13 after 12 minutes of play despite shooting just 35 per cent from the floor.
The Mavericks won 85-84 in Oklahoma City after dropping Game 1 by 38 points.
Will Memphis be able to bounce back against the San Antonio Spurs? Allen (4-of-7 FG) and Chris Andersen (2-of-2 FG) were the only players to make at least half their shots as the Grizzlies shot a paltry 32.6 percent from the field, including 2-of-14 from deep and 10-of-18 from the line. Ranked 14th, the San Antonio Spurs average 43.9 rebounds.An early barrage of three-pointers from Kyle Korver set the tone for a one-sided encounter as the Hawks raced into a big early lead that Boston never looked like overhauling. That rest should pay dividends when we watch the Spurs game live streaming or on TV tonight.
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“I don’t want to play 20 minutes getting beat so bad”, he said. That is their game to play. All appendages should feel fine at the conclusion of this evening, though, as San Antonio stands to flex its championship chops again. Losing game three would put the Grizzlies in a deadly 0-3 hole. He also contributed eight rebounds and four blocks in the second game.
