Patty Mills scored 16 points and Kawhi Leonard added 13 as the Spurs cruised to a 94-68 triumph over Memphis Tuesday night and a 2-0 series lead in the best-of-7 series.
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Kevin Martin and LaMarcus Aldridge scored 10 points each for the Spurs, who are 6-0 against Memphis this season.
ABOUT THE SPURS: Leonard, who was named Defensive Player of the Year on Monday for the second straight season, also excelled on the offensive end with 20 points in Game 1 and veteran center Tim Duncan was strong on the board with 11 rebounds.
The Grizzlies will have a chance to make the series competitive in Memphis for Game 3 on Friday, but they’re now hanging on by a thread.
“It doesn’t matter where we play, we’ve just got to play better”, Barnes said. “Our discipline and attention to detail has to improve because, on the road, those turnovers will turn into a lot more points than they did at home”. Not with Spurs coach Gregg Popovich telling his team to play with some pride during a timeout of a game they led by 29 points.
But the remaining guys must work harder for Memphis if they want to score an upset versus San Antonio.
Don’t expect San Antonio to relax following 30- and 26-point victories. Home court advantage will aid the Grizzlies in their effort to hold this game closer than the previous two. “That’s the one positive; that the game’s over”.
With a total average of just 189 points per game, it’s no surprise the Under is 7-3 in this spot.
San Antonio swept the four-game season series during the regular season with a 3-1 mark against the spread. Leonard had 13 points.
With Game 2 still at the AT&T Center, the Spurs are expected to win, since they only lost once in the arena during the regular season.
“Heart”, Randolph said. “Everybody is counting us out”.
Tony Allen (12 points) and Zach Randolph (11 points, 12 rebounds) made it into double-digits for the Grizzlies, who host game three in Memphis on Friday.
San Antonio did everything right in the Game #1 rout of Memphis. Considering that the Grizzlies are a team filled with a bunch of tough, hard-nosed dudes, you knew this wasn’t going to sit well with them.
In the process, San Antonio leads 2-0.
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“I don’t know what it is”, said Boston’s Jae Crowder, looking a bit shell-shocked after scoring just two points on 1-of-9 shooting, “but we’ve got to change something”. “We just have to be better, including myself”. The Spurs built their lead from 11 points after one quarter to 14 at halftime, 17 after three quarters and as much as 28 in the fourth while playing their bench players for the majority of the final period.
