San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard goes to the basket against Memphis Grizzlies forward Matt Barnes in game four. How could the Griz be expected to contend with a 67-win Spurs team sans their starting point guard (Mike Conley), backup at that position (Mario Chalmers), starting center (Marc Gasol) and third big man (Brandan Wright)?
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ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Jason Spezza scored his fourth goal of the series and added three assists, and goalie Kari Lehtonen and the Dallas Stars needed every last one of them to hold off the Minnesota Wild 5-4 Sunday to wrap up the first-round series in six games.
The San Antonio Spurs will be targeting another win against the short-handed Memphis Grizzlies in a bid to close out their first-round playoffs series with a 4-0 sweep.
Kawhi Leonard scored 21 points as the Spurs routed the Memphis Grizzlies 116-95 on Sunday, sweeping the best-of-seven first-round series.
The Spurs first established those dubious records against the Grizzlies on April 19, 2004, on their way to a sweep of their first-round series.
The Spurs rallied past the Memphis Grizzlies 96-87 at FedExForum to be on the verge of a sweep in the Western Conference first-round series. “From our part, that physicality will help us I think in the next round”. But San Antonio believes Memphis’ brand of physical defense will serve it well once it reaches the second round, where the Spurs will likely take on the Oklahoma City Thunder. For a team that has made every opponent scratch and claw to beat them, it didn’t feel like an appropriate swan song. But Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had nothing but praise for the Grizzlies. Tony Parker turned back the clock with a 16-point performance, while LaMarcus Aldridge contributed a double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds).
Memphis Grizzlies forward Lance Stephenson (1) shoots ahead of San Antonio Spurs forward David West (30) during the first half of Game 4 in a first-round NBA basketball playoff series Sunday, April 24, 2016, in Memphis, Tenn. Kaminsky responded with 15 points, including nine during an 18-0 run in the third quarter in Game 3. If that doesn’t make sense, just ask Memphis coach Dave Joerger, who was in tears at the postgame podium trying to capture what this team meant to him.
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The Spurs dominated the series but didn’t demoralize the injury-depleted Griz. We have to come with the same attitude that we did [in Game 3]. In Chris Andersen’s new role as a reserve for this series, he also gave the Grizzlies early bench production, mostly in the form of rebounding and his typical high energy antics. He broke a tie with Phil Jackson in that category. The Grizzlies lost four straight but battled throughout, making sure the Spurs put some respect on their name.
