After the Grizzlies’ season-ending Game 4 defeat to the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday, Carter quickly shut down speculation that this might be his last game in the National Basketball Association.
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Kawhi Leonard had 21 points, Tony parker had 16 and LaMarucus Aldridge had 15 and 10 rebounds to lead the Spurs, who shot 50% from the floor and 45% from three-point range. Although you could envision some openings depending on player movement this summer, say, if the Hawks move on from Jeff Teague, or if a team like the Mavericks decide to pursue an upgrade at point guard. Of course, a short-handed, patched-together Memphis squad entered the series without its two best players, Marc Gasol and Mike Conley, and two other starters, Jeff Green and Courtney Lee, who had been traded away in midseason deals aimed at improving its long-term flexibility.
Golden State Warriors’ Klay Thompson, left, passes the ball as Houston Rockets’ Donatas Motiejunas watches during the first half in Game 4 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series, Sunday, April 24, 2016, in Houston.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and his players said they expected Memphis to play better at home and the Grizzlies did just that, bouncing back after losing the first two games of the series in San Antonio by an average of 29 points.
In game four, the Spurs led by only two points at halftime. After that, San Antonio outscored Memphis 37-21 in the third to take control of the game for good.
The game was delayed early in the 2nd quarter for 18 minutes due to a power outage at FedExForum.
San Antonio would empty their bench and that would be it from Memphis, as the Spurs completed the series sweep.
There were eight lead changes and seven ties in Game 3. In Game 2, it was a 22-11 first quarter. As Sunday progresses, Cleveland could close out their series, with a couple more potentially series-closing Game 5s being played Monday.
With the Spurs, it usually isn’t a matter of if but when, something they proved over and over in this series.
The San Antonio Spurs didn’t play with their usual methodical precision. Memphis’ Grit-N-Grind propelled them to another playoff season, but injuries derailed their final month and sent them slowly coasting into the postseason like a vehicle running out of gas on the highway. The final score of the game was 116-95.
Vince Carter made all four of his 3-point attempts and went 4-for-7 from the field overall to finish with 14 points.
“He just keeps getting better and better”, Joerger said.
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Meanwhile, the Grizzlies were desperately looking to avoid a 3-0 series deficit but they just couldn’t get over the line against the Spurs on Friday.
