Leonard helps Spurs outlast Grizzlies in OT
SAN ANTONIO -- Kawhi Leonard scored 32 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and took charge of the game at the free-throw line in the final seconds to help lift the San Antonio Spurs to a 95-89 overtime victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday.
The game was tied at 86 with 2:15 left in overtime before Pau Gasol and Patty Mills hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to give San Antonio the lead for good. Leonard sealed it by making three free throws in the final minute.
The lead changed hands three times in the final minute of regulation, until an alley-oop layup by San Antonio's LaMarcus Aldridge off a perfect inbounds pass by Pau Gasol with 1.6 seconds to play tied the game at 84 and forced overtime.
The victory was the third in a row and eighth in 10 games for the Spurs (60-17), who still have a mathematical chance to snatch the best record in the NBA from Golden State, which leads San Antonio by three games with five games remaining.
San Antonio reached 60 wins for the second straight season and seventh time in franchise history. It is third best all time in the NBA history, behind Boston (13) and the Los Angeles/Minneapolis Lakers (11).
Aldridge added 15 points for the Spurs while Pau Gasol chipped in 12 points and 11 rebounds and Tony Parker and Mills had 10 points each for San Antonio.
Mike Conley led the Grizzlies (42-36) with 19 points, and Zach Randolph added 18 points and 16 rebounds for Memphis. Marc Gasol contributed 11 points, and Troy Daniels and Wayne Selden scored 10 points apiece for the Grizzlies.
Leonard and Conley both went to the floor with 3:42 remaining after inadvertently clashing heads under the Grizzlies' basket. Both players got up under their own power but Conley had to leave the game with blood gushing from a cut above his eye. Conley did not return.
NOTES: Memphis G/F Tony Allen missed the game with a left eye injury while the Spurs were without Gs Danny Green (left quad contusion) and Dejounte Murray (left groin). It was the 12th straight game Murray missed. ... Spurs G Manu Ginobili left the game early in the second quarter with a right quad contusion and did not return. ... Grizzlies C Marc Gasol and Spurs F/C Pau Gasol started opposite each other in the 2015 NBA All-Star Game, becoming the first pair of brothers to start the same All-Star Game and the second brothers to play in the same NBA All-Star Game (Tom and Dick Van Arsdale in 1970 and 1971).