Grizzlies at Spurs
The Memphis Grizzlies can’t afford any stumbles as they battle for a playoff spot and will need to navigate around a big roadblock in front of them when they visit the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday. Memphis is 0-3 against San Antonio this season and was also swept by the Spurs in last season’s Western Conference finals. Another loss to San Antonio would be painful as the Grizzlies are tied for the eighth and final postseason spot in the West with the Phoenix Suns.
The Spurs hold a 3 1/2-game lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder for the top spot in the West. San Antonio had its franchise-record 19-game winning streak snapped by the Thunder on Thursday for its first defeat since Feb. 21. “You can learn a lot from a loss,” guard Danny Green said afterward. “Obviously, I’d rather learn from a win but sometimes you feel like you can learn more from a loss. We’ll go back to the drawing board.” Memphis follows up the contest against the Spurs with a home tilt against the Miami Heat.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBATV, SportSouth (Memphis), FSN Southwest (San Antonio)
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (45-31): Memphis notched an important victory over the Denver Nuggets on Friday due to a strong second half. Players and coaches alike were disappointed in a second-quarter showing in which the Grizzlies allowed 29 points, but they turned it around with point guard Mike Conley scoring 19 of his 21 points in the second half. “In the second half, we had three stops in a row seven times,” coach Dave Joerger said afterward. “That was very positive for us. We came out with a good defensive mindset. I know outside of the second quarter, I was very impressed with our performance defensively.”
ABOUT THE SPURS (59-17): Veteran guard Manu Ginobili doesn’t like losing but he also isn’t stressing over the fact that the long winning streak is over. “If there was something I didn’t care about at all, it was about the streak,” Ginobili told reporters after Saturday’s practice. “In my mind, it doesn’t make sense at all to be talking so much about it. It’s a curious thing and it’s not easy to get a streak like that. … But our goal wasn’t to win 20, it is to win the last one in June.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Spurs are 30-6 at home against the Grizzlies in the regular season and have won 15 of the last 16.
2. Memphis scored just seven second-quarter points on 2-of-18 shooting during a 101-94 loss in San Antonio on Oct. 31.
3. Spurs reserve G Patty Mills is averaging 14.6 points on 58.3 percent shooting over the last five games.