Spurs at Grizzlies
The San Antonio Spurs mauled Memphis in each of the first two games and
look to take a 3-0 lead in the first-round series when they visit the
Grizzlies on Friday. Second-seeded San Antonio won the first two games
by an average of 29 points and limited injury ravaged Memphis to an
average of 71 points.
The Spurs were expected to roll over the seventh-seeded Grizzlies but All-Star small forward Kawhi Leonard made it clear the series momentum can still change hands. "Yeah, but that's the thing you've got to fight," Leonard told reporters. "We've still got to execute. We turned over the ball a lot (17 in Game 2). They're physical, and they have great hands. But this is still an opportunity for us to improve. They're still an NBA team." Memphis hasn't always resembled an NBA team since season-ending injuries to center Marc Gasol (foot) and point guard Mike Conley (Achilles) and small forward Matt Barnes isn't putting a lot of stock into getting the next two games at home. "It doesn't matter where we play, we've just got to play better," Barnes told reporters. "We can play (in San Antonio), we can play at the YMCA, we can play in Memphis; it doesn't matter where we play at if we play the way we've been playing. The court doesn't matter. It's on the players - we've got to do a better job executing."
TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, FSN Southwest (San Antonio), FSN Southeast (Memphis)
ABOUT THE SPURS: Fast starts on the defensive end have fueled the two blowout victories as San Antonio held Memphis to 13 points in the first quarter of the opener and just 11 in Game 2. All-Star power forward LaMarcus Aldridge is playing with a dislocated right pinky finger and has been a big factor in why Memphis power forward Zach Randolph has been unable to get on track. "I just think LaMarcus played excellent defense tonight," Popovich told reporters. "We didn't double-team him or anything like that. If he got in the lane, we tried to make a play I guess, but mostly L.A. gets the credit for doing a fine job on a great player."
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES: Randolph is just 8-of-30 shooting while averaging 8.5 points in the series and Barnes is averaging only 5.5 points on 4-of-18 shooting. Barnes wasn't pleased to play only 30 minutes in the Game 2 loss and publicly expressed his frustration. "I don't want to play 20 minutes getting beat so bad," Barnes told reporters. "I want to play 40-45 minutes and swing every second we can. I don't want to save nothing, nothing should be in the tank. I'm not even tired right now, it's frustrating."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Grizzlies are shooting 35.8 percent from the field through two games.
2. Backup San Antonio G Patty Mills is averaging 15.5 points in the series - second on the Spurs behind Leonard (16.5).
3. Memphis PG Jordan Farmar is 5-of-17 from the field and backup G Xavier Munford is 5-of-19.