Grizzlies at Spurs
There were several tight games over the weekend as the NBA playoffs got underway, but Game 1 between the San Antonio Spurs and Memphis Grizzlies was not among them. The seventh-seeded Grizzlies will try to put the big loss behind them and even the best of seven series when they visit the second-seeded Spurs in Game 2 on Monday.
San Antonio allowed 30 points in the first quarter of Game 1 but did not surrender more than 19 in any of the following three frames en route to a 111-82 drubbing. "I thought we did a good job defensively," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told reporters. "I thought they made a couple of tough shots. We made a couple mistakes. They took advantage of it. The best part was the team keeping their composure, not going off in different directions, and just trying to do what we planned to do execution-wise at both ends. I thought we got better as the game went on." Memphis is searching for answers after allowing San Antonio to be the aggressor over the final three quarters. "They just took over the game," Grizzlies power forward Zach Randolph told reporters. "They started to hit shots and put pressure on us. We couldn’t get the ball where we wanted to get it. We just couldn’t get shots."
TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, TNT, FSN Southeast (Memphis), FSN Southwest (San Antonio)
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES: The biggest thing the Spurs did to disrupt Memphis was getting point guard Mike Conley out of his rhythm, and the team leader managed just 13 points on 5-of-14 shooting. "They forced other guys to handle the ball," Grizzlies coach David Fizdale told reporters. "We went over it, we expected it, but we just didn't respond well to it. I thought Mike missed some chippies in there in the paint. But give them credit; they really turned the game around defensively against us." The bright spot offensively was center Marc Gasol, who scored 32 points on 11-of-18 shooting while outplaying older brother Pau, who managed six points off the Spurs' bench.
ABOUT THE SPURS: San Antonio got a different performance out of their starting point guard, with veteran Tony Parker scoring 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting while stepping up defensively against Conley. "Him being aggressive and knocking down shots and just penetrating, and getting the defense to get an extra guy to go to him is big for us," Spurs small forward Kawhi Leonard told reporters. "Not just me, but everybody. He gets us open shots." Leonard had an easy time of it against the Memphis defense while scoring 32 points in as many minutes and shooting 11-of-14 from the field and 9-of-9 from the line.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Spurs SG Manu Ginobili, who averages 14.7 points in 198 career playoff games, went scoreless on 0-of-4 shooting in Game 1.
2. Starting Gs Vince Carter and Wayne Selden totaled nine points on 4-of-14 shooting for Memphis in Game 1.
3. Leonard and PF LaMarcus Aldridge (30) were the only players to log more than 25 minutes for San Antonio on Saturday.