Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets win: NBA Playoffs Monday Roundup (Part 1)
Memphis Grizzlies 104 – San Antonio Spurs 86
After trailing by two points at the end of the second quarter, the eighth seeded Memphis Grizzlies outplayed the San Antonio Spurs in the third frame with a 30-15 run, to record a comfortable 104-86 win at the FedEx Forum on Monday night.
After his team's astonishing victory, Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said, "It was an incredible performance in the third and fourth quarter. We outscored them 30-15 and from the second quarter on, our defence just kept getting better and better."
Mike Conley scored 15 points and provided seven assists. Tony Allen hit 12, while Zach Randolph and O.J. Mayo had 11 points each. Meanwhile, Darrell Arthur led the bench with 14 points.
The Spurs opened the first quarter by scoring the first 10 points, eight of which came from Tony Parker. The Spurs led the Grizzlies 26-21 at the end of the quarter. This was the first time in this series when San Antonio outplayed Memphis in the first frame.
Reserve Greivis Vasquez hit three shots to begin a 9-2 run and Mayo finished it with his layup for a 30-28 advantage in the second quarter. Parker then appeared on the scene and made 11 points to give San Antonio a slender 50-48 lead at half time.
The Grizzlies tipped off aggressively in the second half and raced to 62-52 lead with a 14-0 blitz. Sam Young capped the surge with a brilliant dunk with less than eight minutes left. Arthur then finished the third quarter proceedings with a couple of jumpers that put the Grizzlies up 78-65.
In the 11th minute of the fourth quarter, Arthur dunked one to give Memphis a 83-67 lead. Spurs coach Greg Popovich took a timeout immediately afterwards, but it went in vain as Arthur dipped another after the timeout and pushed the lead to 85-67.
Shane Battier made a three-pointer halfway through the quarter to put the Grizzlies ahead by 94-74, before they took the game away from San Antonio. Memphis are the only the third eighth-seeded team that have gone 2-1 in the playoffs, since the league extended the first-round series to best of seven games.
Parker led the Spurs with 23 points but was restricted to just four in the second half. Manu Ginobili scored 14, Gary Neal 11, while George Hill and Tiago Splitter had 10 apiece.
Dallas Mavericks 93 – Portland Trail Blazers 82
Trailing the series 3-1, the Dallas Mavericks bounced back from a shocking loss to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers 93-82, at the American Airlines Centre on Monday night.
Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks attack and scored 25 points, 11 of which came at a crucial stage of the third quarter.
Tyson Chandler was dazzling in his new role, as he scored 14 points along with 20 rebounds; the most by any Mavs player in the playoffs so far. He was firm right from the start, as he hit seven points and as many boards within a span of nine minutes.
The Mavericks tipped off sluggishly and allowed the Blazers to outscore them 20-15 in the first quarter. Wesley Matthews made six points for the Blazers during the period.
Trailing by five points, the Mavs gathered themselves quickly after Rudy Fernandez’s three-pointer, as they rattled Portland with a 15-4 run to tie the scores at 27-27 with Jason Terry’s floater. Dallas then grabbed the lead at 30-27 with his swishing three-pointer, before they led the Trail Blazers 44-43 at half time.
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