Memphis Grizzlies make history - Claw down San Antonio Spurs 99-91 to reach the conference semi-finals
History was made at the FedEx Forum on Friday night as the Memphis Grizzlies took down the NBA-best San Antonio Spurs, 4-2 in the best-of-seven first round playoff
series. Grizzlies, who had earlier won their first ever game in post-season basketball at the start of the series, advanced to the 2nd round of the playoffs, where the Oklahoma city Thunder await them for the Western Conference semi-finals.
This is the first time that the Grizzlies have qualified for the second round of the playoffs. They did so in style too, knocking out the no.1 seed San Antonio Spurs
with a solid 99-91 victory in game-6.
Zach Randolph, who took a lot of flak in earlier seasons, was the undoubted star of the game. The prolific forward put up a game high 31points and also hauled in
11 rebounds. Marc Gasol had 13 rebounds along with 12 points.
San Antonio flattered to deceive on the night, despite four of their five starters reaching double figures. However, no one had a big game, which a night like this
demanded. Tony Parker led their scoring with 23, followed by 16 from Manu Ginobili. Tim Duncan posted a timid return of 12 points and had 10 rebounds.
San Antonio had been tipped to win by many quarters, simply because it was unthinkable that the first seed will lose out to perennial underperformers, the Grizzlies.
The young franchise had not even won a playoff game before this season, having been swept in their last three playoff appearances. One could understand the pessimism regarding their chances.
The Grizzlies proved everyone wrong. They showed commendable spirit throughout the series and now have the chance to make a deep run into the playoffs.
Staring at an aggressive Grizzlies team, pumped up by a noisy home crowd, San Antonio were on the back foot early from the very start. The Grizzlies went for the
kill right from the start. The first quarter saw the Grizzlies race to a game high 14 point lead, before San Antonio steadied the ship and regained some ground, ending the quarter at 24- 16.
The next two quarters saw the Spurs chipping away at Memphis’ lead, but the Grizzlies offense proved too much for them to handle. Despite putting up high numbers
on the offensive end, the Spurs could not capitalize as they failed to make stops on defence. Memphis were up for the game, fighting for every ball and contesting every shot. They won the battle of the boards 43-to-32 and that hurt San Antonio the most.
Although a close third quarter saw the Spurs cut the gap down to 1 point, the Grizzlies kept their lead throughout. At the end of the third, the gap was 4 points
and Spurs knew the final period would be do or die for their season.
San Antonio went about the task with gritty determination in the fourth. After some good offensive moves and rock-solid hard defence, they finally took the lead with
4:40 left on the clock, when Antonio McDyess drained a jumper.
However, Zach was in no mood to let his night be tainted. Randolph immediately went on a rampage and took the crowd along for the ride. He scored 10 points in a 15-4
run for the Grizzlies, leaving spurs with a 10 point deficit and just 24.9 seconds to do something about it. The Spurs were simply helpless in the face of such ferocity and there was no light at the end of the tunnel for them. O.J. Mayo wrapped up San Antonio’s
post-season, when he converted from the line.
San Antonio could only look back at a year that had promised so much and produced so little. They were dejected with the loss, although Tony Parker conceded that
the better team won.
"We played well all season long," Parker said. "As you know, it doesn't mean anything if you don't play well in the playoffs, and overall Memphis played better than
us. Have to give them credit. Had a chance at the end, up one, 5 minutes to go. We didn't make the plays we needed to play."
This was a momentous occasion for Memphis, the franchise and the town. They had achieved that which not even the stoutest of Grizzlies’ fan would have expected. The
hero of the night, Zach Randolph summed up the win and what it mean to the city after the game, while also stressing that there is still a long way to go.
"Emotion is high, not just for the Memphis Grizzlies but for the whole city of Memphis and the fans," Randolph said. "It's something. It's a great accomplishment.
We've got to be happy. We should be happy. But it's a quick turnaround. We've got a game Sunday, and we have to get ready."
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