NBA Recap: Memphis Grizzlies edge past the San Antonio Spurs to take a 2-1 series lead
April 23rd, 2011. Memphis Grizzlies played every trick they knew to make their way out of the grasps of San Antonio Spurs and they succeeded, resulting in a 91-88 victory and a 2-1 lead over them. On Saturday night,
the Grizzlies gave the Spurs a wild demonstration of how to turn a minus into a plus.
The Spurs did a great job defending Marc Gasol on the night, but failed to stop Mike Conley from passing the ball to Zach Randolph when it really mattered. With just 41.9 seconds left in game, Tim Duncan failed to shield Randolph,
who buried a long range shot to leave the Spurs stunned and staring at a five point difference, 86-91. Nothing changed much after that except for two Manu Ginobili free throws as the Spurs lost out 91-88 loss against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Randolph scooped out game high 25 points to go along with five boards in the win. Spurs’ power forward Duncan later appreciated Randolph’s three-pointer attempt that he made that late in the game and said, "I leaned back and tried
to make sure that there wasn't' a quick big-to-big roll, but he hit a 3 from that range. It was a great shot."
Conley produced 14 points and dished out eight assists as the Grizzlies took a dramatic win over the West Conference’s top seeded Spurs.
Gasol took great joy in watching Duncan guarding teammate Randolph. Seeing a clearance and a good opportunity to make his mark, the 7 foot 1 inch tall centre finished with a 7-for-13 shooting from the field and sealed 17 points
in the win. His nine rebounds were team high. O.J Mayo also came off the bench to add 10 points to the box score.
The Grizzlies appreciated their audience for cheering them on and uplifting their spirits throughout the game. Mayo thanked the crowd for their cheerfulness and said, "Did you see that building? That was the difference. It was
just unbelievable. Our crowd, everybody up swinging a white towel, and everybody on the same sheet of music. If you want to know the difference, it was that home court."
The roaring home crowd proved to be little too overwhelming in the early part of the game as the shaky Grizzlies dropped six out of seven game opening shots. Settling their nerves later on, they managed to get hold of the game
and sealed nine out of 11 upcoming shots.
The Spurs never succeeded in surpassing the Grizzlies who kept dominating them from the very start. San Antonio fought hard in the fourth quarter though. Ginobili was in his groove down the stretch. The Argentinean sniper snapped
a 74-75 chord by dropping in five straight points and then added another free throw at the 5:14 mark to level the scores at 80. However, Mayo gained momentum for the Grizzlies again and banged a trey to grab the lead once again, 83-80. Randolph did the rest
of the damage.
Game 4 of the best-of-seven series between Spurs and Grizzlies takes place at the FedEx Forum on Monday April 25th, 2011.
Tags: