San Antonio Spurs pull away in the third quarter to beat Memphis Grizzlies 95-82 : NBA Recap Part 2
San Antonio Spurs looked a completely different side coming out of the break and used a tremendous third quarter to turn the game in their favour. Spurs were dominant on offence and stifled the Grizzlies on the other end, taking a firm grip on the match.
An 18 – 2 run in the quarter completely decimated the Memphis Grizzlies as they looked helpless to stop San Antonio. The gap between the two teams rose to as much as 19 at one point, but the time the quarter ended Memphis had got it down to 14 at 72 – 58.
Memphis knew they had to give it their all in the final period to stand a chance, and they did put on a spirited 12 – 2 run to bring the gap down to 7. Spurs though immediately responded with a 9 – 2 burst of their own to restore a comfortable cushion. That run pretty much ended the resistance by Memphis and the game petered out to an unremarkable end, San Antonio securing a 95 – 82 win.
Spurs forward Richard Jefferson said after the game that San Antonio got it done on the defensive end and that was especially praise worthy seeing that Memphis had star player Rudy g*y back from an injury.
"Our defence got better every single quarter. That's a good Grizzlies team. They got Rudy g*y back, and they'll be right there at the end." He said.
Grizzlies guard Mike Conley spoke along the same lines. He said that power forward Zach Randolph is his team’s most potent weapon and San Antonio did a good job of containing him.
"(The Spurs) were taking away the post from us. We've got to do a better job of moving the ball and getting the big fellas the ball early. They did a good job of fronting (Randolph). Whenever he got the ball they helped with two and three defenders and made him have to make the play and give it up. Zach didn't get to see the daylight too often around the post."
San Antonio forced 25 turnovers from Memphis and had just 13 of their own, a testament to their maturity and stifling defence. That turned out to be decisive for the veteran team as they shot at just 39.8 percent from the field and 30.3 percent from beyond the arc. The Grizzlies on the other hand were much better at shooting the ball with percentages at 46.6 and 42.9 from the field and downtown respectively.
The win will give a boost to San Antonio who had been written off since last summer by some in the NBA after bundling out in the first round of the playoffs. Grizzlies were the team that put them out, so it should give them confidence after making easy work of them early in the new season.
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