Zach Randolph help Memphis Grizzlies beat San Antonio Spurs, 99-91: NBA Play-off Recap
Zach Randolph finished with 31 points and 11 rebounds, as the Memphis Grizzlies wrapped up their first round of the play-off series against the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs with a 99-91 victory in Game 6
Friday night.
“He put the whole team on his back and delivered,” Marc Gasol said of Randolph. “That was, for me on the court,
one of the most unreal performances in the fourth quarter in a long time. The last 4 or 5 minutes of the game, he just carried us. It was unbelievable.”
The Grizzlies won the Western Conference first-round series 4-2. It is their first play-off series win in the franchise history. This victory moved them into the Western Conference semi-finals where they
will face Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 on Sunday.
Memphis' Head Coach, Lionel Hollins, said after the game, "Not a lot of people knew about us coming in, but we certainly have made some noise, turned some heads, and got some attention that probably wouldn't
have been given to us if we lost this series."
Marc Gasol poured in 12 points and grabbed 13 rebounds while Tony Allen scored 11 points for Memphis, which is in the play-off series for the first time since 2006. Rookie Greivis Vasquez finished with 11
points off the bench.
The Spurs lost their second first-round series in three seasons. They could not erase a 3-1 series deficit. They took an extra-session victory in Game 5, but did not show the same kind of performance Friday
against a disruptive Grizzlies defence.
San Antonio Head Coach Gregg Popovich said, "We really had trouble scoring against their defence. They deserve a lot of credit for that."
Tony Parker tallied 23 points while Manu Ginobili poured in 16 points for the Spurs, who became only the second top seeded team to fall in the first-round series. Tim Duncan had 12 points and Antonio McDyess added
10 points in the loss.
Greivis Vasquez posted eight points in the opening period to give the Grizzlies a 24-16 lead.
The Spurs cut their gap to 46-43 at halftime, and tied the game when Manu Ginobili drained a three-pointer less than two minutes into the third quarter.
However, Sam Young and Mike Conley made back-to-back baskets to give Memphis a 52-48 advantage. The Grizzlies stayed ahead by one or two possessions through the rest of the third quarter and carried a 70-66
edge into the fourth quarter which Randolph started with a tip-in.
Manu Ginobili made two straight baskets midway through the fourth quarter before Antonio McDyess drilled a jumper to give San Antonio an 80-79 edge.
However, Randolph took control of the game after San Antonio got its second lead of the play; scoring 10 of the next 14 points to secure the win.
Randolph drilled a fall-away jumper, made a pair of free throws and hit another jumper to put the Grizzlies up 89-82 with less than two minutes to play that prevented a comeback and sealed the game.
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