El Conclusión: San Antonio Spurs 103, Memphis Grizzlies 89

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Memphis Grizzlies 89 Final

Recap | Box Score

 103 San Antonio Spurs
Tim Duncan, PF 24 MIN | 4-8 FG | 2-2 FT | 5 REB | 4 AST | 0 STL | 3 BLK | 0 TO | 10 PTS | +8 +/-

Duncan got into some foul trouble and ended up having a quiet night, but his short stint was highlighted by the usual efficiency and some solid block numbers. HOWEVER… He didn’t attempt a three, so I can’t give this an A.

Kawhi Leonard, SF 33 MIN | 11-17 FG | 2-2 FT | 10 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 25 PTS | +17 +/-

At one point, every one of us watching the fourth quarter was witnessing something special. Scoring fifteen straight points for the Spurs and blowing up what was a relatively close game, Kawhi Leonard spontaneously combusted, bursting through the role player chrysalis and seizing the reins of the offense. It was an incredible display and seemed to come out of nowhere. How could we give him anything but an A+?

Tiago Splitter, C 29 MIN | 6-9 FG | 3-3 FT | 8 REB | 2 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 15 PTS | +9 +/-

Splitter had one of his best games of the season, and while the numbers might not reveal his true impact tonight, his hustle plays and rolls to the basket carved up the Grizzlies all night and prevented them from making the game a tighter contest. Zach Randolph had an uncharacteristically good game in San Antonio – a place where he usually struggles – and while some of that lands at Splitter’s feet, he did enough well to warrant a good grade here (which totally doesn’t matter at all because these are fake grades he’ll never see so calm down).

Tony Parker, PG 35 MIN | 7-16 FG | 3-5 FT | 1 REB | 6 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 17 PTS | +15 +/-

Parker started out struggling, but he finished with a solid line. To put things in perspective, he only had two points at the half, and those came with a layup in the the final minute of the second quarter. He settled down and was engaged throughout the second half.

Danny Green, SG 29 MIN | 4-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 5 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 9 PTS | +6 +/-

Green was lukewarm from the three-point line, but he filled up the rest of the box score. He’s the perfect glue guy for this starting unit, and even on nights when he struggles, the Spurs need the little things from him.

Marco Belinelli, SF 14 MIN | 2-5 FG | 2-2 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 7 PTS | -3 +/-

Marco did his usual stuff. Hit a three, knocked down some free throws, added an assist, grabbed a couple boards. But he also got a steal on a good defensive play, and really, how often do you remember that after a game?

Aron Baynes, C 19 MIN | 2-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 7 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 2 BLK | 0 TO | 4 PTS | +5 +/-

Baynes is back. Kind of a quiet night, but we’re giving him a good grade because he attempted a jumper that bounced out and was hilariously tapped back in by Jeff Green.

Boris Diaw, C 22 MIN | 4-8 FG | 1-2 FT | 7 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 10 PTS | +6 +/-

A Good Day to Diaw Hard. (I don’t know what that means.) This aggressive Boris is so much fun to watch, and it’s clear that him attacking and scoring gives the team a whole different look. Danny Green is right – it’s a friggin’ party.

Patty Mills, PG 13 MIN | 1-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 2 PTS | -3 +/-

Still can’t shoot. Still making me sad. There were a couple opportunities for him to blow this thing up early, but he just couldn’t make it happen. The time for him to recapture his rhythm is running out…

Manu Ginobili, SG 20 MIN | 1-3 FG | 2-2 FT | 4 REB | 3 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 4 PTS | +4 +/-

Quiet night for Manu, but he didn’t have a turnover. That’s worth something. I say it’s worth a B.

Gregg Popovich

Hey, guess what? The Spurs looked great tonight, even with Pop having to juggle the big man rotation against the freakin’ Grizzlies after Duncan got in foul trouble. Funky, non-Manu bench unit aside, not much to argue with here.

Three Things We Saw

  1. Not much left for the Spurs to mark off their checklist: Kawhi Leonard back? CHECK. Tony Parker back? CHECK. Boris Diaw alive? CHECK. Patty Mills en fuego perpetuo? Ask us in a couple weeks.
  2. The loss dropped the Grizzlies to third. If the playoffs started tonight, they’d play… the Spurs. I’m thinking they’ll want to change that soon.
  3. There was a lot of Gasol-to-the-Spurs talk during the game. It’s hard not to get excited about the possibility, but let’s all just dial it back a bit. The likelihood of him leaving seems to be relatively small, so keeping hopes in the midrange would be wise.
  • hoopsaf

    A wing player who is a physical freak with crazy wingspan and elite athleticism. Possesses unstoppable postup moves and fadeaway/turn-around jumpers. Elite rebounder and all-NBA-defense. Great court vision. Possesses outlier gigantic hands. Can finish a mid air layup with one hand.

    The first player to possess these qualities was MJ. Kobe was the heir apparent (minus gigantic hands). Kawhi the the heir to Kobe/MJ’s game. James Harden might possess ‘the best SG in the game’ title right now, but Kawhi has really styled his game after two of the greatest SGs in the game.

    Ever wondered how Kobe/MJ might have looked under Pop? I think we are witnessing it.

  • birdie

    No, not even for the laugh can you refuse to give Tim an A if you give one to Beli. Some small degree of consistency IS necessary.

  • Shew

    Maybe its just me but it seems you tend to give Beli low grades when he deserves more, this time though an A- is pushing it.

  • Emil E. Matula III

    Beli hit the shots in the third quarter that kept the lead. Sure it was only 5 points, but it helped center the Spurs and allow them some breathing room when Memphis was trying to come back.

  • whitegluejacky

    Diaw just can’t defend Randolph in 1 on 1 situation. I won’t gve such grade to him.

  • hoopsaf

    Diaw is one of those guys who need to have good offensive games because his defense would be at best average. Spurs have two French men who are probably two best offensive Frenches in the game, and also two worst defensive Frenches in their respective positions.

    Whenever I see Diaw, I just can’t get over the fact that despite his effective offensive game, he probably has underachieved in his career. Imagine if he kept himself in a tip-top shape like Duncan, Kawhi. etc.

  • Dapimp Ofdayear

    Leonard doesn’t have either of their pure athleticism, but other wise it’s a good comp.

  • thedrwolff

    Dude, settle. Those arent fair comparisons. Kawhi is special and he is a top ten talent in TODAYS league for sure. He IS NOT a top ten of all time so relax. Why don’t you wonder how Kawhi would look on another team. Say Philly. Probably a bit more like Micheal Carter williams then Micheal Jordan. Remember that bulls team Jordan went to sucked and immediately he made them a top team dropping 37 a night with 1.5 blocks and 3 steals his 23 year old season. Kawhi, on say, Orlando is victor olidipo with much better defense. Kawhi is a defensive expert LEARNING Offensive skills which, unless you are 7 feet tall is completely OPPOSITE of normal NBA talent. He is NOT a skywalker, nor does he have good handle as we see dribbling out of post ups are awkward yet. but he’s 23. 2 years from now He’s a solid 23/8/5 guy with 4 defensive stl/blk…capable of uncorking a 30+ pt triple double with great defense. Let’s not throw out MJ/Kobe references quite yet. That’s just not fair to MJ or Kobe.

  • thedrwolff

    Time to play LETS RATE KAWHI…so where does he sit in your league rankings… No 10? No 15? no.6? You know how these are all point production heavy yet Anthony Davis is behind Kawhi in RPM… and PER is based somewhat on usage. So if you had an NBA DRAFT…TODAY…to win the title against everyone elses team. Where does he go. Do you take him ahead of Westbrook? or Davis? Let’s take Curry Lebron and Harden as 3 for sure ahead of him….then what. Is he truly your number 4 guy in the league? RPM says HELL YES.

  • hoopsaf

    I’m not saying that Kawhi has reached Kobe/MJ’s level (he may not ever, at least in terms of scoring a lot of points). I’m simply saying that he has modeled his game after those guys and he has the physical attributes to do what they did.

    He has also picked a few moves from Tony, Manu (euro-steps) and Durant’s raise-arm-to-get-fouled move but he’s establishing himself as a post-up oriented player the way Kobe was. Additionally, if Kobe was in Pop’s system, he may not jack-up shots as much as he did with the players that Spurs currently have.

    Physically, one thing he doesn’t have is a 40″ hop (his combine vertical was only 32.5″), but I think that’s sort of overrated especially given his crazy standing reach.

  • spurs10

    Good grades, fun grades. ZBo was very aggressive and I think Boris and Tiago played him tough. They didn’t stop him, but they made him work. He didn’t stop them either. Good match up. Love watching these two teams play. Can’t even hate them like I do most everybody else.

  • Dapimp Ofdayear

    That’s what talent does to some people. It makes them think they don’t have to work as hard.

  • KawaiianIsland420

    what? Diaw is not a liability on defense at all, he and kawaii shut down LeBron in the last 2 finals

  • Suave Groove

    As we’re into the last stretch of the season, I wanted to see how a healthy Spurs squad fairs in efficiency vs top West/East teams on their last stretch (Feb 27- March 29). I can say the Spurs are looking insanely good.

    OFFENSIVE EFFICIENCY:
    1. Spurs 114.0
    2. Warriors 109.7
    3. Thunder 107.7
    4. Clippers 107.5
    5. Blazers 106.8
    6. Rockets 104.4
    7. Pelicans 103.6
    8. Mavericks 100.2
    9. Grizzlies 100.1
    10. Suns 96.9

    *Cavs: 111.5
    *Hawks 104.2

    DEFENSIVE EFFICIENCY:
    1. Warriors 96.4
    2. Suns 98.1
    3. Clippers 100.1
    4. Spurs 100.5
    5. Pelicans 100.9
    6. Grizzlies 101.1
    7. Rockets 101.8
    8. Blazers 104.5
    9. Mavericks 104.6
    10. Thunder 107.7

    *Hawks: 104.3
    *Cavs: 103.7

    NET DIFFERENCE:
    1. Spurs 13.5
    2. Warriors 13.3
    3. Clippers 7.4
    4. Pelicans 2.7
    5. Rockets 2.6
    6. Blazers 2.3
    7. Thunder 0.3
    8. Grizzlies -1.0
    9. Suns -1.2
    10. Mavericks -4.4

    *Cavs: 7.8
    *Hawks: -0.1

    Source: NBA.com

  • Tyler

    Above numbers speak to why if you are the Spurs, you probably want to stay on the side of the bracket opposite GS. Not only that, but you won’t have to play the Clips either. I’d rather go through Houston/Memphis than LA/GS personally.

  • Suave Groove

    ^ - “I’d rather go through Houston/Memphis than LA/GS personally.”

    Me too. Looking at today’s Playoffs bracket, that would be the case. Although several position changes may occur during the next 8 to 9 games. Best case scenario for me:

    1) GS
    2) MEM
    3) POR
    4) HOU
    5) LAC
    6) SAS
    7) DAL
    8) OKC

    That way we got POR, potentially MEM and then GS at the WCF.

  • bob l’éponge

    guy, please, it’s a match up thing….boris is a well above the average defender , at least as good as his offense…in fact, Boris has no real weakness in his game (may be his weight, but yet, i still find him pretty effective…) the lone thing i can see from him, his that he might have the tendencie to “follow” the team mood rather than lead it.. so when he plays on a bad team…he’s just unwatchable…when he plays in a nba final (or big french national team games) he’s just great..i mean one of the top players in the world…and yes, i’m serious. ( just watch if you’re curious how he plays spain , just gasol, gasol , ibaka in front of him…and you’ll tell me about boris being bad on the defensive end…) oh, and please, stop it with the “french are soft..(Tony is not a fantastic defender, but either a bad one, hey, he’s far better than you think..just ask Conley, and Westbrook how they are doin’ theses days..