El Conclusión: San Antonio Spurs 105, Memphis Grizzlies 83

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Memphis Grizzlies 83 Final
Recap | Box Score		 105 San Antonio Spurs
Tim Duncan, PF 27 MIN | 3-9 FG | 0-0 FT | 10 REB | 4 AST | 0 STL | 2 BLK | 2 TO | 6 PTS | +4

If I told you Duncan would score just six points in Game 1 against Memphis and the Spurs win, would you believe me?
Kawhi Leonard, SF 30 MIN | 7-10 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 18 PTS | +9

After averaging nine boards a game in the Spurs’ second round series against the Warriors, it’s a little surprising to see Leonard with just two rebounds in Game 1. No matter, San Antonio barely lost the battle on the boards and Kawhi hit 4-of-5 3s. He’s having a heck of a playoffs so far.
Tiago Splitter, C 17 MIN | 0-1 FG | 1-2 FT | 0 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 1 PTS | +16

A pretty anonymous game from Tiago, though his defense on Zach Randolph doesn’t show up on the box score. Well, it does, just on Randolph’s box score line. Either way, his numbers aren’t great but he did a good job teaming with Matt Bonner and Boris Diaw to frustrate Z-Bo.
Tony Parker, PG 33 MIN | 9-14 FG | 2-2 FT | 1 REB | 9 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 20 PTS | +6

I had my concerns coming into Game 1 that Parker would be effective against Tony Allen and the Grizzlies defense. There’s still a chance that Allen could spend more time on Parker than he did in Game 1 (Mike Conley had a lot of Parker duty) and bottle up TP, but Game 1 wasn’t it.
Danny Green, SG 26 MIN | 6-9 FG | 1-1 FT | 4 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 16 PTS | +28

#IcyHot status: Scorching. Green took advantage of the open looks he was given, thanks in large part to Tony Allen losing track of Green in help defense. That’s a no-no when you play the Spurs and Green made Memphis pay.
Matt Bonner, PF 17 MIN | 4-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 12 PTS | +11

I’m not sure I’m ready to live in a world where Matt Bonner hits four 3s in a Western Conference Finals game.
DeJuan Blair, C 5 MIN | 2-2 FG | 2-2 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 6 PTS | 0

Blair had a nice little garbage time run in Game 1.
Boris Diaw, C 21 MIN | 0-2 FG | 2-2 FT | 1 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 2 PTS | +11

Like Splitter, Diaw doesn’t have a sexy stat line, but defensively the Land Walrus (Dan McCarney’s nickname for Bobo, not mine) gave the Memphis bigs all they could handle.
Patty Mills, PG 5 MIN | 1-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 3 PTS | 0

#PattyMillsShotCount: 1
Cory Joseph, PG 12 MIN | 1-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 2 PTS | +12

Cory Joseph took five shots in 12 minutes of play? Who does he think he is, Patty Mills?
Manu Ginobili, SG 21 MIN | 2-6 FG | 3-5 FT | 5 REB | 3 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 8 PTS | +2

We know Manu Ginobili is capable of so much more, but his line in Game 1 doesn’t surprise me at all. He’s going to have those games where he looks like a young Manu Ginobili and then he’s going to have those stretches where you wonder how soon before he retires.
Tracy McGrady, SG 7 MIN | 0-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 0 PTS | +2

SHOOOOOOOOOOOT
Gregg Popovich

It’s hard to argue with Pop in Game 1. Everything seemed to work.

Three Things We Saw

  1. The Spurs’ Game 1 performance was out of this world, but I expect that to be the exception and not the rule in this series. This is going to be a hard-fought playoffs.
  2. Needless to say, I was surprised by the offensive clinic put on the by the Spurs. Not surprised that San Antonio could do it, but that they were able to. I remember the Grizzlies alway being much more physical with the Spurs offense, bumping their shots and closing out hard on their shooters. Didn’t see as much of that in Game 1.
  3. Gregg Popovich brought Tracy McGrady into the game with 6:45 left. It’s likely that Pop wanted to get Leonard some rest on his sore left knee, but also possible that Pop wanted to get McGrady a little bit of time with the Spurs’ regulars. I’m not saying that McGrady is due for a bump in minutes, at all, but just something I noticed.
  • Stoopain

    MORE SHOOOOOTS MCGRADY.

  • BobbyKe

    Grizzlies will likely need to get majorly hot from Three to win this series which is going to be very unlikely for a team that was last in the NBA in 3 Pointers Made Per Game. Spurs getting 14 Threes isn’t a big surprise because they get 8+ consistently & they’re expected to make 3′s. Grizzlies will at least need to keep up with the Spurs in the 3 Pointers department

    Randolph had a horrible game, but Duncan & Splitter weren’t much better offensively. I’ll take that trade off every time. I don’t expect this often from Randolph, but it’d be helpful if he struggled 1 or 2 more times it’d certainly help

  • http://www.facebook.com/paul.heaston Paul Heaston

    And Gary Neal doesn’t get a grade because he cheated.

  • http://48minutesofhell.com Andrew A. McNeill

    Whoops, I must have skipped over Gary when I filled it out.

    Let’s say Neal got a B for the game. He shot 5-for-8 from the floor for 11 points, which is pretty much his job. Only 1-for-4 from 3.

  • http://www.facebook.com/paul.heaston Paul Heaston

    But really, can you put a grade on what Neal does? And the answer is yes, a B in this case.

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  • Sir Timothy

    A+ for everyone on the Spurs team and organization.

  • neverthehero

    Was pleased when I went on lunch break to see them up so much, I was arguing with a fellow bball fan on how it would be almost impossible for the Grizz to walk over the Spurs. It’s not they can’t win but for them to see just win in 5, don’t see how it’s possible without major flukish play. It’s really been amazing for the “others” to have stepped up, I think it’s safe to say that we’ve all been waiting for moments like Bonner and Green for a couple of years now, let’s hope the good times continue.

  • Andrew G

    The smile from DeJuan Blair after that put back in garbage minutes was priceless. I felt dirty watching it.

  • FromKabulWithLove

    On Tiago’s grade…while his stat line wasn’t sexy, his play was a huge reason why Zbo didn’t have a big game. HIs 4th foul showed you just how much he was working on every possession, disrupting the feeds to him and fighting for rebounds. Personally, I’d give him an A for the trenchwork, he gives us 3 more games like last night and we’ll be prepping for the Finals.

  • junierizzle

    I thought a win like this was possible and thankfully it went down like this. Game 1 was essential , especially since Spurs gave it up the last time the two teams met. I loved our chances before Game 1 and I still love our chances no more no less. Grizzlies just can’t score enough. And yes they play good D but they aren’t as good as Chicago’s D, I don’t care what the numbers say.

    Of course Spurs aren’t going to hit 14 threes again, but they are more than capable of hitting 8, 9, or 10 threes. Once we lock up Poindexter then it shouldn’t be a problem. Last time I checked the Grizz don’t have Durant, Westbrook or Harden on their squad. I think the Spurs only flaw(in this series) is they do go cold every now and them, like Game 4 @ Golden State. They dominated that game and then went ice cOld.

    I’M sure the next game will be much closer but if the Spurs want to blow them out again that’s fine by me.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=173600134 Ryan McShane

    Can we call this version of Bonner “Summer Shoes”?