Obstructed_View
04-21-2011, 06:10 PM
The following are my notes from game 2. I focused mainly on the bigs, Dice and Bonner in particular to see how they matched up, and to see what effect they had on the game, positive and negative on both offense and defense. These are all my opinions based on my observations, and I didn't clean up the spelling or the format. I made some commentary during commercials when I had time or something to say.
I know this is a long read, and only the most bored or dedicated of you will bother, but it's a long wait until game 3. :toast
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Dice first shift, opening tip - 5:12 1st quarter.
Dice is getting pushed around. He's completely failed to stop Randolph from getting anywhere he wants to go. He's yet to successfully block out a single time, gave up an offensive rebound and basket because Randolph just walks him under the rim. Randolph is leaving him alone on offense. He did hit his one shot, but that didn't stop Randolph from leaving him completely alone the next two trips down the floor. The Spurs are throwing double teams at Randolph from everywhere when he gets the ball, resulting in wide open shots for teammates as the doubles completely fail to stop Randolph from being able to pass.
Dice is horrible on team defense, he took out Manu chasing the wrong guy. He got a foul rotating to Gasol and crashing into Duncan.
Bonner first shift, 5:12 1sth quarter
Bonner's on Gasol. He's completely physically overmatched, but he blocks out and actually keeps Gasol away from the basket.
Bonner fronts gasol and seals him away from the basket again, grabs the defensive rebound. Great job so far. The Grizzlies are absolutely abandoning Matt Bonner on the other end. He's standing out there with nobody near him. Randolph can effectively remove Bonner from the offense by staying within about fifteen feet of him. The fact that Bonner stands five feet further back than Dice doesn't change how Memphis defends at all.
2:50 Bonner just switched twice, and aggressively chased the guards, getting way out of position. He got back to Gasol both times without any trouble.
Blair in, Bonner switches to Arthur.
2:38 Is there any point in having Bonner run the pick and roll? Both Memphis defenders just chased Parker right into the paint and Bonner just stood out there by himself.
Bonner couldn't keep Battier off the offensive boards even though Gasol was at the other end of the floor.
Arthur's drawing Bonner out 20 feet from the basket. Is that where you want your center?
Arthur's staying at home more than Randolph did.
Bonner switched to Mayo on the pick and roll and did a great job of keeping him in front of him. Shouldn't have hesitated on that three, even though it was deep. Switched to Battier and forced him into a tough shot. Good defense again.
End of 1st quarter
2nd quarter
Bonner in the game with Blair, helps full court press. Arthur isoed on him, easy bucket. Elliott mentions that Bonner needs help defending Arthur in the post. Double teaming Arthur? Really?
Arthur leaves Bonner standign in the corner to block Manu's layup at the rim. Literally 20 feet from his Bonner when he makes the play. The Spurs are going to have to kick the ball to Bonner in these situations going forward. Bonner's just a liability on offense because the defense is treating him like he's not there. This is why the Spurs are having such a hard time scoring so far.
10:44 Bonner's second foul, shoving Arthur out of bounds just like he did to Matt in game 1. Bonner's purposely playing more rouhg. Not surprised he got one of these.
Bonner is switching and rotating very very well.
Bonner still being ignored on offense; virtually every trip down the floor is 4 on 5. The notion of spreading the floor is a complete myth. The plays where Bonner runs around at least forces the defender to chase him around, but if Bonner camps in one of his spots they just ignore him.
Bonner beat everyone down the floor and was there to defend Mayo's layup. Not his fault none of the other Spurs block out Arthur who gets the goaltend putback.
Bonner is still out there completely by himself in the corner. please pass to him.
7:30 Duncan back in for Blair. Bonner's still on Arthur, and has still kept him away from the rim, grabbed another rebound.
6:43 dice in for Bonner. Young immediately scores right at the rim. Dice managed not to foul at least. Arthur scores on Dice in the post next trip down. Randolph back in Dice pushed out of position for an offensive rebound. Dice fouls Gasol. Spurs are doing a weak double team Gasol with RJ when Dice is on him, draw defensive three seconds. Dice leaving Gasol alone when he goes outside the paint, grabs a defensive board. good hustles to break up a fast break by Conley, thoug it stillresults in and and-1 for Allen. Dice on Randolph now, Zach scores over him on an easy jumper. Randolph leaving Dice again, Dice clanks a jumper. Spurs go down by five. This is a disastrous trip for Dice and for the Spurs.
Watching the game live yesterday, I wondered how the Spurs looked like they were playing well and then you look up and they're suddenly down. One reason: Dice. He's been awful.
So far in this game, Dice and Bonner have been absolutely nothing offensively and have been okay defensively, two or three rebounds, no blocks, not drawing fouls on either end, forcing the other offensive players to have to work harder because they present no threat whatsoever. Someone should explain how there's any danger Splitter could do worse.
Dice with a nice pump fake out of the timeout, misses the chipshot. Dice pushes Gasol in the back in the paint. Foul number 3.
2:29 Blair in for Dice, Spurs down by six.
Is spreading the floor useful? More on that later.
1:27 Bonner in for Blair, that was quick.
Bonner checking Arthur, Spurs double teaming when Arthur gets the ball. Does this guy really require a double team every time he touches it?
Bonner switches, disrupts the layup attempt and gets a hand on the ball. Bad call gives the ball back to Memphis.
Bonner follows the play well and grabs a strong rebound. On the other end sets a nice hipcheck for Manu setting up Timmy in the paint. Bonner has gotten away with a couple of bad picks because his guards aren't waiting for him to get set. A ref is going to ding him for it before the playoffs afre over.
Bonner rotates over to Gasol with 8 seconds to go and helps force him into a missed easy layup.
Halftime
Bonner has been great on defense. Dice has been horrid.
Second half. Dice in with Duncan.
Dice still can't block out Randolph. Makes a nice high low pass to Duncan for a layup. Randolph scores right over him. Again. Dice looked like he missed an assignment but Manu steps in and gets the steal tha t gets RJ a dunk. Don't know if that was a designed switch or not. He did a good job of sealing off the baseline if that was the intent. Otherwise it was lucky that Manu made the heads up play. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt so I can say he did something right. Dice gets pushed out of position again by Randolph and the Spurs are fortunately awarded a 50/50 ball under the basket.
Dice doubled Gasol on Duncan, leaving Randolph completely alone. Don't know why Z didn't shoot the jumper. Dice just horrid on offense as well, bringing Randolph into the paint while Duncan's posting up Gasol, and still can't get position for a rebound.
7:37: Dice checks Randolph in the post. Manu comes out of nowhere to make the block. No benefit of the doubt here; Dice did nothing to stop him from getting to the rim and manu bailed his ass out.
Dice makes a nice play to keep the ball alive and get the Spurs a rebound. He fought both Gasol and Randolph for it. Nice play. Makes a terrible pass to Duncan on the other end out of bounds, then makes a nice inbound to Timmy for a dunk.
Seals off Randolph to let Duncan get a block, Dice does a nice job to get the defensive rebound.
Let's be honest about that screen on Manu's steal and dunk. He had his feet set and had given Manu enough room, then decided to shift over at the last second and knock Battier down. Is there no referee in the NBA with the balls to blow a whistle on that? One word: Whew.
Spurs up by 8 6:14 3rd quarter. Dice and Duncan.
Dice strips the ball away from Gasol who'd got past Duncan and would have thundered the rim. Best play of the game from him so far. Conley scores inside right through Duncan and Dice. Not good defense. I miss shot blockers
Risky throw in to Dice diving toward the basket by Parker. Lucky it wasn't a turnover. Randolph still leaving Dice alone. Mayo hits a jumper over Hill. Spurs lead is gone, but it's mostly due to Parker being unable to contain Conley which resulted in 5 points. This run is not on Dice, yipee
4:57 3rd, Spurs by 1
Dice gets a nice rebound and then turns it over immediately. Leads to a missed shot by Randolph. Grizzlies do a good job of pulling Dice out by camping Randolph at the three point line which allows the guards to penetrate and draw fouls. Grizz are smart about resting their guys for a couple of plays and then throwing them back in. Do the Spurs do this? It's scary how well coached the Grizzlies are.
4:02 Bonner in for Dice, still with Duncan
Lane violation on RJ. Elliott and Land think it's on Bonner, but it wasn't. RJ stepped in two second early; Bonner's rebound was clean though it didn't count. Parker runs a play for Bonner right away. He's still leaving early and Bonner's not set on the pick. That's going to cost them eventually if they don't clean it up. Bonner clanks the three, but at least he's shooting to remind the world that he's on the floor, and it was a good pass. Still blocking out well. Arthur in the game for Randolph. Bonner rotates well, fouls Gasol, pretends he had his hands up and was set. He wasn't. Good foul though because it prevented an easy shot. Gasol misses the second free throw.
Hill rotates to Battier leaving Mayo alone in the corner. I don't think that was the correct rotation because Parker was heading toward Battier. Bonner makes a heads up play and runs out to Mayo to disrupt his wide open three, which he misses. Nice play that will never show up on a box score.
Bonner's still camped out at the corner with nobody near him. I wish someone would actually pass the damn ball to him. Hill goes one on three in the paint, gets his shot blocked, gets his rebound, gets it to Bonner who does a good job of helping to calm the play back down. Bonner standing behind the basket out of bounds on offense. Don't know what the hell that is. Arthur gets the ball, sinks jumper over Bonner. Has he missed yet when Bonner covers him? Sean Elliott says it as I'm typing it. Why is Bonner cutting to the basket when Duncan's in the post? When he does it, Arthur circles back and blocks Duncan's shot. Stupid play. Nice inbound to Manu to end the shot clock.
Blair in for Duncan
Hill keeps running away from the pick Bonner tries to set. What the fuck is he doing? RJ makes a bad pass which results in a turnover and Bonner commits a foul to prevent a runout. I think guys are mad at Bonner, but I'm not sure how it's his fault for spacing when he's in the middle of Hill and RJ.
End of third quarter.
The Grizzlies three bigs have been able to shoot over Dice, Bonner and Blair at will, and they aren't exactly difficult shots. There's a reason they shot so well in game 1. They haven't shot as well in game 2, but I don't think they've missed more than one. It's possible that the reason they aren't hitting so many this game is because they simply aren't taking them.
Start of the fourth quarter, Bonner and Blair.
Arthur leaves Bonner alone in the corner. Sound familiar? The first person to actually get a pass to him in the entire game is not Hill, not Manu, not Parker, but Blair. Splash. Finally the Spurs offense makes the Grizzlies pay. Only took 36 and a half minutes.
Bonner fronts, Arthur gets position on him for an offensive board, Manu fouls him. First bad bounce for Bonner in the game, but fronting is a good idea. randolph in for Gasol and he promptly eats Blair for dinner. Manu promptly draws a foul on Randolph on the other end. Thank god somene is. Bonner's defending Randolph now. Spurs by three. 10 minutes to go.
Gasol back in for Randolph with 4 fouls. Duncan in for Blair.
Bonner fronts and gets a steal from Arthur. Sets a good screen for Hill's three. Bonner commits a foul away from Mayo's shot for a loose bal and-1. Bonner's second aggression foul in the game. Arthur misses the free throw so it doens't hurt.
Bonner out, Dice back in.
Dice walks his man back into the paint while Duncan's trying to post up, Duncan makes the basket anyway. Not sure I understand thiat offense.
Dice nearly tips the ball in. Wish he had. Duncan gets the rebound and gets fouled into the jump ball. Nice headlock.
Randolph back in on Dice. Dice rotates and traps young on the baseline. Looking much more active. Dice can't stop Randolph from shooting or passing, who makes yet another nice assist right over Dice's hands.
Splitter looking intense on the bench next to Manu.
Five minutes to go, Spurs up by 3
Randolph goes right to the rim on Dice and his shot rims out.
Dice misses an offensive rebound on Manu's miss. Randolph digs out Dice again in the paint. Jefferson steals the rebound from both of them, then hits the corner three. Great sequence by RJ. Spurs up by six.
3:30 to go Randolph goes right to the rim again on Dice, tony Allen with a putback slam as it rims out. Spurs by 4.
Dice scores on a great pass by Parker.
2 minutes to go. Dice wraps up Randolph underneath when nobody's looking. Manu grabs the rebound and Gasol fouls him. Smart play.
Spurs by 7. Dice draws an offensive foul. Probably a make up call for Duncan's offensive foul earlier, but still forces the turnover. Dice then comes right back down and draws Randolph's fifth foul on a pump fake. Hits one of two
Spurs up 8. 1:20 to go. Randolph goes right to the rim on Dice yet again. Duncan fouls out on the rebound.
1:10 to go. Bonner in to close the game with, and I'm not kidding, RJ, Hill, Parker and Manu. Given the way the bigs have been playing, Bonner is by far the best tonight. Obviously Pop thinks the only shot the Grizzlies have at this point is to hit threes or make it a free throw contest. If he did this with three minutes to go I'd be ready to kill him, but this is a good calculation. Smallball works as a gadget or for short stretches.
Bonner does a great job of tipping the rebound to Manu, who loses the ball to Allen for a layup. Spurs up five and Memphis isn't fouling. Even better for smallball to burn clock standing there dribbling.
End of game.
I know this is a long read, and only the most bored or dedicated of you will bother, but it's a long wait until game 3. :toast
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Dice first shift, opening tip - 5:12 1st quarter.
Dice is getting pushed around. He's completely failed to stop Randolph from getting anywhere he wants to go. He's yet to successfully block out a single time, gave up an offensive rebound and basket because Randolph just walks him under the rim. Randolph is leaving him alone on offense. He did hit his one shot, but that didn't stop Randolph from leaving him completely alone the next two trips down the floor. The Spurs are throwing double teams at Randolph from everywhere when he gets the ball, resulting in wide open shots for teammates as the doubles completely fail to stop Randolph from being able to pass.
Dice is horrible on team defense, he took out Manu chasing the wrong guy. He got a foul rotating to Gasol and crashing into Duncan.
Bonner first shift, 5:12 1sth quarter
Bonner's on Gasol. He's completely physically overmatched, but he blocks out and actually keeps Gasol away from the basket.
Bonner fronts gasol and seals him away from the basket again, grabs the defensive rebound. Great job so far. The Grizzlies are absolutely abandoning Matt Bonner on the other end. He's standing out there with nobody near him. Randolph can effectively remove Bonner from the offense by staying within about fifteen feet of him. The fact that Bonner stands five feet further back than Dice doesn't change how Memphis defends at all.
2:50 Bonner just switched twice, and aggressively chased the guards, getting way out of position. He got back to Gasol both times without any trouble.
Blair in, Bonner switches to Arthur.
2:38 Is there any point in having Bonner run the pick and roll? Both Memphis defenders just chased Parker right into the paint and Bonner just stood out there by himself.
Bonner couldn't keep Battier off the offensive boards even though Gasol was at the other end of the floor.
Arthur's drawing Bonner out 20 feet from the basket. Is that where you want your center?
Arthur's staying at home more than Randolph did.
Bonner switched to Mayo on the pick and roll and did a great job of keeping him in front of him. Shouldn't have hesitated on that three, even though it was deep. Switched to Battier and forced him into a tough shot. Good defense again.
End of 1st quarter
2nd quarter
Bonner in the game with Blair, helps full court press. Arthur isoed on him, easy bucket. Elliott mentions that Bonner needs help defending Arthur in the post. Double teaming Arthur? Really?
Arthur leaves Bonner standign in the corner to block Manu's layup at the rim. Literally 20 feet from his Bonner when he makes the play. The Spurs are going to have to kick the ball to Bonner in these situations going forward. Bonner's just a liability on offense because the defense is treating him like he's not there. This is why the Spurs are having such a hard time scoring so far.
10:44 Bonner's second foul, shoving Arthur out of bounds just like he did to Matt in game 1. Bonner's purposely playing more rouhg. Not surprised he got one of these.
Bonner is switching and rotating very very well.
Bonner still being ignored on offense; virtually every trip down the floor is 4 on 5. The notion of spreading the floor is a complete myth. The plays where Bonner runs around at least forces the defender to chase him around, but if Bonner camps in one of his spots they just ignore him.
Bonner beat everyone down the floor and was there to defend Mayo's layup. Not his fault none of the other Spurs block out Arthur who gets the goaltend putback.
Bonner is still out there completely by himself in the corner. please pass to him.
7:30 Duncan back in for Blair. Bonner's still on Arthur, and has still kept him away from the rim, grabbed another rebound.
6:43 dice in for Bonner. Young immediately scores right at the rim. Dice managed not to foul at least. Arthur scores on Dice in the post next trip down. Randolph back in Dice pushed out of position for an offensive rebound. Dice fouls Gasol. Spurs are doing a weak double team Gasol with RJ when Dice is on him, draw defensive three seconds. Dice leaving Gasol alone when he goes outside the paint, grabs a defensive board. good hustles to break up a fast break by Conley, thoug it stillresults in and and-1 for Allen. Dice on Randolph now, Zach scores over him on an easy jumper. Randolph leaving Dice again, Dice clanks a jumper. Spurs go down by five. This is a disastrous trip for Dice and for the Spurs.
Watching the game live yesterday, I wondered how the Spurs looked like they were playing well and then you look up and they're suddenly down. One reason: Dice. He's been awful.
So far in this game, Dice and Bonner have been absolutely nothing offensively and have been okay defensively, two or three rebounds, no blocks, not drawing fouls on either end, forcing the other offensive players to have to work harder because they present no threat whatsoever. Someone should explain how there's any danger Splitter could do worse.
Dice with a nice pump fake out of the timeout, misses the chipshot. Dice pushes Gasol in the back in the paint. Foul number 3.
2:29 Blair in for Dice, Spurs down by six.
Is spreading the floor useful? More on that later.
1:27 Bonner in for Blair, that was quick.
Bonner checking Arthur, Spurs double teaming when Arthur gets the ball. Does this guy really require a double team every time he touches it?
Bonner switches, disrupts the layup attempt and gets a hand on the ball. Bad call gives the ball back to Memphis.
Bonner follows the play well and grabs a strong rebound. On the other end sets a nice hipcheck for Manu setting up Timmy in the paint. Bonner has gotten away with a couple of bad picks because his guards aren't waiting for him to get set. A ref is going to ding him for it before the playoffs afre over.
Bonner rotates over to Gasol with 8 seconds to go and helps force him into a missed easy layup.
Halftime
Bonner has been great on defense. Dice has been horrid.
Second half. Dice in with Duncan.
Dice still can't block out Randolph. Makes a nice high low pass to Duncan for a layup. Randolph scores right over him. Again. Dice looked like he missed an assignment but Manu steps in and gets the steal tha t gets RJ a dunk. Don't know if that was a designed switch or not. He did a good job of sealing off the baseline if that was the intent. Otherwise it was lucky that Manu made the heads up play. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt so I can say he did something right. Dice gets pushed out of position again by Randolph and the Spurs are fortunately awarded a 50/50 ball under the basket.
Dice doubled Gasol on Duncan, leaving Randolph completely alone. Don't know why Z didn't shoot the jumper. Dice just horrid on offense as well, bringing Randolph into the paint while Duncan's posting up Gasol, and still can't get position for a rebound.
7:37: Dice checks Randolph in the post. Manu comes out of nowhere to make the block. No benefit of the doubt here; Dice did nothing to stop him from getting to the rim and manu bailed his ass out.
Dice makes a nice play to keep the ball alive and get the Spurs a rebound. He fought both Gasol and Randolph for it. Nice play. Makes a terrible pass to Duncan on the other end out of bounds, then makes a nice inbound to Timmy for a dunk.
Seals off Randolph to let Duncan get a block, Dice does a nice job to get the defensive rebound.
Let's be honest about that screen on Manu's steal and dunk. He had his feet set and had given Manu enough room, then decided to shift over at the last second and knock Battier down. Is there no referee in the NBA with the balls to blow a whistle on that? One word: Whew.
Spurs up by 8 6:14 3rd quarter. Dice and Duncan.
Dice strips the ball away from Gasol who'd got past Duncan and would have thundered the rim. Best play of the game from him so far. Conley scores inside right through Duncan and Dice. Not good defense. I miss shot blockers
Risky throw in to Dice diving toward the basket by Parker. Lucky it wasn't a turnover. Randolph still leaving Dice alone. Mayo hits a jumper over Hill. Spurs lead is gone, but it's mostly due to Parker being unable to contain Conley which resulted in 5 points. This run is not on Dice, yipee
4:57 3rd, Spurs by 1
Dice gets a nice rebound and then turns it over immediately. Leads to a missed shot by Randolph. Grizzlies do a good job of pulling Dice out by camping Randolph at the three point line which allows the guards to penetrate and draw fouls. Grizz are smart about resting their guys for a couple of plays and then throwing them back in. Do the Spurs do this? It's scary how well coached the Grizzlies are.
4:02 Bonner in for Dice, still with Duncan
Lane violation on RJ. Elliott and Land think it's on Bonner, but it wasn't. RJ stepped in two second early; Bonner's rebound was clean though it didn't count. Parker runs a play for Bonner right away. He's still leaving early and Bonner's not set on the pick. That's going to cost them eventually if they don't clean it up. Bonner clanks the three, but at least he's shooting to remind the world that he's on the floor, and it was a good pass. Still blocking out well. Arthur in the game for Randolph. Bonner rotates well, fouls Gasol, pretends he had his hands up and was set. He wasn't. Good foul though because it prevented an easy shot. Gasol misses the second free throw.
Hill rotates to Battier leaving Mayo alone in the corner. I don't think that was the correct rotation because Parker was heading toward Battier. Bonner makes a heads up play and runs out to Mayo to disrupt his wide open three, which he misses. Nice play that will never show up on a box score.
Bonner's still camped out at the corner with nobody near him. I wish someone would actually pass the damn ball to him. Hill goes one on three in the paint, gets his shot blocked, gets his rebound, gets it to Bonner who does a good job of helping to calm the play back down. Bonner standing behind the basket out of bounds on offense. Don't know what the hell that is. Arthur gets the ball, sinks jumper over Bonner. Has he missed yet when Bonner covers him? Sean Elliott says it as I'm typing it. Why is Bonner cutting to the basket when Duncan's in the post? When he does it, Arthur circles back and blocks Duncan's shot. Stupid play. Nice inbound to Manu to end the shot clock.
Blair in for Duncan
Hill keeps running away from the pick Bonner tries to set. What the fuck is he doing? RJ makes a bad pass which results in a turnover and Bonner commits a foul to prevent a runout. I think guys are mad at Bonner, but I'm not sure how it's his fault for spacing when he's in the middle of Hill and RJ.
End of third quarter.
The Grizzlies three bigs have been able to shoot over Dice, Bonner and Blair at will, and they aren't exactly difficult shots. There's a reason they shot so well in game 1. They haven't shot as well in game 2, but I don't think they've missed more than one. It's possible that the reason they aren't hitting so many this game is because they simply aren't taking them.
Start of the fourth quarter, Bonner and Blair.
Arthur leaves Bonner alone in the corner. Sound familiar? The first person to actually get a pass to him in the entire game is not Hill, not Manu, not Parker, but Blair. Splash. Finally the Spurs offense makes the Grizzlies pay. Only took 36 and a half minutes.
Bonner fronts, Arthur gets position on him for an offensive board, Manu fouls him. First bad bounce for Bonner in the game, but fronting is a good idea. randolph in for Gasol and he promptly eats Blair for dinner. Manu promptly draws a foul on Randolph on the other end. Thank god somene is. Bonner's defending Randolph now. Spurs by three. 10 minutes to go.
Gasol back in for Randolph with 4 fouls. Duncan in for Blair.
Bonner fronts and gets a steal from Arthur. Sets a good screen for Hill's three. Bonner commits a foul away from Mayo's shot for a loose bal and-1. Bonner's second aggression foul in the game. Arthur misses the free throw so it doens't hurt.
Bonner out, Dice back in.
Dice walks his man back into the paint while Duncan's trying to post up, Duncan makes the basket anyway. Not sure I understand thiat offense.
Dice nearly tips the ball in. Wish he had. Duncan gets the rebound and gets fouled into the jump ball. Nice headlock.
Randolph back in on Dice. Dice rotates and traps young on the baseline. Looking much more active. Dice can't stop Randolph from shooting or passing, who makes yet another nice assist right over Dice's hands.
Splitter looking intense on the bench next to Manu.
Five minutes to go, Spurs up by 3
Randolph goes right to the rim on Dice and his shot rims out.
Dice misses an offensive rebound on Manu's miss. Randolph digs out Dice again in the paint. Jefferson steals the rebound from both of them, then hits the corner three. Great sequence by RJ. Spurs up by six.
3:30 to go Randolph goes right to the rim again on Dice, tony Allen with a putback slam as it rims out. Spurs by 4.
Dice scores on a great pass by Parker.
2 minutes to go. Dice wraps up Randolph underneath when nobody's looking. Manu grabs the rebound and Gasol fouls him. Smart play.
Spurs by 7. Dice draws an offensive foul. Probably a make up call for Duncan's offensive foul earlier, but still forces the turnover. Dice then comes right back down and draws Randolph's fifth foul on a pump fake. Hits one of two
Spurs up 8. 1:20 to go. Randolph goes right to the rim on Dice yet again. Duncan fouls out on the rebound.
1:10 to go. Bonner in to close the game with, and I'm not kidding, RJ, Hill, Parker and Manu. Given the way the bigs have been playing, Bonner is by far the best tonight. Obviously Pop thinks the only shot the Grizzlies have at this point is to hit threes or make it a free throw contest. If he did this with three minutes to go I'd be ready to kill him, but this is a good calculation. Smallball works as a gadget or for short stretches.
Bonner does a great job of tipping the rebound to Manu, who loses the ball to Allen for a layup. Spurs up five and Memphis isn't fouling. Even better for smallball to burn clock standing there dribbling.
End of game.