We just gave Memphis good momentum for games 3 and 4

[lefty]

Fuck that shit

[Spurminator]

Not if we win. I only wish the game was in 2 days and not 4. They're going to be emotionally spent if they lose.

[HarlemHeat37]

Disagree, tbh, I don't think it makes a difference..having a gritty OT win is better for morale than a blowout IMO..

It'll teach the Spurs, and Pop in particular, not to relax with a big lead..

Sucks for McGrady, though..

[exstatic]

Uh, no, the refs did. At the end of regulation, they doubled us in FTAs, 26-13.

They still lost. This may be WORSE for them than game 1.

[SupremeGuy]

Maybe if we played in 2 days, but we don't play again till Saturday.

[Brunodf]

I agree, Pop f#cked this one badly, played Bonner/Diaw/Neal lineup!Really?!! Played Bonner for the last 17 minutes of the regulation, that's some shit coaching there

[Snaq O'Meal]

If anything, the Grizzlies should feel even more demoralised after losing a game where they had an 8-on-5 advantage especially in the second half.

[siraulo23]

only good news is that spurs wont relax since they almost lost this one

but 9 pt quarter is unexpected, gotta give credit to grizz...

what happens when the spurs make less than 6 threes in a game?

[SanDiegoSpursFan]

Spurs can't play like they did in the 3rd quarter. Didn't rebound well, defense was pathetic (though I think the refs helped the Grizzlies). They were just trying to blow out the Grizzlies. Really set the stage for a Grizzlies comeback.

[RD2191]

Here comes all the grizz dick sucking on ESPN, smh.

[Obstructed_View]

Not really. A loss would have given them momentum. An overtime win tells the Spurs to stop settling for jumpers in the second half and (hopefully) tells Pop that benching Duncan or Splitter at the end of a game is not a smart coaching move. Hopefully this is the last of smallball jacking up jumper after jumper. The Spurs had one non jumper in the quarter if I remember correctly, and it was a dunk by Splitter.

[KaiRMD1]

Deja vu may be coming up.

[dbreiden83080]

You were expecting a sweep..

Take the W and enjoy the 3 days off..

[024]

There are no moral victories in the playoffs. A win is a win. Even though the Spurs played like crap in game 1 vs the Warriors and had a fluke comeback, I would take that fluke win over any teaching lesson in the playoffs.

[Capt Bringdown]

It's hard to dominate another team for 2 games in a row, but FFS, a 9-point 4th quarter? And outscored 54 - 39 in the 3rd and 4th?

Spurs protected home court, and the pressure is squarely on Memphis in game 3, but the Griz have to feel pretty good about how they responded in the second half of game 2.
And, you have to wonder, after last year's utter humiliation, if the Spurs aren't hearing footsteps.

[Rummpd]

No

[BillMc]

Actually, with this near collapse I think our team will be pissed. Were up 2-0, and yet motivated to improve. Best situation possible.

[jmanu20]

Disagree. I think closer losses are more deflating than blowouts. Grizzlies got a gift to OT with Allen's flop and still couldn't pull it out. Spurs just need to win 1 in Memphis.

[Kidd K]

If by "we" you actually meant "the refs", then I agree 100% with that statement.

[InRareForm]

We gave them 0 wins.

We win 1 on their turf even if they have momentum, and it's a wrap.

[InRareForm]

We gave them 0 wins.

We win 1 on their turf even if they have momentum, and it's a wrap.

[Snaq O'Meal]

If anything, the Grizzlies should feel even more demoralised after losing a game where they had an 8-on-5 advantage especially in the second half.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Matt Bonner came in the game in the third quarter with the Spurs up 18. He was not pulled from the game until the closing seconds of regulation after Memphis had tied it.

Pop's stupidity sent this game to overtime. :td

[romain.star]

Fuck that shit

You don't understand shit in Sport, do you?

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

And the Spurs need to treat Saturday like it's a game 7. They come out and win that game, this shit is over in four.

[tuncaboylu]

Our team (Especially Parker) was very exhausted most of 4th quarter, especially in final 7 minutes of the regulation.

We're making motion offense and spending too much energy for running from screens, cuts and checks. Also in defense we're always bringing help to Zach, battling inside and outside. This is very wearing series.

That's the logical explanation of our good-look shots didn't fall in last quarter. If we've lost this game, it would be very heart-breaking. But thanks to Duncan and terrible Memphis offense, we could cover it in OT.

A win is a win and it's good to be up 2-0. Memphis found an adjustment by playing more Pondexter and Bayless, less Tayshaun. Now it's our turn now.

[Crookshanks]

Memphis played just about as hard as they could, and they greatly benefited from the refs giving them so many freethrows, yet they still lost the game. Do you really think the Spurs will have another 9 point quarter? And will the Grizzlies get 20 FTA to the Spurs 2 again? I highly doubt it. And I think the Spurs will be even more motivated to keep their foot on the gas and not give Memphis any hope.

[m33p0]

i don't think so.

if it wasn't for mike conley not quitting on his team (my hat off to him), bad officiating, spurs almost overdosing on neal-bonner combo, memphis would have been blown out of the water.

[barakz21]

-I thought Bonner played decent D, didn't give anything easily. Except until the 4th when ZBo made a 3point play (I believe it preceeded Manu's flagrant)
-That said, I wonder why Pop gave him more mintues than Diaw.
-There was a ton of tacky fouls called on the spurs that gave the grizzlies some momentum in the 3rd/4th that kind of cooled off the spurs.
-Putting in CoJo for TD during OT was a good decision, but still some sort of gamble.
-Sucked that TP didn't get 20 assists.
-Tiago held the paint well, considering he played a lot of minutes without TD

[dbestpro]

Just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong for the Spurs and they still won. Bad calls, bad decisions, bad coaching, bad shooting, and they still won. Now we get three days to recover, while Memphis gets three days to wonder what might have been.

[siraulo23]

spurs almost lost this game by not rebounding in the 3rd, and scoring 9... nine!! points in the 4th

the spurs gotta rebound the ball and execute but scoring against the grizz is not gonna be easy

[therealtruth]

Not really. A loss would have given them momentum. An overtime win tells the Spurs to stop settling for jumpers in the second half and (hopefully) tells Pop that benching Duncan or Splitter at the end of a game is not a smart coaching move. Hopefully this is the last of smallball jacking up jumper after jumper. The Spurs had one non jumper in the quarter if I remember correctly, and it was a dunk by Splitter.

I agree. Pop overreacted to the bad offense by playing Bonner too long. He should have gone back to the defense just like our defense jumpstarted the offense in the first half.

[Chinook]

At best, it's back to where it was before the series began: Memphis rolling, the Spurs looking vulnerable and timvp claiming the Grizzlies should be the favorites. Memphis has all the pressure to win the next game; they have four Game 7s now.

[Warlord23]

Positives
- Spurs players won't feel complacent going into game 3
- Pop always throws out some inexplicable rotations in every series. Hopefully this game was it, and he won't go with shit lineups when the game is still in the balance
- Proved we could win ugly when the offense goes cold, should help them later in this series or the next

[emanueldavidginobili]

No, a OT loss is a much worse loss than a blowout loss imo

[ElNono]

Disagree... It think we can get one at the grindhouse... we shat the bed in the 4th, but we're not going to have many 9pts quarters in too many games...

[Nathan89]

This game only made our team more focus going forward.

Memphis found their out the obvious that they need to play Pondexter and Bayless more. That was obviously not the reason they held us to 9pts in the 4th though because they are worse defenders. Plus they still only had 17pts in the 4th before gino turned over and they got their 4pt play.

[td4mvp21]

Yeah, I was OK with Bonner's minutes up until the fourth when he quit hitting threes and started fouling. He can definitely play 2nd & 3rd quarters, especially since he's been hitting threes, but Pop needs to remember that he has Splitter and Diaw on the bench. Other than the 4th quarter, he's been all that we can really ask for this series.

[Bruno]

"momentum" is so overrated in professional sports.
NBA players are a bunch of 12 years old children with goosebumps. They are professional athletes paid millions of dollars and, for the most part, have played thousands of basketball games over 1 or 2 decades.

Fact is Spurs are up 2-0 and have 3 days off before game 3. That's just an awesome situation.

[m33p0]

memphis also have yet to convince the spurs to guard them from deep. they threw enough bricks to recreate the great wall of china tonight (and the spurs added a few more bricks themselves late in regulation. :lol). until that happens, spurs will continue to pack the paint and double team randolph.

[crc21209]

Matt Bonner came in the game in the third quarter with the Spurs up 18. He was not pulled from the game until the closing seconds of regulation after Memphis had tied it.

Pop's stupidity sent this game to overtime. :td

This. Pop played Bonner too damn much. I know Timmy was in foul trouble but he could've used Diaw and Splitter instead of playing Bonner so damn much. Pop also went away from using Duncan and Splitter together toward the end. He used Duncan/Bonner or Splitter/Bonner. Enough!

[Holden_Caulfield]

I'd take a 2-0 lead over a "momentum"

[Obstructed_View]

Yeah, I was OK with Bonner's minutes up until the fourth when he quit hitting threes and started fouling. He can definitely play 2nd & 3rd quarters, especially since he's been hitting threes, but Pop needs to remember that he has Splitter and Diaw on the bench. Other than the 4th quarter, he's been all that we can really ask for this series.

18 point lead cut to 13 in the 4th. Duncan comes into the game for Splitter. Bonner still on the floor. Lead cut to 8. Splitter comes in for ... Duncan. Bonner still on the floor. Game tied, Splitter comes in for Bonner. Going away from your starters to close out the game is fucking retarded.

[kaji157]

Not at all, they are down 2-0, having a game handled to them.
Plus, neither Parker nor Ginobili shoot particulary well in the second game.
Plus, they know and we know that they still cannot handle our team when we shorten the rotation to our 8 best players. They just outscored us in 24 minutes with Neal-Bonner lineup.

[td4mvp21]

18 point lead cut to 13 in the 4th. Duncan comes into the game for Splitter. Bonner still on the floor. Lead cut to 8. Splitter comes in for ... Duncan. Bonner still on the floor. Game tied, Splitter comes in for Bonner. Going away from your starters to close out the game is fucking retarded.

Agreed. And Bonner is to never be trusted in the 4th quarter of a playoff game. We've known this for years. Splitter has played such good defense on Randolph too, I'm not sure why Pop wouldn't recognize that. His tendency to overplay Bonner will always baffle me.

[cbinge]

not sure about this momentum shift. They got good when duncan went out in the 3rd, Duncan stays in and they don't get that confidence... BTW, I've never seen a foul committed by the a players uniform. Tim's shorts fouled the palm of conelys hand?

[lefty]

You don't understand shit in Sport, do you?
Based on your posts you don'T

[ShoogarBear]

Alternative view: Pop doesn't have to worry about the Appropriate Fear speech.

[hater]

Just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong for the Spurs and they still won. Bad calls, bad decisions, bad coaching, bad shooting, and they still won. Now we get three days to recover, while Memphis gets three days to wonder what might have been.

cosign

[tuncaboylu]

18 point lead cut to 13 in the 4th. Duncan comes into the game for Splitter. Bonner still on the floor. Lead cut to 8. Splitter comes in for ... Duncan. Bonner still on the floor. Game tied, Splitter comes in for Bonner. Going away from your starters to close out the game is fucking retarded.

Becuase Duncan got his 5th foul.

[dbreiden83080]

Spurs were watching the clock from about 10 min on in the 4th just expecting the Grizzlies to pack it in. They stopped playing TBH.. They escaped thanks to TD in OT..

[Spurs and Mavs fan]

I don't think so. I think that by Saturday, this game will be long past in people's minds and the momentum will be gone - regardless of whether the momentum is for San Antonio or Memphis.

[LongtimeSpursFan]

"momentum" is so overrated in professional sports.
NBA players are a bunch of 12 years old children with goosebumps. They are professional athletes paid millions of dollars and, for the most part, have played thousands of basketball games over 1 or 2 decades.

Fact is Spurs are up 2-0 and have 3 days off before game 3. That's just an awesome situation.

This is so true. Even at the high school level. One year, for some quirk in the schedule, we played a team (that had been undefeated as were we) three times in a row. Twice at the end of regular season and first game of playoffs. First game we dominated them. Second game we still beat them but only by 10 points. Some of the parents thought the other team had figured us out as the 10 point win was closest game of season. They didn't realize that I knew that there was nothing that other team could do that could do to beat us. Sure they may play a great game and some how have an outside chance of beating us but I knew if we played well we could beat them any day. So I kinda took it easy on them second game as I felt no need to pound them again. Which is why we only won by ten. So in first playoff game I left no doubt that this other team had a chance. We pressed them full court, 3/4 court, half-court and applied constant pressure. I left no doubt in the first quarter that this team had no chance of beating us. We were the better team and I knew it. Such is the case with the Spurs-Memphis series. Yeah Spurs won by a lot first game, struggled to win in second game but they are not doubt the better team. Our bigs are just as good as their bigs. Our wings are better than theirs. If Memphis decides to go with Poindexter and Bayless as starters well that's not the formula they used to become who they are the last couple of seasons. They are a team that plays well in the interior. Expecting to ride Poindexter and Bayless and less of a role of Randolph and Gasol is not their strength.

[TheGoldStandard]

Spurs did everything to lose this game, no ball movement, lots of ISO ball, Tony was gassed at the end. The refs gave Memphis the 3rd and 4th, tons of tacky fouls that were soft and than that horrible flagrant foul call. Spurs will close this thing out in 5. More ball movement, more attacking with rest and we shut them the fuck up

[therealtruth]

Maybe CIA Pop was trying to avoid the blowout to avoid the letdown in game 3.

[bbarry]

Who cares? It's better than giving them the entire game. I'm fine with being 2-0, as opposed to 1-1. Are you?

[SpurSwag]

On an unrelated note, looking at the scheduling of our series and the Indiana-Miami series, we've already played two games and they haven't even played one. Despite the fact that this is a really taxing, physical series, if we can pull it out in 4-5 games we'll get ample rest considering the fact that Indiana-Miami hasn't even started

[SpurSwag]

Never mind I just noticed our next game is saturday and they play two games before then. Hopefully we finish this quickly though and they drag theirs out

[Budkin]

Fuck that shit. 2-0 baby!

[TheGoldStandard]

Memphis is going to get over confident because they think they can't be stopped in Memphis, We've gone on the road and won in Oracle which was supposed to be a tough place to win with that crowd, we can beat Memphis there.

[z0sa]

No we didnt.

[bigfan]

Momentum my ass; they are down 2-ZIP and thats all that counts. We win one up in Memphis then close it out. It wasnt the best game of the year tonight but who cares?

[timvp]

Disagree with thread title. 2-0 = 2-0.

There's enough space before the next game that the particulars will be forgotten.

[Mugen]

momentum is overrated in the playoffs. We got the W and that's the most important thing.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

No, we didn't. If the Grizzlies had won this game we would've, but they needed four fouls on Tim, Pop mistakenly leaving Bonner and Neal on the court far too long, help from the refs, and quite a few bullshit plays to even get the game to OT, at which time they then failed.

It was an ugly second-half by us, but I don't fear the Grizzlies any more. We can and will beat this team.

[Robz4000]

Yeah I'll take being up 2-0. Spurs held serve and now have a decent break. They'll regroup and hopefully steal Game 3 and put a stranglehold on this series.

[Sean Cagney]

i don't think so.

if it wasn't for mike conley not quitting on his team (my hat off to him), bad officiating, spurs almost overdosing on neal-bonner combo, memphis would have been blown out of the water.
Neal and BONNER LMFAO, the recipe for failure and it keeps rearing it's head lol. Glad we won this one.

[ace3g]

Lets see what type of adjustments the Grizz make in game 3, will they go the OKC route and put a bigger defender on TP? Other than the collapse they didn't really figure anything out match up wise against us.

[Robz4000]

Lets see what type of adjustments the Grizz make in game 3, will they go the OKC route and put a bigger defender on TP? Other than the collapse they didn't really figure anything out match up wise against us.

Who do they have with the length and speed to put on TP? Pondexter?

[Obstructed_View]

Becuase Duncan got his 5th foul.

Fail. Duncan was in the game with Bonner and not Splitter.

[DJR210]

This is what I was thinking. And with the Grizzlies discovering better matchups w/ Bayless and Pontdexter in the mix, it brings me back bad memories of the discovery of Thabo on Parker. Confident Pop will counter on Saturday though.

[justinandimcool]

We got to see their offense in rhythm. We saw their best scoring lineup today. Now we can prepare for it.

Preparation > momentum with such a long break.

[lmbebo]

Lets see what type of adjustments the Grizz make in game 3, will they go the OKC route and put a bigger defender on TP? Other than the collapse they didn't really figure anything out match up wise against us.

Only bigger defender I can see them trying are Allen or Prince (will be too slow I think). Poindexter and Bayless won't stay in front of TP.

[purist]

How stupid are you people? You realize Duncan had five fouls right? You realize bonner had been hot shooting from 3 this series? You realize a small lineup gave Memphis fits in game 1?
Thank god some of you don't coach the spurs.

[exstatic]

We got to see their offense in rhythm. We saw their best scoring lineup today. Now we can prepare for it.

Preparation > momentum with such a long break.

http://www.basketball-refs.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/scott-foster-213x300.jpg

[exstatic]

Fail. Duncan was in the game with Bonner and not Splitter.

Splitter had played for Duncan almost the whole 3rd quarter.

[Horse]

only good news is that spurs wont relax since they almost lost this one

but 9 pt quarter is unexpected, gotta give credit to grizz...

what happens when the spurs make less than 6 threes in a game?

That's a bunch of shit. The refs gave them everything they got. Not only did they put them in the penalty with more than 7 minutes to go in the 3rd and 4th quarter but they didn't give us any calls either. You see overtime if these fucks are not in the penalty they cant score.

[101A]

Deja vu may be coming up.


NOTHING like last season. Spurs played one of the most beautiful offensive basketball games I've ever seen in game 2 WCF last season; OKC HUNG right in there; never quit - damn near matched that perfection....that was NOT last night's game.

With the motivation from losing after being up 2-0 last season, along with the realization they almost dropped the game last night, compounded with 3 FULL days of rest? A perfect storm for the Spurs to exorcise that demon in game 3.

[King]

People lean on the 'momentum' idea too much from game to game. By that logic, San Antonio should have had momentum in game 2 against Golden State after the Double OT game. And then Klay Thompson went berserk. Being down 0-2 doesn't have any momentum. They're desperate now. If SA gets one win in Memphis, they're done.

[DarrinS]

NOTHING like last season. Spurs played one of the most beautiful offensive basketball games I've ever seen in game 2 WCF last season; OKC HUNG right in there; never quit - damn near matched that perfection....that was NOT last night's game.

With the motivation from losing after being up 2-0 last season, along with the realization they almost dropped the game last night, compounded with 3 FULL days of rest? A perfect storm for the Spurs to exorcise that demon in game 3.

Yep

[DarrinS]

And, seriously? This gave Memphis momentum? This is the desperate, delusional thinking of Grizz fan

[SuperDave]

Fact is Spurs are up 2-0 and have 3 days off before game 3. That's just an awesome situation.

That's the bottom line. The odds heavily favor the Spurs now. How much better are the Spurs going to feel after getting three days rest to recover from 8 tough playoff games in 16 days? That's a much more tangible factor than Memphis' "momentum."

Spurs are in great shape.

[Chinook]

If the NBA comes out and publicly rescinds Ginobili's flagrant, I bet it will make the refs less likely to give Memphis calls in the next game. They were very generous to them this game, which (if you don't believe in cheating) meant they were giving Memphis the benefit of the doubt when it came to ambiguous calls. They may not do that after Allen flaunted their perception of the Grizzlies' integrity so flippantly.

[Darkwaters]

There are no moral victories in the playoffs. A win is a win. Even though the Spurs played like crap in game 1 vs the Warriors and had a fluke comeback, I would take that fluke win over any teaching lesson in the playoffs.

Can I "like" this.

I totally agree. Would you rather be up 2-0 or be 1-1 but feel good about ourselves and all warm and fuzzy inside. Who gives a fuck?

[Spurs and Mavs fan]

The bottom line is this:

The Spurs now have three consecutive chances to get a commanding series lead: Either 3-0, 3-1, or 3-2.

[spurspokesman]

Matt Bonner came in the game in the third quarter with the Spurs up 18. He was not pulled from the game until the closing seconds of regulation after Memphis had tied it.

Pop's stupidity sent this game to overtime. :td Yup

[Spurs and Mavs fan]

I'd rather the Spurs have a 2-0 lead but the Grizzlies have the momentum, than have the Spurs tied 1-1 in the series but the Spurs have the momentum.

[yaicu2]

Fact is you could look at this from about 10 different perspectives, and they may not be all right on the money, but the way I see it we won the 1st 2 last year in the WCF in convincing fashion, and then got killed the next 4.

I think if we would have continued with this blowout last night, and won in convincing fashion we may not have the appropriate respect for Memphis going into Saturday night. The guys almost let one slip away, and now clearly see that Memphis can actually make a game of it, so hopefully the gang will go in Saturday ready to stomp some Grizzly ass and at least steal 1 in Memphis.
:ihit :ihit :ihit :ihit :ihit :ihit

[Obstructed_View]

Splitter had played for Duncan almost the whole 3rd quarter.

No, Bonner played for Duncan when he was in foul trouble. Splitter only played 34 minutes in an overtime game.

[doobs]

I hope Parker gets some rest and Pop takes advantage of this time off to watch and re-watch the third and fourth quarters. Any momentum gained by either team will be lost by Saturday. Both teams will come out refreshed.

[DesignatedT]

This was probably better than us blowing them out again tbh.

[IceColdBrewski]

This was probably better than us blowing them out again tbh.

Yep. "Appropriate fear and respect" would've been damn near impossible after 2 dominating blowout wins. The 4th quarter of this one was a nice wake up slap in the face before heading to their gym. Coasting in the 4th just because you've dominated so far isn't going to be good enough. Foot on the gas until the final buzzer.

[T Park]

Coasting + exhaustion.

[temujin]

Exactly the opposite.
Spurs controlled the game and Memphis got back because the Spurs made all possible mistakes.
And even then, they couldn't hit several shots they hit in close games vs LA and OKC.
They were beaten at their own game.

This was the game they had to steal with the Spurs oldies playing every other night since 16 days now.

[DarrinS]

Don’t be fooled by the Grizzlies’ near comeback against the Spurs in Game 2

http://nba.si.com/2013/05/22/dont-be-fooled-by-the-grizzlies-near-comeback-against-the-spurs-in-game-2/

[mudyez]

Pop loves this setup and if someone got momentum it's Timmy! This man played like posessed in OT. I love to see him with that killer eyes. It gives me the feeling, that the Grizz are already toast and if not, there is no way we can beat them anyway.

[m33p0]

How stupid are you people? You realize Duncan had five fouls right? You realize bonner had been hot shooting from 3 this series? You realize a small lineup gave Memphis fits in game 1?
Thank god some of you don't coach the spurs.
bonner's hot shooting in game 2: 2-5 from 2 pt range and 1-4 in his 3 pointers. it's not his shooting that i was concerned about. he played too long.

[tuncaboylu]

bonner's hot shooting in game 2: 2-5 from 2 pt range and 1-4 in his 3 pointers. it's not his shooting that i was concerned about. he played too long.

He played 1-1 from 2 pt range and 1-4 in his 3 pointers.

[TheGoldStandard]

Spurs will need to get the others involved early on the road in order to take game 3 decisively. Hopefully we can feed Kawhi and he can get his 16 to 18 and hit some 3's

[Capt Bringdown]

If you want to see what giving the other team momentum looks like, check out letting LJ score an uncontested layup for the win. I've seen layup drills with more degrees of difficulty.

[spurraider21]

rofl. flip the situation. what if we were down 0-2 but made a nice run to tie the game only to lose in OT. would you be happy about "momentum"?

[Spurs and Mavs fan]

rofl. flip the situation. what if we were down 0-2 but made a nice run to tie the game only to lose in OT. would you be happy about "momentum"?

Exactly. Some people try to look for something to be pessimistic about no matter what.

[therealtruth]

The Grizzlies only hope is if Pop screws the rotations up again. They had no chance against the Spurs best defensive unit.

[lefty]

http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/30400000/the-joker-the-joker-30450842-500-281.gif