Grizzlies back looking for 1st playoff victory
Before the Memphis Grizzlies can think about winning a playoff series, they first have to take one small step.
Win a postseason game.
The Grizzlies enter their series against the San Antonio Spurs with the dubious record of being swept out of the first round in all three of their previous playoff appearances.
At 0-12, it’s some heavy baggage. Depending on which Memphis player is answering the question, it is a record that can be tough to ignore.
“We’re very aware of it,” guard Tony Allen said after practice Friday. “They have been ranting about it all year. We’ve gotten our short-term goal (making the playoffs) out of the way, and now it’s time to make some noise in this postseason.”
To do that, Memphis will have to beat a Spurs team that finished with the second-best record in the league.
San Antonio, the top seed in the Western Conference, hosts the eighth-seeded Grizzlies for the first two games starting Sunday before the series moves back to Memphis for Games 3 and 4.
The Grizzlies hope they get a second look at the city of San Antonio this series because that means they will have accomplished the goal of winning a playoff game, something this franchise has yet to do in making the postseason three straight seasons starting in 2004.
The Spurs were the first team to sweep the Grizzlies out of the postseason in 2004, and the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks followed the next two postseasons in needing only four games to advance to the conference semifinals. It’s not the kind of mark any NBA team wants.
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