Monroe: Spurs Fend Off Grizzlies In Thriller

[duncan228]

Updated.

Spurs fend off Grizzlies in 2 OTs

Spurs fend off Grizzlies in thriller
By Mike Monroe

In spite of themselves, the Spurs had managed to drag the Memphis Grizzlies into overtime at the AT&T Center on Saturday night, mostly because Tim Duncan had been Tim Duncan, scoring 29 points as the focus of the Spurs' offense.

So when Duncan committed his sixth foul of the game, with 1:13 remaining in overtime and the Spurs ahead by a single point, he trudged to the bench, stonefaced, and watched as Kurt Thomas checked in to replace him.

By the end of the Spurs' 106-103 double-overtime victory, Duncan insisted he was enjoying his view from the bench, especially the big defensive plays by his replacement. Thomas helped preserve a victory Duncan called huge for a team that had sucked all the sports emotion out of Arizona with a buzzer-beating 3-point shot on Christmas Day.

It was Thomas' block of a scoop shot by Grizzlies rookie O.J. Mayo with 4.9 seconds remaining in the second overtime session that preserved the Spurs' 105-103 lead. And when Memphis' Rudy Gay got his hands on the ball after Thomas had knocked it away from Mayo, Thomas and Michael Finley converged on Gay and made it impossible for his shot to even get near the basket.

Thomas finished off his star turn by making 1 of 2 free throws with half a second remaining.

Finley got credit for a block on Gay, but when Thomas contended that he may have gotten a finger or two on Gay's shot, Finley just smiled and nodded his head from the locker stall next to Thomas' in the Spurs' team room.

“Kurt was really special,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said, “not just when he went in for Tim, but with all his minutes.”

Cheering from the bench while Thomas played the role of defensive backstop was Duncan, relieved his teammate had made his absence relatively meaningless.

“To be honest with you, the guys were doing a great job and I wasn't even thinking about (not being in the game),” he said. “Obviously, I wanted to be out there helping, but Kurt did a great job with a couple of offensive rebounds and a couple of blocked shots and found a way to win.

“There was nothing to do but sit over there and cheer.”

The post-Christmas sellout crowd of 18,797 cheered its loudest when Tony Parker made a pair of clutch, 19-foot, double-overtime jumpers. The clutch shots gave the Spurs the edge they needed to fend off a pesky Grizzlies team that is one of the NBA's youngest, but hardly one of its least compe ive.

With Duncan banished to the bench, Parker took advantage of 7-foot-1 Marc Gasol on pick-and-roll plays. He forced the big rookie to back away from him, fearing a drive to the basket, then launched uncontested jumpers over him.

“When Timmy got his sixth foul,” Parker said, “obviously, Pop said to play pick-and-roll. Marc Gasol was backing down, and I had a lot of confidence in my shot, so I just tried to knock it down.”

Popovich called Bruce Bowen the hidden hero of Saturday's victory. He used his defensive ace for 38:52, and it would have been longer had Bowen not taken a seat next to Duncan after fouling out with 3:48 remaining in the second overtime.

“Bruce did a great job guarding,” Popovich said, “which no one probably noticed, but he was super.”

Bowen limited Memphis' Gay, who had scorched the Spurs for 26 points the last time the Grizzlies visited the AT&T Center this season, to 5-for-18 shooting. He took a few turns on Mayo, too.

“Kurt and Bruce and Tony,” Popovich said. “Those three guys brought it home for us.”

Parker and Duncan agreed that pulling out a victory over a team that came into their building with a 10-19 record preserved the good feelings that remained from the Spurs' dramatic victory over the Suns on Christmas Day.

“It was huge for us to get this win,” Duncan said. “If we lose this one, it really makes that game in Phoenix less significant.”

The Spurs also extended their winning streak to five games and remained atop the Southwest Division.

[bigfundamental21]

I had the pleasure of attending this game and it was a great game to be at. It was a back and forth battle all night and even though we could never pull away from them, our team kept battling. Duncan carried us for most of the game and then Parker and the defense of Bowen and Thomas took over in the end.

I liked the way the team kept at it and I give props to the Grizzlies for never backing down either. It was just a great game to watch.