Two of the best teams in the NBA battled on Friday night when the Spurs traveled to Memphis to take on the Grizzlies. As it turned out, 48 minutes wasn’t enough to settle the score. Unfortunately, the Grizzlies were able to take home a 101-98 overtime victory. The Spurs fell to 28-11 on the season and have now lost three consecutive road games and seven of their last nine away from the friendly confines of the AT&T Center.
The first quarter was well-fought, with neither team leading by more than five points. Manu Ginobili hit a three-pointer with less than ten seconds remaining in the period to give the Spurs a 25-22 advantage headlining into quarter number two.
The second was more of the same. For the first eleven minutes, the spread remained within three points. Regrettably, San Antonio fell apart before halftime. With the score 43-43, the Grizzlies went on an 8-0 run in the final 75 seconds to enter intermission on a high note.
Things got worse before they got better in the third quarter. Staring at a 12-point deficit with 8:22 to go in the period, the Spurs got going. A 13-2 run over the next four minutes brought the good guys to within a point. The Spurs kept rolling in the right direction and took a 71-68 lead into the fourth.
San Antonio scored the first two buckets of the fourth to build a seven-point cushion. Memphis climbed out of that hole in short order by scoring seven straight points in a two and a half minute stretch. The Spurs regained control and had a four-point lead after a Kawhi Leonard layup with three minutes remaining. The Grizzlies, again, had an answer -- scoring six straight to take a two-point lead with one minute remaining.
After Tim Duncan and Darrell Arthur traded jumpers, things got crazy. Danny Green missed a three-pointer and then Tony Allen s,cored in transition to bump Memphis’ lead to four points. Green missed another three but then Rudy Gay missed a pair at the line. With the Spurs down by four points and seven seconds remaining, Stephen Jackson nailed a three-pointer. Following two free throws by Zach Randolph with three seconds left, Tony Parker dribbled the ball up and launched an off-balance three-pointer at the buzzer. Bang. Overtime.
A minute and a half into overtime, another three-pointer by Parker began the scoring for the Spurs. Unfortunately, it also ended the scoring for the Spurs. Zach Randolph hit a jumper and then, with 27 seconds remaining, Gay nailed a tough leaner in the lane. Parker missed a jumper, Arthur hit yet another jumper to put the Spurs down by three. Ginobili missed a three-point heave at the buzzer that would have tied it and the game was over.
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Tim Duncan
Tim Duncan’s slump has now stretched over three games. Offensively, most of his attempts came in the paint -- he just missed a lot of short shots he usually makes. While his passing was good, it was more than negated by his turnovers. Duncan’s miscues were on passes or as a result of holding the ball for too long and letting the Grizzlies defense swarm him. The good news is that Duncan retained some of his value by playing above average defense. His one-on-one defense was solid, he defended the rim really well and rebounded terrifically. His weakness on D in this game was defending the pick-and-roll, which leads to a larger point: Duncan isn’t moving well. I don’t if he’s hurting, tired or he has hit some sort of wall after his jaw-dropping start to the season, but the last three games he has been noticeably less fluid.
Final Grade: 75
Season Average: 89.0
Adj. Average: 89.3
Last 10 Average: 85.2
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Manu Ginobili
With Manu Ginobili, let’s begin at the end. In his final 13 minutes of action, he was 0-for-4 from the field with a turnover. Considering he’s only averaging around 25 minutes per game, does he have the required stamina to play big minutes when it’s needed? After watching the Grizzlies game, I’m not sure. Early in the contest, Ginobili was pretty damn good. His three-point stroke looks great right now and he’s also exhibiting a healthy amount of burst to the basket. Ginobili was a little bit loose with the ball in the first half but eventually cleaned it up. His passing was good, his rebounding was excellent and his defense was adequate. The Spurs really needed the Argentine star to help close the game. That didn’t happen but at least there are some more positives to take away from his evening as a whole.
Final Grade: 81
Season Average: 84.2
Adj. Average: 84.2
Last 10 Average: 87.6
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Tony Parker
In the first half, I thought Tony Parker did a horrible job running the show. He was nonchalant about getting the team into its sets and that contributed mightily to the 12 turnovers in the first two quarters. The second half was like night and day. Even though the buckets weren’t always there, the offense was running with much more precision -- and that was mostly due to Parker getting back to his normal self. Scoring-wise, he was again great. His 3-for-3 showing from deep lifts his three-point shooting percentage on the season to 43.5%. He missed a couple key shots but he also hit a number of huge buckets, so it balanced out. Defensively, he was solid for the most part. He defended too aggressively at times, which let Mike Conley rack up ten free throw attempts. All in all, it was refreshing to see Parker play how he’s supposed to play in the second half; let’s hope he can start putting together complete games now.
Final Grade: 85
Season Average: 86.5
Adj. Average: 86.4
Last 10 Average: 85.7
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Kawhi Leonard
Kawhi Leonard defended Rudy Gay well. Unluckily, Gay canned a few contested shots -- which essentially erased most of Leonard’s good work on the defensive end. Not helping out on the glass also limited his value on that side of the court. Offensively, Leonard was silent. He’s hardly getting any touches. When he does get a touch, he’s unsure what to do with it. Leonard rediscovering his offensive niche would do this team a world of good.
Final Grade: 73
Season Average: 83.9
Adj. Average: 83.7
Last 10 Average: 82.3
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Danny Green
Danny Green was put into the game late for his marksmanship. He didn’t deliver. Green missed a pair of three-pointers down the stretch of regulation. The Spurs ended up sending it to overtime anyways, but those are shots you want to see Green knock down. Other than that, he was reasonably effective. He did more work beneath the three-point line on offense than usual. On the other end, his defense was adequate, although his rebounding wasn’t strong and his typical hustle was missing in action.
Final Grade: 76
Season Average: 82.5
Adj. Average: 82.8
Last 10 Average: 84.4
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Tiago Splitter
Tiago Splitter was definitely the bright spot. In fact, with as well as he played, the Spurs suddenly match up pretty well against the Grizzlies. He defended very well in the post -- he kept his arms up and used his length to bother shots. His rebounding wasn’t notable but he was boxing out well. Overall, he was strong, quick and coordinated on the defensive end. Offensively, when he was involved, it seemed like a positive play was bound to follow. He converted at a high rate at the rim and also dished off a number of nice passes. Unfortunately, he ended up fouling out and was forced to sit out the overtime session.
Final Grade: 92
Season Average: 84.9
Adj. Average: 85.5
Last 10 Average: 84.6
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Boris Diaw
The Good: A smidgen less passive than normal on offense. He did well using his dribble to attack and utilize his quick feet. He shot the ball enough, authored a few gorgeous assists and made quick decisions. The Bad: Diaw was simply too unkempt. His passes are great but he needs to cut down on the attempts that are too risky. Defensively, he also wasn’t consistent enough and didn't crash the glass. He had a few good moments but his post defense was lacking -- and that’s vitally important against Memphis.
Final Grade: 80
Season Average: 80.6
Adj. Average: 81.5
Last 10 Average: 83.0
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Stephen Jackson
I liked Stephen Jackson’s patience -- yeah, and that clutch three-pointer to set up the Parker heroics was great -- but this was mostly an uneventful affair. His defense was average at best and he wasn’t of any help on the boards. Jackson’s lack of quickness is still limiting his defensive upside. On the other end, his passes off the dribble were even shakier than usual. But to his credit, Jackson kept it simple and did little to hurt the team. He didn’t move the needle much in the positive direction either but the baby steps are encouraging.
Final Grade: 81
Season Average: 82.0
Adj. Average: 82.3
Last 10 Average: 79.4
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Gary Neal
Gary Neal was the backup point guard in the first half. It wasn’t pretty. His ballhandling was bad, which looks to be mostly a result of the calf injury that is still slowing him. He had one good pass but that was about the extent of his positive offensive contributions. On defense, he was pretty darn bad. He lost his man repeatedly and struggled to stay in front of everyone.
Final Grade: 74
Season Average: 80.5
Adj. Average: 81.5
Last 10 Average: 78.7
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Patrick Mills
Patrick Mills was the point guard in the second half. He wasn’t outstanding or anything … but he was a breath of fresh air compared to what Neal did in the first half. He competed on defense and his energetic ways disrupted the Grizzlies flow a couple times. Offensively, while his only shot attempt was an airballed three-pointer, he handled the rock well and didn’t look overwhelmed by the pressure Memphis can apply on that end.
Final Grade: 87
Season Average: 83.2
Adj. Average: 82.9
Last 10 Average: 84.8
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Matt Bonner
Matt Bonner’s play of late was nuts ed well when he was spoonfed for a wide open layup off of a slick pass by Diaw. But instead of laying it up, Bonner’s brain froze and he hesitated for a couple seconds before getting rid of it. He’s all of a sudden painfully hesitant on offense, he has reverted to relying on flopping when boxing out and his defense is subpar. That rugged, relaxed version of Bonner that was so effective in spot minutes earlier in the season as vanished.
Final Grade: 70
Season Average: 80.3
Adj. Average: 82.0
Last 10 Average: 74.3
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Pop
Pop needs to figure out what he wants to do at backup point guard. If he’s going to force Neal into that role, then he should stick with him. If he’s going to try someone else, do it now and give Neal’s calf some time to heal. Playing musical chairs behind Parker doesn’t appear to do much good for anyone. The rest of his rotation was decent, though in hindsight he probably pushed Ginobili too hard and the logic behind playing a slowed Duncan 39 minutes is questionable.
Final Grade: 79
Season Average: 83.8
Last 10 Average: 82.4
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Offense
All things considered, the offense wasn’t THAT bad. The 12 first half turnovers were killer but they bounced back with a much better showing after halftime. The stats, outside of the turnover number, were mostly fine. Give the Grizzlies credit, while the Spurs missed some open shots, there is a reason why Memphis is arguably the best defensive team in the NBA.
Final Grade: 79
Season Average: 83.9
Last 10 Average: 82.8
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Defense
The Spurs defended the three-point arc well, pounded the boards and kept the Grizzlies from living at the line. They also limited the Grizzlies to relying on isolation plays for much of the night. On the other hand, the transition defense was poor and their defense at the rim was substandard. Outside of Duncan, no one else was very stout in the lane.
Final Grade: 80
Season Average: 83.5
Last 10 Average: 84.8
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Overall
Considering that the offense had been sputtering, particularly on the road, a loss in Memphis wasn’t too surprising. I thought the Spurs competed well and gave themselves a chance to win. Obviously, San Antonio needs to regroup offensively because they aren’t winning anything with the O at its current level, but we witnessed some much needed improvements in the second half. Let’s hope they build off of that and can put together a successful three-game homestand.
Final Grade: 80
Season Average: 83.8
Last 10 Average: 83.6
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not worried about memphis like i use to be
gay hit a lot of contested shots and duncan looked off
gasol was getting wide open doing simple spin moves duncan usually doesnt fall for
if they fix the transition D and mostly the stupid turnovers we can beat them
also need to change the defensive philosophy when gasol/arthur are in the game
both good mid range shooters who shouldnt be allowed to shoot wide open mid range shots at will
...... @ going to bonner instead of blair .......
I keep on wondering about the scale. Why 100 is a max when 70 is the lowest possible score?
btw. Good job LJ
Let's all hope the next 3 games will turn the spurs rhythm on
I would agree with that. They have at least one more than competent Gay defender (yes, I know how that sounds, but you know what I mean), but the biggest difference between now and two years ago, is Gasol. He's not nearly the rebounder or low post player he was then, which is why the Spurs are capable of essentially playing them to a draw on the glass.
timvp, as much as Duncan struggled offensively, they needed him to play major minutes. 39 would have been 34, if not for overtime and I'm not sure much less you think they can get away with when they clearly only trust three bigs and haven't shown a willingness to have the other two play even 30 minutes.
If Ginobili lacks the stamina required to play relatively big minutes, then there's a simple solution: Slowly, but surely, start building him up towards that, because they're not beating the elite teams in a series unless he can give them something like 32-34 mpg.
As for backup PG, Pop had it figured out from day one. He's made it abundantly clear that Neal is his guy, he just didn't go to him in the 2nd half because it was obvious he was struggling with his calf injury.
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