Grizzlies Grab 1st Ever 3-1 Series Lead Over Spurs

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Mike Conley had 15 points and seven assists to help the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies rout the San Antonio Spurs 104-86 on Monday night and grab a commanding 3-1 lead in their opening series.

The Grizzlies already had made franchise history by winning their first playoff game in Game 1 and added their first playoff win at home. Now they are a game away from becoming the second eighth seed to knock off a No. 1 seed since the NBA expanded to a best-of-seven series and join the 2007 Golden State Warriors.

Game 5 is Wednesday in San Antonio.

Darrell Arthur added 14 points off the bench for Memphis. Tony Allen had 12, Zach Randolph and O.J. Mayo 11 apiece.

Tony Parker led the Spurs with 23 points, but he also had seven turnovers. Manu Ginobili had 14, Gary Neal 11, and George Hill and Tiago Splitter 10 each. Splitter, a rookie from Brazil, had not played previously in this series.

Tim Duncan had six points on his 35th birthday.

These are the same Spurs that won 61 games in the regular season. They opened up very energetic, shooting well and even had their first halftime lead in this series.

They finished the game with their starters on the bench for the final 5:43, and now the Spurs will be trying to avoid their second 4-1 opening series loss in three seasons.

The first three games had been tight with Memphis winning by no more than three points. The Spurs won Game 2 by six.

This time it was a rout once the Grizzlies took control by outscoring the Spurs 30-15 in the third quarter for the first time in this series after trailing at the half for the first time in the four games.

Memphis opened the second half with a 14-0 run with Gasol's two free throws at 11:04 putting the Grizzlies ahead to stay at 52-50. Sam Young's dunk capped the run at 7:41 of the third for a 62-50 lead. The Spurs, who shot 55.3 percent in the first half, missed their first five shots and were 6 of 15 from the floor. They also had seven turnovers in the quarter.

The Grizzlies had every fan up and waving the rally towels handed out, cranking up the noise with every Spurs' missed shot or mistake. Arthur ended the quarter by hitting a pair of jumpers to put Memphis up 78-65 at the end of the third.

When Arthur dunked at 10:13 of the fourth putting Memphis up 83-67, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich took a timeout. It didn't help as Arthur hit a shot at 8:51 pushing the lead to 85-67.

The Grizzlies went up 94-74 on a 3 by Shane Battier who was wide open in the right corner with 5:43 left. The celebration began in earnest in Memphis.

Memphis already had become only the seventh No. 8 seed to go up 2-1 in the NBA playoffs since the league expanded the postseason to 16 teams in 1983-84, and the Grizzlies are just the third team to do it since the first round expanded to best-of-seven for the 2003 playoffs.

The Grizzlies had another electric crowd, just their sixth sellout of the season, and fans buzzed with a sense of expectation instead of mere hope for a win that surrounded this team when the Spurs swept them out of the playoffs in their first postseason trip in 2004.

The Spurs opened the game by hitting eight of their first 10 led by Parker who scored eight of the first 10 points. Memphis came out forgetting its strength is going inside to Randolph and Gasol, and Randolph set that tone by taking a long jumper as the Grizzlies' first shot. He missed, and they wound up outscored 16-6 in the paint for the quarter.

San Antonio led 26-21 after 12 minutes, the first time in this series the Spurs had outscored Memphis in the first quarter.

Greivis Vasquez had an ugly turnover at the end of the first quarter, just losing the ball. Hill took it and scored to make it 26-19. Vasquez, the second-year pro out of Maryland, rebounded by hitting his next three shots to start a 9-2 run. Mayo capped it with a fast-break layup for a 30-28 lead in the second.

Parker came into the game 15-of-44, and he hit all seven shots in the first half and his four free throws in helping the Spurs lead 50-48 at halftime. But he missed his first shot in the third quarter, a 3-pointer, at 9:58.

Grizzlies Surprised Spurs, Hornets Nip Lakers in NBA Playoffs

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AFP) – The New Orleans Hornets shocked the two-time defending NBA champion Lakers and upstart Memphis edged top-seeded San Antonio, Sunday in a pair of Western Conference playoff opener upsets.

Seventh-seeded New Orleans beat the Lakers 109-100 and Memphis defeated the Spurs 101-98.

Chris Paul had 33 points, 14 assists and seven rebounds for the Hornets as they seized the initiative over the Lakers in the first game of their best-of-seven series.

"Our defence was late. We were late on everything," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "They were aggressive and beat us to balls."

Memphis posted their first-ever NBA post-season win by stunning the top-seeded Spurs at the AT&T Center arena.

Zach Randolph scored nine of his 25 points in the fourth quarter for the eighth-seeded Grizzlies, who were making their first playoff appearance since the 2005-06 NBA season.

Marc Gasol finished with 24 points and Mike Conley had 15 points and 10 assists for Memphis, which finished with a 46-36 record in the regular season.

The Grizzlies earned their first playoff win since coming into the league as an expansion team in Vancouver, Canada, 16 years ago.

"It's nice from an annoyance perspective to have it out of the way, because I don't have to answer questions about being 0 and 13," Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said.

They were swept by San Antonio in four games in the 2004 playoffs.

Memphis was behind in the final minute of the game when Shane Battier nailed three-pointer with 23 seconds left, giving Memphis a slim 99-98 lead.

San Antonio tried to force overtime, but Richard Jefferson missed a long range shot as the clock ticked down.

Memphis players raced onto the court as the buzzer sounded to celebrated their first playoff win in 13 attempts.

Battier was with Memphis when they were swept by San Antonio seven years ago.

"It was awesome. I'm really happy for the city," Battier said. "Beale Street will be a fun place tonight. Most of these guys don't know the history or the heartache that the city has gone through. I'm happy for the city."

France's Tony Parker led San Antonio with 20 points. Tim Duncan had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Spurs, who lost their sixth straight playoff series opener.

But the Spurs were forced to play without all-star guard Manu Ginobili who sat out with a sprained right elbow. Ginobili was injured during the final game of the regular season against Phoenix.

He will be re-evaluated by doctors to see if he can play in Wednesday's game two of the best-of-seven series.

George Hill started in Ginobili's place but shot just two-of-seven and finished with 15 points.

The Spurs were six-of-15 from the three-point line. Matt Bonner drained two from long range in the final two minutes as his second one gave the Spurs a 96-94 lead with 88 seconds left.

Spurs Back on Top of NBA with Blazing Start

Tony Parker's private life has been splashed across tabloids after splitting from his TV star wife. Tim Duncan is playing the fewest minutes of his career and coach Gregg Popovich's big summer addition can't find his way off the bench yet.

Yet here are the San Antonio Spurs, back atop the NBA.

"The Lakers are the back-to-back champions. The Celtics are the Eastern Conference champions. We got to respect them," Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said. "We're just looking at them, trying to learn and be as good as them."

Through the first month, no one has been good as the Spurs.

Their NBA-best record of 12-1 is the best start in franchise history, surpassing even how they began their four championship seasons. Their 11-game winning streak is their longest in nearly three years, and they can stretch it to a dozen Wednesday at Minnesota.

They've won while Parker and Ginobili -- arguably the best backcourt in the West so far -- have turned Duncan into the team's fourth-leading scorer. They've won without needing Tiago Splitter, their heralded new 7-footer who has barely cracked the rotation.

After winning 50 games last season and needing a late surge just to secure the No. 7 playoff seed -- the lowest of the Duncan era -- the Spurs didn't make any big summer adjustments. Duncan merely got older, swingman Richard Jefferson worked harder and the front office finally signed Splitter, their 2007 first-round pick from Brazil who had played several years in Spain.

Parker didn't play overseas to recover from a slew of injuries. Ginobili rested, too. Signing both to extensions are the biggest moves the Spurs have made in the last eight months.

So far, that seems to be all they needed.

"They've always been real good. But one of the three main guys have been hurt a lot the last three years, and that's not the case anymore," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said before Orlando lost to San Antonio on Monday night. "We're seeing them at their best."

Ginobili is averaging a career-high 20.4 points per game, a resurgence for the 33-year-old who was so bothered by ankle problems the last two years that the Spurs waited until the end of last season to extend a new deal. He and Parker have taken over while Duncan's numbers have plummeted to 13.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, putting him on pace to not average a double-double for the first time.

He's done so with a career-low 29.1 minutes per game.

"Timmy's taking a little bit of the back seat so we can save him for the playoffs," Parker said.
Parker is on a pace for perhaps his best season in his 10 years in the NBA, averaging 19.5 points and a career-best 7.8 assists. He's had no drop-off since his split from "Desperate Housewives" star Eva Longoria, who filed for divorce in Los Angeles last week after three years of marriage.

Parker, 28, hasn't spoken about the breakup aside from a few, clipped statements to a horde of reporters outside the Spurs' locker room a week ago.

Jefferson, who broke off an engagement with his fiancee before joining the Spurs last season, said people are often too quick to chalk up personal issues as potential distractions.
The job, Jefferson said, is sometimes the only refuge.

"I've gone through personal issues myself. Sometimes basketball, those couple of hours you're on the court, that's the only time you're focused on that," Jefferson said. "I'm not surprised by how well [Tony's] playing. If anything, this is when you become more focused on your game."

After beating the Magic, Ginobili wouldn't declare the Spurs the best in the league.

"It's too early to tell. What we know we're winning games that last year we would have lost," Ginobili said. "But it's too early. Thirteen games so far. We've got a long way to go."