Overshadowed by Golden State’s historic run, the Spurs put together their own momentous season and they have no intention of easing up. The injury-ravaged Grizzlies were no match in Game 1 and will at least try and to be competitive on Tuesday.
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LOOK AHEAD
Things couldn’t have gone much better for the Spurs once the playoffs started. San Antonio got a favorable matchup with the depleted Grizzlies, had its stars rested and ready to go, and earned homecourt advantage. That all resulted in a 106-74 drubbing Sunday in Game 1. The Spurs shot 68 percent in the third quarter, outscoring the Griz 33-14 to break open what had been a relatively close game. San Antonio sat its starters in the fourth quarter to rest them for Game 2.
There is no reason to think this peculiarly one-sided playoff series will produce anything other than what happened Sunday night. The Spurs started two future Hall-of-Famers in Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, one of the NBA’s best players in Kawhi Leonard and five-time All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge. The Grizzlies started Chris Andersen, Matt Barnes and Jordan Farmar. It’s hard to imagine things being different moving forward. The Griz will play hard, they aren’t the Houston Rockets, but it’s a difficult task.
INJURIES
Guard Tony Allen returned to the Griz lineup for Game 1 after missing the final three regular season games. He was clearly bothered by the hamstring injury and played an uneventful 21 minutes. It was a courageous move but seeing how the game ended, the Griz might rethink playing the veteran.
The lopsided victory allowed Spurs coach Gregg Popovich to rest his starters and be cautious. Aldridge’s right pinkie finger is still sore after dislocating it Apr. 7 at Golden State. Boris Diaw was playing his second game after missing five straight with a sore groin.
KEY MATCHUP
The Spurs did a nice job of silencing Zach Randolph in Game 1, limiting the Grizzlies bruising forward to just six points. But this is a matchup that can turn in favor of the Griz. When Memphis beat San Antonio in 2011 to become just the second No. 8 seed in NBA history to beat a No. 1 seed, the Spurs had no answer for Randolph, who scored 31 points in the series-clinching victory.
That was six years ago and Randolph is now 34-years-old and battling knee and ankle injuries. But he’s still lethal and is the only real scoring option the Grizzlies have. He took his shots in Game 1, leading the Griz with 13 field goal attempts in 28 minutes, he just had a hard time connecting. And that’s unusual for the Grizzlies big man who hit on 47.5 percent of his shots from the field during the regular season while averaging 15.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.
QUICK PICK
Game 1 gave us a pretty good idea of just how focused the Spurs are heading into this postseason. It could be the farewell song for the Big Three of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker and they are ready to go out with a bang. It was an easy win for them on Sunday and there’s always the chance of a letdown after such a huge victory. But don’t expect San Antonio to take the Griz lightly the rest of the way despite the outcome.
Popovich and the veterans know what it takes to be successful and getting extra rest along the way is a big deal. If the Spurs can wrap up this NBA series in four games, that gives the old-timers some additional rest for the next round. The game should be closer than the 32-point spread in Game 1, but the Spurs are more of a juggernaut at home and won’t be denied a 2-0 series lead.
NBA Odds: San Antonio 110, Memphis 93
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