The San Antonio Spurs are one of the most successful teams of the last decade and something more as they won their first title in 1999. They’re considered winners and at the end of the regular season coach Popovich also gave his stars some rest to have more energies for the playoffs. This decision led to some losses yet the Spurs finished the regular season with the second best record in the NBA and got No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.
The Memphis Grizzlies had never won a playoff game in the franchise history and have in their roster some players of dubious reputation, starting with Zach Randolph. In the last regular season however they achieved a positive result reaching the playoffs with No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.
According to logic the first-round series between these two teams should have ended with an easy sweep for the San Antonio Spurs, instead the Memphis Grizzlies created a big surprise since the start winning Game 1 in San Antonio 101-98.
It’s true that Manu Ginobili didn’t play game 1 due to an elbow problem: who knows if now his coach Popovich is thinking that he made a mistake not letting him play? Obviously afterwards we’re all great at finding the right way to play a game.
When the San Antonio Spurs won game 2 93-87 everyone thought things were back to normal, instead the Memphis Grizzlies won the next two games at home 91-88 and 104-86. Game 3 was another close game where the Grizzlies have proven again they can keep their nerves. Game 4 was won thanks to a great second half by the Grizzlies, who gradually took control until they reached a clear victory.
[ad name=”Google Adsense 300″]
In Game 5 the San Antonio Spurs took a good lead but the Memphis Grizzlies came back in the second half. Once again they had a close game final and thanks to an adventurous basket scored by Ginobili and a triple by Gary Neal the Spurs reached the overtime in which they won the game 110-103.
In Game 6 there could be psychological consequences for the Memphis Grizzlies, who might have thought they had already won the series and had thrown it away. Instead the Grizzlies went ahead since the start with the Spurs trying to keep up with a single digit gap. Zach Randolph scored 17 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter, keeping almost single-handedly his opponents at a distance until the final 99-91.
The Memphis Grizzlies have won the series 4-2 and now they’re going to face the Oklahoma City Thunder. The great performances by Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol, Mike Conley and O.J. Mayo may not be enough against Kevin Durant and his teammates but whatever happens the Grizzlies story has changed.
The San Antonio Spurs are the big losers. It’s not the first time Manu Ginobili reaches the playoffs in imperfect physical conditions: he’s a very generous player on court but sometimes he pays his desire to win with injuries. Tim Duncan now seems to be in the declining phase of his career. Given the value of these two players the future looks cloudy for the Spurs.
