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05/22/13 12:05:00
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05/22 00:01 CDT Spurs blow late lead, beat Grizzlies 93-89 in OT
Spurs blow late lead, beat Grizzlies 93-89 in OT
By JEFF LATZKE
AP Sports Writer
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- When Tony Parker started running low on masterful plays,
Tim Duncan was there to take over and lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 2-0 lead
in the Western Conference finals.
Parker had 15 points and a career playoff-high 18 assists, Duncan scored San
Antonio's first six points of overtime and the Spurs bounced back after
squandering a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter to beat the Memphis Grizzlies
93-89 on Tuesday night.
"I hate that we gave up that big of a lead in that situation," Duncan said.
"But we were resilient enough to go to overtime and not let it affect us,"
Duncan opened the extra period with a layup, and then made a tiebreaking
putback on Parker's missed jumper. He then made a runner that bounced high of
the back iron and rattled in for a 91-87 lead with 1:08 to play.
The Grizzlies had a chance to tie after Jerryd Bayless hit a jumper and Parker
missed one of two free throws with 14.6 seconds left, but Bayless' 3-pointer
from the left wing was off-target.
Memphis has fallen behind in all three playoff series so far, including
rallying from an 0-2 deficit in the first round against the Los Angeles
Clippers.
Game 3 is Saturday in Memphis.
"We're in the same boat we were when we left L.A. We're down 0-2. We've got to
go home and take care of business at home," coach Lionel Hollins said. "It's
not going to be easy, but that's where we are."
Bayless and Mike Conley each had 18 points to lead Memphis.
Duncan had 17 points and nine rebounds, missing most of the second half with
foul trouble before coming up with the key baskets in overtime - even if it
wasn't by design.
"It was just what was there more than anything," he said.
Memphis stormed back from a 13-point deficit with a 15-2 run over the final 8
minutes of regulation to tie it at 85 on Conley's runner in the lane with 18.2
seconds to play. The Grizzlies got the chance to pull even after Manu Ginobili
was called for a flagrant foul for pulling down Tony Allen by his left arm on a
fast-break layup try.
Allen hit both free throws and Memphis got possession, setting up Conley's
tying basket at the end of a string of seven straight Grizzlies points.
But Memphis, which trailed by as much as 18 in the second half, could never
pull ahead.
Up until the final stretch, Parker had been in control for 2 1/2 quarters.
Parker kept San Antonio humming along after Duncan went to the bench with four
fouls, the last three picked up within a span of 30 seconds, early in the third
quarter. Parker provided the assist on the Spurs' first seven baskets of the
second half, an then scored the next two on mid-range jumpers before getting
pulled for a rest with a 72-54 lead.
The Grizzlies mounted a 16-6 comeback while Parker was on the bench, getting as
close as 78-70 after Zach Randolph scored inside following back-to-back Bayless
jumpers.
Parker checked back in and soon had the lead growing again, ducking under
Darrell Arthur to hit a floater and then knocking down a 3-pointer from the
right wing to make it 83-70 with 8:14 to play. But then Parker finally went
cold, missing five straight shots down the stretch as the Grizzlies rallied
back.
He had 14 assists in the second and third quarters and went past his
career-high for the regular season of 17 during overtime.
"He was unbelievable," Duncan said. "I know he's exhausted. We asked a lot of
him. He was controlling the ball every time down the floor and he was making
every right play there was.
"He was finding people, and people knocked down shots for him."
After Game 1, Memphis' guards outlined a game plan that involved picking up
their defense earlier on Parker to keep him from getting into the lane and
putting the Grizzlies into the scramble mode that allowed San Antonio to hit a
franchise playoff record 14 3-pointers in the opener.
It wasn't until late that any of their plans started working.
"He's a Hall of Fame guard, people. He's been around, he's done great things in
his career," Hollins said. "He just controlled the pace and got in the paint,
found open guys. ... We battled him, though, and we wound up being in the game."
But then, Duncan - who missed a potential winning jumper from the left wing at
the end of regulation - took over.
The Spurs put all five starters in double figures, getting 14 points from Tiago
Splitter, 12 from Kawhi Leonard and 11 from Danny Green.
Randolph had 15 points and 18 rebounds after a two-point performance in Game 1,
his lowest-scoring effort all season. Marc Gasol had 12 points and 14 rebounds.
Hollins talked before the game about wanting the Grizzlies - getting increased
attention in their first Western Conference finals appearance - to avoid being
like a boy in junior high school who suddenly decides he needs to change once
he gets noticed by a pretty girl.
"We're who we are and we have to stay who we are, and we have to understand
that no matter who's coming and talking to us, we have to be true to our
identity," Hollins said, "and we can't go changing and shaving and taking a
bath when we haven't taken one all along."
Memphis, with the league's best defense, looked like itself again early on
while recovering from a 7-0 hole to turn it into a 15-13 slugfest after the
first quarter. But after the Grizzlies went ahead for the first time, San
Antonio surged back ahead with seven straight points. Just before halftime, the
Spurs asserted control with a 13-0 run and went up 46-31 at the break.
Notes: There was a moment of silence before the game recognizing the deadly
tornado that hit Moore, Okla., on Monday. ... The Grizzlies missed five shots
on their next-to-last possession of the first half. Tony Allen's baseline drive
was snuffed out by a Leonard block and he also missed the putback before
Randolph missed two putback tries - one of them blocked by Duncan. Tony Wroten
then missed the final follow shot. ... Parker's previous career best in the
playoffs was 14 assists against Utah on May 22, 2007. Johnny Moore holds the
franchise postseason record with 20 against Denver in 1983.
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