The San Antonio Spurs took Game 2 against the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night, routing the club in a 96-82 victory to take a 2-0 series lead.
San Antonio dominated the first half, outscoring Memphis 56-37. Marc Gasol, a catalyst for the Grizzlies during the first half of last game, opened up the game shooting 0-for-4 from the field. He had just three points on 1-for-8 shooting at intermission.
It was Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker who led the way for the Spurs in the first two quarters, combining to score 28 points.
Leonard’s highlight play of the half came on the first possession:
How does #SpursGrizzlies game 2 start?
A Kawhi Leonard crossover, slight hesi and then the dunk!#GoSpursGo pic.twitter.com/OneM4hJoyL
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) April 18, 2017
Vince Carter got into it with Spurs forward Kyle Anderson, who was five years old when Carter first entered the league, in an effort to bring life to the team. Anderson barked back at Carter, mouthing “you’re not tough” several times.
Things got a little heated between Vince Carter and Kyle Anderson ?#SpursGrizzlies pic.twitter.com/xy6lQetbjT
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) April 18, 2017
Memphis chose to change its gameplan in the second half. Rather than starting Wayne Baldwin and JaMychal Green, head coach David Fizdale decided to roll the dice and open the half with James Ennis and Zach Randolph in their place. The lineup went on a 13-5 run in the first six minutes to force a Spurs timeout, and would play a key role in trimming the San Antonio lead down to 10 entering the fourth quarter.
Mike Conley hits the step-back 3 at the end of the 3rd to cut the lead to 10. (via @clippittv) pic.twitter.com/IrsZgfxsgx
— Basketball Society (@BBallSociety_) April 18, 2017
Memphis would eventually trim the lead to four, but the majority of the fourth quarter was far from anything like the third. San Antonio regained momentum and finished strong, winning the final period by four. In the end, the Spurs’ depth proved to be too much for an injured Memphis squad missing two of its key players to injury.
Kawhi Leonard hammers a dunk for a new career-high 37 points and closes out the #Spurs game 2 win! pic.twitter.com/C3IGkjqjzs
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) April 18, 2017
Kawhi Leonard led all scorers with 37 (19-for-19 from the charity stripe), while Tony Parker pitched in 15 points and Danny Green nailed four three-pointers. For Memphis, Mike Conley led the team with 24 points on 6-for-11 shooting, Zach Randolph notched a double-double off the bench, and Marc Gasol finished with 12 points.
Grizzlies coach David Fizdale was furious with how the game was officiated, and likely earned himself a fine by harshly criticizing the referees postgame:
“That was a very poorly officiated basketball game,” Fizdale said. “Zach Randolph, the most rugged guy in the game, had zero free throws, but somehow Kawhi Leonard had 19 free throws. In the first half, we shot 19 shots in the paint and had six free throws. They shot 11 times in the paint and had 23 free throws. I’m not a numbers guy, but that doesn’t seem to add up.
“Overall, 35 times we shot the ball in the paint and we had 15 free throws for the game,” Fizdale exclaimed in frustration. They shot 18 times in the paint and had 32 free throws. Kawhi (Leonard) shot more free throws than our whole team. Explain that to me. We don’t get the respect that these guys deserve. Mike Conley doesn’t go crazy, he has class and he just plays the game, but I’m not gonna let them treat us this way. I know (coach) Pop’s got pedigree and I’m a young rookie, but they’re not gonna rook us. That’s unacceptable. That was unprofessional. My guys dug in that game and earned the right to be in that game and they did not even give us a chance. Take that for data.”
Fizdale slammed his hand into the table and stormed off, and off to Memphis we go for Game 3 on Thursday night.
