Unsurprisingly, the shorthanded Memphis Grizzlies find themselves utterly helpless against the San Antonio Spurs. The Grizz finally managed to hang with the Spurs in game three, and fought hard in a close game, but still lost 96-87, and now trail 3-0 in the series. Afterwards, Memphis big man Zach Randolph had high praise for Kawhi Leonard, the Spurs’ superstar wing. From Bradford Doolittle of ESPN:
San Antonio’s starters had not logged a single fourth-quarter minute in the first round, but Popovich’s mainstays were needed in Game 3. Unfortunately, that meant lots of Leonard, who dominated the game at both ends down the stretch as the Spurs implacably executed all through what turned out to be a no-sweat finish.
“Kawhi Leonard’s got to be one of the top two, top three, players in the league at both ends,” Randolph said. “That kid is the silent assassin.”
Leonard had a dominant game on both ends, posting 32 points on excellent efficiency(11-22 FG, 6-9 three-point) to go with seven rebounds, five blocks, and four steals.
34-year-old Randolph led the charge for Memphis with 20 points and 11 rebounds. The Grizzlies will play game four in Memphis on Sunday at noon. Obviously, a 3-0 series lead is hard, if not impossible, to overcome(it’s never been done before). But the Grizzlies should be encouraged by the fact that they were able to hang around and play a close game, unlike games one and two.
