By Jeff McDonald
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Less than an hour before tipoff Monday night at the FedEx Forum, Matt Bonner gingerly made his way from the visitors’ locker room and headed down the corridor toward the floor.
He looked like a man in need of a massage, an Advil and a nap, in some order.
After playing a key role in the Spurs’ marathon bench run a night earlier in Dallas, Bonner admitted to being spent even before the game in Memphis began.
The effect of the lockout schedule?
“Nah,” the 31-year-old sharpshooter said. “I’m just a year older.”
Crusty by reputation only, the Spurs stunningly steamed into Memphis a night after dropping an overtime heartbreaker in Dallas and rolled the Grizzlies, 83-73.
Bonner supplied much of the offense, dropping in five 3-pointers for 15 points, while Tim Duncan (14), Richard Jefferson (13), Kawhi Leonard (12) and Danny Green (11) all reached double digits.
It was the Spurs’ energy — and the Grizzlies’ lack thereof — that earned their most lopsided road victory of the season.
“It was a hell of an effort to come back with the intensity they played with,” said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who won at the FedEx Forum for the first time since March 2010. “It was really nice to see.”
In that, Popovich’s decision of a night earlier to play his reserves for the final 19:44, including overtime, of a 101-100 loss in Dallas seemed to pay off.
In Memphis, the Spurs built a big lead — 20 points heading into the fourth quarter — so Popovich could rest his exhausted bench.
Having expended a full tank in coming back from 18 points only to lose the night before, and riding a two-game losing streak into Memphis, the Spurs sensed danger before their charter flight had even left Dallas air space.
“It didn’t look good last night,” guard Tony Parker said. “When we lost that game, we were like, ‘Man, we have to play in Memphis on the back-to-back, and Memphis is waiting for us?’?”
Instead, the Spurs (13-9) came out fighting and firing.
In a sense, albeit with much lower stakes, they did to the Grizzlies what the Grizzlies had done to them in last season’s six-game playoff upset. Sure, Memphis is without injured forward Zach Randolph, but the Spurs didn’t have even a one-armed Manu Ginobili.
Monday, the Spurs guarded, holding Memphis to 37 percent shooting and leading scorer Rudy Gay to a 0-for-7 clunker.
They rebounded, earning a 46-37 edge, including 14-9 on the offensive end, against a team that mopped the glass with them in April.
They corralled more than their share of loose balls, including one late in the third quarter that set the fuse on the Spurs’ rout.
Memphis’ Sam Young drove baseline for what looked like an easy layup, only to have Duncan reject it. The rebound went up for grabs, and Green wrestled it away from Young.
The ball ended up in Bonner’s hands on the other end, and he swished a trailing 3-pointer to give the Spurs a 64-47 lead.
“That’s what we’re going to have to bank on,” Duncan said. “We have a hard time generating offense sometimes. The one thing we can bring is that energy.”
How did a Spurs team that lost a game at Milwaukee earlier this season while shooting 60 percent win one Monday while shooting 40? Energy.
Did someone say energy? Memphis coach Lionel Hollins, whose team fell to 10-10 with a four-game losing skid, blasted his team for lacking it.
“When you don’t make shots, you don’t rebound and you don’t defend, you’re going to lose,” Hollins said.
It is possible the Spurs’ energy infusion was a carryover from the second half in Dallas, when the team’s young bench players went Jolt Cola and nearly pulled off a comeback win.
“After we lost last night, I think a lot of us wanted to come in here and give a much better effort,” Duncan said. “Like our second squad gave us last night.”
Even a night after Dallas, it seems, the Spurs’ younger players were still inspiring those who feel just a year older.
jmcdonald@express-news.net
– Associated Press photos
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Spurs 83, Grizzlies 73: Jan. 30, 2012
Memphis Grizzlies guard Mike Conley (11) looks to pass around San Antonio Spurs center DeJuan Blair (45) and guard Tony Parker (9), of France, in the first half of an NBA basketball game on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Jim Weber) (AP)
Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol (33), of Spain, runs into San Antonio Spurs forward Tiago Splitter (22), of Brazil, in the second half of an NBA basketball game on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, in Memphis, Tenn. The Spurs won 83-73. (AP Photo/Jim Weber) (AP)
San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker (9), of France, shoots past Memphis Grizzlies guard Josh Selby (2) in the second half of an NBA basketball game on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, in Memphis, Tenn. The Spurs won 83-73. (AP Photo/Jim Weber) (AP)
Memphis Grizzlies guard O.J. Mayo (32) drives past San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan (21) for a shot in the second half of an NBA basketball game on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, in Memphis, Tenn. The Spurs won 83-73. (AP Photo/Jim Weber) (AP)
San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan (21) drives while fouled by Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol (33), of Spain, in the second half of an NBA basketball game on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, in Memphis, Tenn. The Spurs won 83-73. (AP Photo/Jim Weber) (AP)
San Antonio Spurs guard Matt Bonner (15) stretches for a rebound under pressure by Memphis Grizzlies guard Sam Young (4) in the second half of an NBA basketball game on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, in Memphis, Tenn. The Spurs won 83-73. (AP Photo/Jim Weber) (AP)
Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol (33), of Spain, drives on San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan (21) during the first half of an NBA basketball game on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Jim Weber) (AP)