Tag: Memphis Grizzlies

Griffin vows to play in Game 1 despite injury

Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin vows he will play in Game 1 Tuesday night despite a sprained left knee that his coach Vinny Del Negro said might need more treatment before he is cleared to play.

Griffin sustained a sprained left knee in Game 6 of the Clippers’ seven-game series victory over Memphis. The day of rest after that series ended has convinced him he will be ready for Tuesday’s game, saying there is “no doubt” about his availability.

Following a shootaround Monday afternoon at the ATT Center, Griffin said he’s at about 75 or 80 percent of peak condition.

”Hopefully more than that, but realistically, probably about that,” Griffin said. ”But my knee hasn’t gotten worse. That’s the encouraging thing. It just needs time, and we haven’t had much of it.”

Del Negro said a final decision won’t be made on Griffin’s Game 1 availability until after the Clippers’ Tuesday morning shootaround. 

”I don’t know yet,” Del Negro said. ”I’ll make that decision tomorrow after shootaround, after I talk to the trainer.”

But Griffin said he feels much better after a day of rest after the grueling series against the Grizzlies.

“That series was tough, it was a slugfest. You felt like you were just out there hitting people and hoping you wouldn’t get a foul called,” Griffin said. “But this is kind of a day and a half of rest we get, maybe a little more than that. It should be good for us.”

LeBron erupts for season-best 41 to head Tuesday’s S&Ds

The Miami Heat didn’t have Dwyane Wade Tuesday night, who rested after some recent struggles.

It  didn’t matter to teammate LeBron James, who singed Philadelphia for a season-best 41 points to lead Miami’s 99-93 victory over the Sixers.

James scored 14 consecutive Miami in the fourth quarter as the Heat clinched a playoff berth with the victory.

“We’re happy to get a win against a very good playoff team,” James told ESPN.com’s Heat Index. “I needed to take control a little bit more.” 

He did just that, scoring 15 points in the fourth quarter as Miami claimed its 16th straight home victory.  In the process, James scored at least 30 points for the first time since March 14 — a nine-game streak that was his longest since 2004-05.

And in the process, he finished at the top of Tuesday’s Studs and Duds.

STUDS

Miami F LeBron James: Erupted for a season-high 41 points, along with six rebounds, four assists, three steals and was plus-12 in the Heat’s triumph over Philadelphia.

Detroit C Greg Monroe: Went for 22 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and was plus-10 in the Pistons’ victory over  Orlando.

Sacramento C DeMarcus Cousins: Notched 41 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, two steals and was plus-3 in the Kings’ loss to Phoenix.

New Jersey F Kris Humphries: Muscled for 18 points, 15 rebounds, three assists and two steals in the Nets’ loss at the Lakers.

Indiana F Carmelo Anthony: Went for 39 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two steals in the Knicks’ loss at Indiana.

DUDS:

Sacramento G Jimmer Fredette: Missed all six field-goal attempts and was minus-7 in the Kings’ loss at Phoenix.

Philadelphia G Jrue Holiday: Went 4-for-11 from the field with six turnovers and was a game-worst minus-13 in the Sixers’ loss at Miami.

Miami G Norris Cole: Missed both shots, had  five turnovers and was minus-7 in the Heat’s trimph over Philadelphia.

Memphis G Tony Allen: Went 1 of 6 from the field with four turnovers in the Grizzlies’ victory over  Golden State.

New Jersey C Johan Petro: Missed all eight shots  from the field and was minus-8 in the Nets’ loss at the Lakers.

Orlando G J.J. Redick: Went 1 for 9 from the field with a turnover and was minus-5 in the Magic’s loss at Detroit.

Duncan & Co. bear down in 2nd half, beat Grizzlies

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Spurs 107, Grizzlies 97: April 12, 2012


The Spurs’ Tony Parker drives to the basket under Memphis Grizzlies’ Gilbert Arenas as Memphis Grizzlies’ Marc Gasol looks on during first half action Thursday April, 12, 2012 at the ATT Center. (PHOTO BY EDWARD A. ORNELAS/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS) (EDWARD A. ORNELAS / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)


The Spurs’ Tim Duncan and Memphis Grizzlies’ Marc Gasol grab for a rebound during first half action Thursday April 12, 2012 at the ATT Center. (PHOTO BY EDWARD A. ORNELAS/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS) (EDWARD A. ORNELAS / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)


The Spurs’ Tony Parker shoots over Memphis Grizzlies’ Marreese Speights during second half action Thursday April 12, 2012 at the ATT Center. The Spurs won 107-97. (PHOTO BY EDWARD A. ORNELAS/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS) (EDWARD A. ORNELAS / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)


The Spurs’ Manu Ginobili shoots around Memphis Grizzlies’ Marc Gasol during second half action Thursday April 12, 2012 at the ATT Center. The Spurs won 107-97. (PHOTO BY EDWARD A. ORNELAS/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS) (EDWARD A. ORNELAS / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)


The Spurs’ DeJuan Blair looks for room around Memphis Grizzlies’ Marreese Speights during first half action Thursday April, 12, 2012 at the ATT Center. (PHOTO BY EDWARD A. ORNELAS/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS) (EDWARD A. ORNELAS / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)


The Spurs’ Manu Ginobili is fouled by Memphis Grizzlies’ Marc Gasol as Memphis Grizzlies’ Quincy Pondexter looks on during second half action Thursday April 12, 2012 at the ATT Center. The Spurs won 107-97. (PHOTO BY EDWARD A. ORNELAS/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS) (EDWARD A. ORNELAS / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)


The Spurs’ Tim Duncan shoots around Memphis Grizzlies’ Marc Gasol during second half action Thursday April 12, 2012 at the ATT Center. The Spurs won 107-97. (PHOTO BY EDWARD A. ORNELAS/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS) (EDWARD A. ORNELAS / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)


The Spurs’ Tony Parker shoots between Memphis Grizzlies’ O.J. Mayo and Memphis Grizzlies’ Zach Randolph during first half action Thursday April, 12, 2012 at the ATT Center. (PHOTO BY EDWARD A. ORNELAS/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS) (EDWARD A. ORNELAS / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)


The Spurs’ Tim Duncan and Memphis Grizzlies’ Marc Gasol grab for a loose ball during first half action Thursday April, 12, 2012 at the ATT Center. (PHOTO BY EDWARD A. ORNELAS/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS) (EDWARD A. ORNELAS / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)


The Spurs’ Manu Ginobili defends Memphis Grizzlies’ Rudy Gay during first half action Thursday April, 12, 2012 at the ATT Center. (PHOTO BY EDWARD A. ORNELAS/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS) (EDWARD A. ORNELAS / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)


Memphis Grizzlies’ Rudy Gay grabs for a rebound over the Spurs’ Tim Duncan, DeJuan Blair, and Kawhi Leonard during second half action Thursday April 12, 2012 at the ATT Center. The Spurs won 107-97. (PHOTO BY EDWARD A. ORNELAS/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS) (EDWARD A. ORNELAS / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)


The Spurs’ Tony Parker looks for room under Memphis Grizzlies’ O.J. Mayo during first half action Thursday April, 12, 2012 at the ATT Center. (PHOTO BY EDWARD A. ORNELAS/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS) (EDWARD A. ORNELAS / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)


Spurs coach Gregg Popovich yells instructions to the team against the Memphis Grizzlies during second half action Thursday April 12, 2012 at the ATT Center. The Spurs won 107-97. (PHOTO BY EDWARD A. ORNELAS/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS) (EDWARD A. ORNELAS / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)


The Spurs’ Tony Parker lies on the floor after getting fouled by Memphis Grizzlies’ Gilbert Arenas during first half action Thursday April 12, 2012 at the ATT Center. (PHOTO BY EDWARD A. ORNELAS/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS) (EDWARD A. ORNELAS / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)


The Spurs’ Tony Parker (from left), Manu Ginobili, and Tim Duncan stand during the national anthem before the game with the Memphis Grizzlies Thursday April 12, 2012 at the ATT Center. (PHOTO BY EDWARD A. ORNELAS/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS) (EDWARD A. ORNELAS / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)


The Spurs’ Manu Ginobili grabs a rebound over Memphis Grizzlies’ Marc Gasol during second half action Thursday April 12, 2012 at the ATT Center. The Spurs won 107-97. (PHOTO BY EDWARD A. ORNELAS/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS) (EDWARD A. ORNELAS / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)


The Spurs’ Tiago Splitter defends Memphis Grizzlies’ Zach Randolph during first half action Thursday April 12, 2012 at the ATT Center. (PHOTO BY EDWARD A. ORNELAS/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS) (EDWARD A. ORNELAS / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)


FOR SPORTS – San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan shoots around Memphis Grizzlies’ Marreese Speights during second half action Thursday April 12, 2012 at the ATT Center. The Spurs won 107-97. (PHOTO BY EDWARD A. ORNELAS/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS) (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)


FOR SPORTS – San Antonio Spurs’ Stephen Jackson drives to the basket against Memphis Grizzlies’ Rudy Gay during first half action Thursday April, 12, 2012 at the ATT Center. (PHOTO BY EDWARD A. ORNELAS/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS) (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)

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By Jeff McDonald

Time after time, the Spurs came down the floor in the second half Thursday and pulled out a playbook page from their past.

On five consecutive occasions during a rugged 107-97 victory over Memphis at the ATT Center, the Spurs cleared out for Tim Duncan on the low block and let him go to work.

The play is called “four down.” And Duncan could scarcely recall the last time he’d seen such a steady diet of it.

“It’s been forever,” he said. “Since the old days.”

Fueled in part by four down, Duncan matched a season high with 28 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and added a pair of blocks for good measure, at times simply willing the Spurs to win over the Grizzlies and steering them clear of a three-game losing streak.

It was a stirring bounce-back win for the Spurs, who a night earlier on their home floor were beaten up by the Lakers’ twin tower tandem of Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol.

After the loss to Los Angeles, Duncan guaranteed his team would put forth a better effort against a Grizzlies club that had won nine of its last 11 and had clobbered the Spurs into submission in last season’s playoffs.

A night after being outrebounded by 27 against L.A., the Spurs (41-16) battled the Grizzlies to a draw on the glass, holding Memphis to just 15 rebounds in the second half, including three in the third quarter.

“We got pushed around and beat up against the Lakers,” forward Stephen Jackson said. “They were the most physical team, and it showed. Today, we hit back.”

Before the game, and again at halftime with the Spurs trailing 49-45, coach Gregg Popovich challenged his team with a test of its toughness.

After the Spurs finished off a 4-0 regular-season sweep of Memphis (34-24), Popovich said he was proud of the way his team rebounded — in more ways than one. He praised the Spurs — who remained tied in the loss column with Oklahoma City for first in the Western Conference — for playing with “physicality” and “a bit of an edge.”

“I was proud of them to come back after an embarrassing loss like that and play the way they did,” he said.

One moment in particular provided the snapshot. When Zach Randolph rose for a shot in the  fourth quarter, Spurs guard Manu Ginobili jumped him from behind, coming away with both the ball and  Memphis forward’s signature headband as spoils.

Ginobili finished with 20 points, including 10 in the fourth. He was 11 of 11 from the foul line, hitting six free throws in the final minute to seal the win.

For the Grizzlies, it snapped a string of 11 straight games without surrendering 100 points.

Duncan, the Spurs’ venerable captain, expected such a bounce-back after the way the Lakers had handled them so easily.

“I didn’t have to say anything,” Duncan said. “We were disappointed in ourselves. We refocus. We come back. We play better. We always do.”

On a night that could have gone the other way, with the Spurs trailing well into the third quarter, it was Duncan —13 days shy of his 36th birthday —who carried them.

Duncan scored the Spurs’ first eight points of the second half, beginning with a vintage turnaround jumper on Marc Gasol, and totaled 14 points in the third.

Duncan finished 10 of 15 from the field and went to the foul line 11 times, converting eight. Eventually, Memphis coach Lionel Hollins was left with little choice but to double him.

Behind Duncan’s eruption, much of it coming out of “four down” calls, the Spurs took an 82-74 lead into the fourth quarter and never trailed again.

This is the Duncan the Grizzlies did not see in last season’s playoffs. Playing on a chronically sore knee and recently sprained ankle, he averaged a meager 12.7 points and was often exposed defensively in the six-game series.

He’s turned back the clock this season, and Thursday he flipped back the pages of the Spurs’ playbook.

“He was a monster,” Popovich said.

Just like the old days indeed.

jmcdonald@express-news.net
Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN