Playoff Recap: San Antonio vs Memphis – Game 4 – End of an Era

Posted by Aaron Fong on Apr 26, 2011 in NBA | 0 comments

San Antonio 86 @ Memphis 104

Did we just witness the demise of an era?  Sure looked like it.  After 3 closely played games, the Grizzlies came out and perhaps put the finishing touches on a shocking upset.  The Spurs came out ready to play taking their first lead going into halftime for the first time this series 50-48.   Tony Parker was aggressive in the first half scoring 19 of his 23 points.  Even Tiago Splitter played valuable minutes in the first half.  Again the threes weren’t falling for the Spurs.  Matt Bonner who was the season leader from three at .457 continues to struggle with his shot, so surprisingly he went to the hoop and got some easy baskets.  But the missed threes are what continue to kill the Spurs.  Also none of their frontcourt players are doing much to counter the duo of Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph.  DeJuan Blair had a strong regular season but has struggled in the post season and has only played 50 minutes in 4 games.  If the Spurs had a healthy Manu Ginobili, maybe they would be up instead of down.  Clearly Ginobili is still in pain.  Richard Jefferson has been a complete no-show in the series.  He was 0-4 ending the night with 0 points.  Nobody on the Spurs is doing anything well.  They look nothing like the team from the regular season.  The Spurs were looking like they were in prime position to take this game, but then the Grizzlies came out and put their foot on the Spurs throat.

 

Right out the locker room the Grizzlies went on a 14-0 run and the game was essentially over.  The Spurs just don’t have enough firepower to compete against the Grizzlies.  Receiving a relatively quite performance from both Gasol and Randolph who combined for 20 points and 18 rebounds, the Grizzlies still dominated.  It was Darrell Arthur who killed the Spurs with his midrange game.  There were times where there were no Spur defenders within 8 feet of Arthur who calmly knocked down jumper after jumper.  Arthur was a player who I really liked at Kansas and it’s nice to see him have some success after a disappointing draft night where rumors of a kidney ailment sent his stock plummeting.  Mike Conley continued to outplay Parker committing only 1 turnover to Parker’s 7.  The Grizzlies looked really impressive have made the Spurs look really old.

 

This is definitely a time of transition for the Spurs.  Duncan is no longer the focal point of the offense.  Ginobili plays all out and his body is starting to break down.  Parker is too one-dimensional.  The supporting cast’s jumpers have failed them.  Where do they go from here?  The Spurs organization has been one of the best run teams for a long while.  Though the Grizzlies are clearly outplaying the Spurs, they are going to lose in the next round.  Their execution is not consistent enough and their bench is not very good.  But they deserve all the credit for taking out the number 1-seed in the West.  Very few people expected this.  For a team that drafted Hasheem Thabeet 2^nd overall, you deserve some joy.