San Antonio Spurs Beat Memphis In Likely Playoff Preview

The San Antonio Spurs are probably going to play the Memphis Grizzlies in the playoffs. Tuesday night’s game was a nice preview of what may be coming.

With only a handful of games left in the regular season, it looks more likely every day that San Antonio Spurs will play the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs.

Including the year in which the Grizz defeated the Spurs in the first round, this will be the fourth time in seven years that they square off in the playoffs. At this point they just keep bumping into each other, like old high school sweethearts who can’t seem to put the past behind them.

So what, if anything, can be taken from the game Tuesday night between these two pillars of consistency in the Western Conference? The Spurs won the game 95-89 in overtime, which seems low scoring for an overtime game, but really should be expected with these two teams.

They are both in the top five in defensive rating, per basketball-reference.com. They are also quite familiar with each other, considering all of their battles.

Here are three things to keep in mind from Tuesday night’s game, should the two meet in a couple weeks:

The Stars

Nobody will argue that Mike Conley and Marc Gasol are the two best players for Memphis, while Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge play that role for the Spurs.

Conley and Gasol are perhaps both having their finest offensive seasons and Gasol in particular is doing things very differently this year. Both guys are averaging career highs in scoring, while remaining the defensive backbone for a very good defense.

Neither of Memphis’ stars had great nights offensively Tuesday night, combining for just 30 points. In a series against the Spurs, they will obviously need better performances from these two guys to compete.

Head coach David Fisdale isn’t going to expect 10 points from Wayne Selden every game or nearly 30 minutes from Troy Daniels, nor should he.

Kawhi and LaMarcus, on the other hand, played their normal excellent basketball for the Spurs, combining for 47 points, on a respectable combined 16-of-36 shooting. Leonard even led the team in rebounding with 12.

The Spurs were a plus-33 per 100 possessions with Kawhi on the floor, an absurd number. Yes, one game is a small sample size, but just the enormity of that number makes it seem like the Grizz have no answer on either end for Leonard.

If he and Aldridge, who was 6-for-12 from the floor in this one, continue to dominate, the Grizzlies could be going fishing after a few short games.

Supporting Cast

Vince Carter and Zach Randolph have kept Father Time at bay this year, having nice years for Fisdale and the Grizz. The rest of the team has been up and down, with some guys contributing mostly on the defensive end, and others providing inconsistent offense.

San Antonio Spurs /

San Antonio Spurs

It remains to be seen if Randolph can play 35 minutes every game in the playoffs, as he did Tuesday night, but if he can, it will help the Grizz maintain the lead on the glass. They’ll need that advantage to stay afloat.

The Spurs’ bench has been a strength for years, and this year is no different. Patty Mills is one of the best backup point guards around, Pau Gasol is a jump shooting revelation and Manu Ginobili still brings it, as documented here.

Coach Gregg Popovich will adjust better than anyone mid-series and the Spurs have a bevy of different players to use in every situation.

Even this late in the season they still make changes to the starting lineup, accounting for matchups, injuries or Pop decides he just wants to try something.

The depth of this team should be an advantage against Memphis. In a game or two over a series, the Grizzlies might get big performances from their supporting players, but the Spurs should expect to get production.

These are mostly battle tested vets that know how to step up big in the playoffs.

Style

One thing that Memphis has going for them is that they already play at the Spurs’ pace. The Grizz are the third-slowest team in the league, while the Spurs are fourth, per nba.com. This means they average fewer possessions per game than everyone but the Utah Jazz and Dallas Mavericks.

In the past, San Antonio has made teams uncomfortable by slowing the game down, or “grinding it out.” Well that isn’t going to make anyone in Memphis uncomfortable, considering their home court is conveniently nicknamed “The Grind House.”

Both teams are top 10 in rebound percentage, per nba.com, and it will be a battle on the glass the entire series. The Grizz outrebounded the Spurs 50-46 Tuesday night and, as mentioned above, they need those extra possessions.

If Gasol, along with Randolph and the other bigs, can overwhelm the Spurs with their size, the Grizzlies will have a chance.

More from Hoops Habit

The Spurs are at their best playing stifling defense, playing deliberately on offense and making smart plays. This is what has defined them for so many years under Pop. Memphis is also a team that plays that way and that will help them settle into games against the Spurs.

They feel right at home in a game that ends 95-89 in overtime, unlike many other Western Conference playoff teams.

It’s possible that the fan bases of both teams are tired of seeing the same guys in the playoffs every year. But what everyone needs to keep in mind is that these are not the same teams that played last year or any of the other years they faced off.

The Spurs are still the accomplished older brother, while Memphis is trying to remain relevant in a loaded conference.

The playoffs always breed rivalries and this one is a quietly entertaining one every time. It should be a fun series to watch, for us basketball junkies, and the Spurs will be the favorites as they often are.

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Everything will need to break right for Memphis to have a shot and if it does, we could have a classic on our hands.

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