SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Spurs took about 22 minutes to warm up and after they did, they declawed the Grizzlies and won Game 1 of the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs 106-74.
The Spurs had a sloppy start as they shot only 35 percent in the first quarter, but their defense held the Grizzlies to just 23 percent shooting.
Recommended Videos
"It just takes a little while," said Tim Duncan. “Playoffs start and you kind of have whatever you want to call it, playoff jitters, just kind of work itself out."
With 2:30 left in the first half, things started to work themselves out.
Duncan hit a layup off an assist from Tony Parker, and that started a 9-0 run to end the quarter and put the Spurs up 11 at halftime.
Parker scored five straight in the that run to end the first half.
The Spurs poured it on in the third quarter.
San Antonio went on a 24-6 run over the last eight minutes of the quarter and got the lead up to as much as 30 points, 81-51.
They got contributions from several players during that stretch, including more from Parker.
"I think he just got kind of for lack of a better term, p---off there after a little while, kind of started really forcing the action getting to the basket, made a couple of layups, got himself rolling and we started feeding off of him," Duncan said.
Parker finished with 15 points and six assists. The Spurs defense also played a role as they scored 10 points off seven Memphis turnovers in the third quarter.
"When we are turning the ball over and not hitting shots, the lead can go from a five-point game to a 15, 20 point game in the blink of an eye. That’s what happened to us," said Vince Carter.
During the Spurs third quarter run, Kawhi Leonard had eight points and finished with 20.
Leonard was 8 for 13 from the field, including 3 of 6 from 3-point range.
His offense was solid, but once again, his defense that stood out. Leonard had four steals and three blocks.
"Tonight, he was exceptional," said Duncan.
"He sets the the tone for us defensively and tonight was a good example of that," Gregg Popovich said.
"I just tried to bring as much energy tonight, coming into Game 1 to make a standpoint for my team," Leonard said.
LaMarcus Aldridge, who did not want to discuss his injured finger after the game, finished with 17 points.
"It's OK. It didn't start off well, but it got better as the game went on,” Aldridge said.
Duncan also had a nice game. He looked youthful running the floor for a fastbreak dunk, chasing down loose balls and making steals.
Duncan finished with seven points and 11 rebounds. As things got better for the Spurs, they only got worse for Memphis.
There was something positive that came of the loss for them. "That’s the positive…that game is over," said Matt Barnes.
Another positive for the Spurs was the fourth quarter was bench time.
Popovich rested his starters to get them ready for Game 2 Tuesday night at the AT&T Center.