San Antonio Spurs/Memphis Grizzlies Game 3 Analysis
16 Wins A Ring Writers offer 3 different perspectives on Game 3 results: Grizzlies 105 - Spurs 94
San Antonio Spurs Analysis by Rich Condon
What Worked:
Well, the Spurs showed up in the sense that they were physically present in the arena. They also wore the right uniforms. Coach Popovich, after seeing his team sleepwalk through three quarters, decided to bench his players. They all looked appropriately demoralized on the bench.
The players who closed out the fourth quarter played relatively well (it was garbage time, but I’m grasping for straws here), especially Davis Bertans, Jonathan Simmons, and Kyle Anderson, all of whom outscored three starters. Okay, to be fair Bertans tied Danny Green with 6 points.
But, seriously, nothing went right tonight for the Spurs.
Lessons Learned:
Everything, literally everything. To start, the Spurs only forced five turnovers, and allowed Memphis to shoot 50.6 percent from the floor. For the best defense in the NBA this season, both numbers are simply unacceptable. San Antonio gave up 13 points on 12 turnovers.
The Spurs had no answer for the physical brand of basketball that Memphis threw at them. Furthermore, they were completely stymied by the addition of Zach Randolph to the starting lineup. Z-Bo finished with 21 points (9–16 shooting) and 8 rebounds in 29 minutes.
Mike Conley outscored the starting Spurs point guard Tony Parker by 24 points. He also had 8 more assists than Parker. Conley finished the evening with 24 points and 8 assists, which means Tony Parker finished with no points and no assists. Manu Ginobili has still yet to hit a shot in this series.
Kawhi Leonard finished with 18 points on 6–11 shooting. However, he only attempted two shots in the second half. In the first two games of the series, Leonard set consecutive career playoff scoring highs with 32 and 37 points.
Despite David Fizdale’s rant after Game 2, the Spurs still got to the line 28 times tonight. However, they only made 16 free throws, which translates to 57.1 percent. The Spurs shot 79.7 percent from the line during the regular season.
Game 4 Adjustments:
Coach Popovich wasted no time in sending a message to his starters, benching them very early in the fourth quarter. To start with, Popovich also needs to go back to the drawing board and figure a way to minimize the impact of the Big Three of Gasol, Conley, and Randolph, the three of whom combined for 66 points.
San Antonio needs to run their offense through Kawhi Leonard who was unstoppable for the first two games of the series. San Antonio must figure out a way to play through the physicality that is the grit-n-grind of the Memphis Grizzlies.
Most importantly, the Spurs need to forget this game happened and get back to playing Spurs basketball.
Game 4 Prediction:
Look for the Spurs to get back on track. Memphis held the dubious distinction of having the worst field goal percentage in the league at 43.5 percent. They also scored the second least amount of points per game at 100.5 points a game.
Memphis basically played a perfect game tonight, and it’s extremely hard to play two perfect games in a row, especially in the playoffs.
Memphis Grizzlies Analysis by SharonShyBrown
What Worked:
The Big Three for the Grizzlies collectively showed up on this night, with the first big adjustment featuring Zach Randolph inserted into the starting lineup.
Vintage Zach Randolph set the tone for the Grizzlies. He was jab stepping, cutting through double teams, hit a three-pointer and even had a fast break dunk. ZBo went back to 2011. Randolph finished with 21 points (9-of-16 FG) and eight rebounds. There were several chants of “Z-Bo! Z-Bo!” from the raucous crowd inside the FedEx Forum on the night.
Mike Conley on Zach Randolph: “It’s fun to see him succeed. It’s fun to see him do the things he’s accustomed to doing. I felt like he was a secret weapon today and we finally unleashed him. He really changed the game and hopefully changed the series and will give us some confidence.”
Mike Conley finished with 24 points (7-of-13 FG) and eight rebounds. Meanwhile, Marc Gasol ended with 21 points (8-of-14 FG), six rebounds and three assists.
The Grizzlies held Kawhi Leonard to 18 points and four rebounds. Through the first two games Leonard was averaging 34.5 points and seven rebounds.
Tonight, the Grizzlies did a great job of double teaming Leonard and denying him the chance to shoot on numerous possessions. Case in point, Leonard only shot the ball twice in the entire second half. Leonard was hard on himself after the game about his second half output: “I just didn’t play. I shot the ball twice. I mean they’ve been doubling me all game.”
The Grizzlies received solid minutes from its bench players. Wayne Seldon Jr, Andrew Harrison and JaMychal Green provided a spark off the bench.
Lessons Learned:
Inserting Zach Randolph and James Ennis, III in the starting line-up paid off for the Grizzlies big time.
The Grizzlies returned to their inside out game where they had Zbo and Marc Gasol working from the paint.They attacked the rim at every turn. The Grizzlies outscored the Spurs 44–34 in the paint.
They fought consistently throughout the game with a great offensive output from their Big Three.
Game 4 Adjustments:
The only thing that needs to be changed in Game 4 for the Grizzlies is attention to shot clock management. It could partly be due to the Spurs stingy defense, but the Grizzlies tend to wait too late in the shot clock to create and take their shots. Luckily those shots were falling on Thursday night; however, it may not work out well for them in Game 4.
Memphis need to come out with the same intensity and momentum they had in Game 3. Specifically, pounding the ball inside, defensive intensity and offensive output all need to be replicated. After averaging 38.5 percent in the first two games the Grizzlies shot above 50 percent.
Furthermore Memphis’ Big 3 need to replicate tonight’s performance. If the Grizzlies want to tie the series having Zach Randolph, Mike Conley and Marc Gasol each reach the 20 point threshold would go a long way to helping the Grizzlies head back to San Antonio with the series even.
Game 4 Prediction:
The FedEx Forum also known as the Grindhouse will be just as loud on Saturday as it was on Thursday night. The atmosphere is electric and the players feed off that. The Grizzlies should even the series in Game 4, because it would be devastating to go back to San Antonio down 3–1.
Independent Preview by Cory Hutson
Why Grizzlies Won:
Just about everything. Inserting Zach Randolph (and less crucially, James Ennis III) into the starting lineup worked out big time, though the new starters wouldn’t pay dividends until the game-breaking 3rd quarter.
Z-Bo led the Grizzlies’ relentless attack on the rim, on a night when they scored 44 points in the paint. Ball control helped a lot as well, and while Memphis hasn’t exactly committed a lot of turnovers throughout the series, giving up just 5 possessions is outstanding.
Most importantly, Randolph and Gasol each scoring exactly 21 points to pull the series to 2–1 is a win for symmetric symbolism. Coincidence or NBA conspiracy — you decide…
Mike Conley led all Grizzlies dropping 24 points.
Why Spurs Lost:
If everything went well for the Grizzlies, then everything probably went poorly for the Spurs. The questions have to start with Tony Parker, who looked totally outmatched after playing surprisingly well the first two games. Playing 19 minutes and having just 1 rebound to show for it, is unacceptable for San Antonio’s starting point guard.
Still, although it was heavily inflated by their fourth quarter scoring, the Spurs’ offensive efficiency was more or less fine. Defense was the greater failure of their first game in Memphis, as the normally stout Spurs allowed the Grizzlies to shoot over 50%, including 41% from distance.
Game 4 Adjustments:
Offensively, the starters have to play better. Parker’s already been discussed, but everyone else, including Kahwi Leonard, can be better. Five assists among the 5 starters won’t cut it.
On defense, shoring up their paint defense has to be the priority. Memphis won’t continue to shoot over 40% on their 3-pointers, and San Antonio can do more to dissuade the Grizzlies near the rim. Leonard can be a powerful help-defense weapon in these situations, so Pop may consider letting him shade a little closer to the paint to dig in on those Randolph/Gasol postups and neutralize that advantage.
Game 4 Prediction:
The Grizzlies definitely showed they’re not just going to roll over, but San Antonio still has the advantage on the court. Allowing 127 points per 100 possessions is an extreme outlier for the San Antonio’s defense, and I don’t expect that to continue. San Antonio will adjust and take the 3–1 advantage.
