San Antonio Spurs/Memphis Grizzlies Game 4 Analysis

16 Wins A Ring Writers offer 3 different perspectives on Game 4 results: Grizzlies 110 — Spurs 108 in overtime.

Tamberlyn Richardson
16 Wins A Ring
9 min readApr 23, 2017

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Photo courtesy of Sharon ‘Shy’ Brown

San Antonio Spurs Analysis by Rich Condon

What Worked:

From a fan of basketball’s perspective everything: that was one of the best playoff games in recent memory. It had everything you could want: two unspeakably heroic performances from Kawhi Leonard and Mike Conley. A veritable brawl in the low post between Zach Randolph and LaMarcus Aldridge, Hall of Famers in the twilight of their careers turning the clock back five years, the amazing crowd of the Grindhouse, a career defining block for Andrew Harrison, All-Star brother vs. All-Star brother, five extra minutes of basketball, and a ridiculous redemption buzzer-beater from a star player who struggled for most of the night.

Instant classic.

For the Spurs, there’s really only two words that need to be said here: Kawhi. Leonard. In four games thus far this series, Leonard has set a new playoff career-high in three of them.

Tonight, Leonard was a basketball demi-god, rivaled only by Mike Conley. Kawhi finished with 43 points on 14–30 from the field and 7–10 from deep. He had 8 rebounds, and 6 steals. Leonard was the entirety of San Antonio’s offense down the stretch of the fourth quarter, scoring the Spurs last 16 points. It’s a basketball tragedy that this masterful performance came in a loss

Tony Parker had a phenomenal game that got lost in the shadow that was Leonard. Parker was easily the second-best Spur on the court tonight, and he played a vintage Tony Parker game. In 37 minutes, Parker scored 22 points, dished out 5 assists, and came down with four rebounds. Parker was able to get to the rim at will at some points during the game, either finishing in traffic or kicking the ball out as the defense collapsed around him.

As a team, the Spurs forced 23 turnovers and scored 31 points off said turnovers. The Spurs shot a perfect 17–17 from the free throw line. Last but not least, Kawhi Leonard.

Lessons Learned:

Mike Conley is the most overlooked point guard in the NBA right now, and it’s a damn shame. In a league where Curry, Westbrook, and Harden dominate the headlines every night (and rightly so), the work the Mike Conley does for Memphis goes largely unnoticed. Conley was the lifeblood of the Memphis Grizzlies tonight scoring a career-high 35 points, with 8 assists and 9 rebounds.

Every time Kawhi defended Conley, the Grizzlies ran a high screen to get the switch, and Conley went to work on whatever poor Spur was left guarding him. Memphis was locked in from the opening whistle, and despite their obscene amount of turnovers, they led for a majority of the game, and flat out refused to lose.

Too many Spurs struggled for them to be able to pull out this victory, no matter what Kawhi did. Danny Green went 0–6 from three. Patty Mills continued to struggle shooting, going 2–7. David Lee was relatively ineffective in a spot start for Dewayne Dedmond, who missed the game due to illness. LaMarcus Aldridge has flashes of success but then disappears for too long.

Finally, it may be time to move on from Manu Ginobili. Manu is now 0–15 in four games this series. He only played 16 minutes and he only took five shots, but every possession matters in the playoffs. The Spurs lost this game by 2 points. Every miss is huge, and Manu just doesn’t have it right now.

Game 5 Adjustments:

First and foremost, Kawhi Leonard needs to start the game guarding Mike Conley. No other Spur has been able to even remotely contain him in the last three games, and they need to cut the head off of the snake.

The Spurs need to get back to moving the ball on offense. Their offense stagnated far too often this evening, especially in the second quarter, when they only scored 19 points. Coach Popovich may want to consider some rotation changes as well.

Limiting or removing Manu was suggested above, but the Spurs need to add more athleticism to keep up. Jonathan Simmons saw only 7 minutes tonight and didn’t take a shot, but he’s been a spark plug off the bench for San Antonio most of the season, which is something San Antonio has been lacking thus far this series.

In addition to Simmons, Davis Bertans has been relatively impressive in limited action. In fact Bertans played some big minutes down the stretch of the fourth quarter. He had a minimal impact on the box score, but he had two key blocks. With David Lee and Pau Gasol being relatively ineffective against the physical play of the Memphis big men, it’s worth at least a look at the young rookie.

Game 5 Prediction:

San Antonio will win Game Five back in San Antonio. With two days off, expect Coach Popovich to cook up some new wrinkles to throw at Memphis in a pivotal game.

Memphis Grizzlies Analysis by SharonShyBrown

What Worked:

Mike Conley had an absolutely outstanding game. He finished with 35 points (13 of 23 from the field and 4 of 8 from deep) nine rebounds and eight assists.

Coach David Fizdale talked about Conley after the game: “I don’t think we will be having a discussion about how much money he is worth. I don’t want to hear about it, at least. The guy’s a superstar.

Fizdale continued, “You’ve watched it happen this year, but now you’re watching it on the biggest stage with the biggest lights, and he’s really rising to the occasion. Can you think of a guy you’d rather root for? This guy is as good of a human being as you can get. Whatever good happens for him, I expect it, and I’m just really proud of his evolution as a player.”

Mike’s an All-Star. His ceiling is so high” said Zach Randolph. “Things he’s doing out there, both ends leading this team — unbelievable, great to have him.”

However, Conley refused to give himself praise. He said, “Marc (Gasol) would probably say stop giving up straight line drives, help at the nail, you have to box out when I help. Marc is hard on me man, he doesn’t care about the stats at all. He only wants me to be better. So he’d give me a pat on the back and say ‘You could be better.”

JaMychal Green had his best game of the series off the bench. He finished with 14 points on 5 of 8 shooting and connected on two of three of his 3-point attempts.

Vince Carter turned back the clock on Saturday night with his play. Carter chipped in 13 points while shooting 5 of 9 from the field and 3 of 5 from beyond the arc. He also became the first 40-year old to make three or more 3-point shots in a NBA Playoff game.

Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph didn’t have great shooting nights going 9 of 24 but both ended with double-doubles and combined for 24 points and 23 rebounds. Gasol shot the ball when it mattered most; hitting the game winner in overtime.

The Grizzlies held the Spurs (not named Kawhi Leonard) to 27 of 67 from the field and out rebounded the Spurs 51–37. The Grizzlies bench outscored the Spurs bench 27–17 and owned a 26–9 edge in fast break points.

Lessons Learned:

This very well could be the game of the year. The remarkable plays by both Mike Conley and Kawhi Leonard were absolutely amazing. Both guys left it all on the floor. Pop agreed the game was awesome. After the game he said, “That was a great game. Both teams played their hearts out. On a whole, it was just a fantastic basketball game with fans undoubtedly getting their money’s worth. At the end, Marc [Gasol] made a great shot. L.A. [LaMarcus Aldridge] contested it very, very well and it went down.”

This has been by far the best series in the postseason.

After the Grizzlies held him scoreless in Game 3, Tony Parker finished the game with 22 points and five assists. The Grizzlies have to realize that no lead is safe when playing San Antonio. To wit, the Spurs were down as many as eight points late and still managed to take the lead. The Grizzlies can’t afford to be complacent with a lead, especially versus this Spurs squad.

Game 5 Adjustments:

Three key area stand out:

  • Limit turnovers: The Grizzlies had 23 turnovers which was a franchise playoff record that led to 31 points for the Spurs. Marc Gasol led the Grizzlies with seven turnovers. Memphis simply can’t continue to turn the ball over in that fashion and expect to get a victory especially in San Antonio.
  • Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph must be more efficient: They can’t continue their 9 of 24 shooting output. It won’t work against the Spurs again. Plain and simple, those two have to do better.
  • Limit Kawhi Leonard: I know that is easier said than done. Leonard finished with a playoff career high 43 points, eight rebounds and six steals. Leonard also was 7 of 10 from the 3-point line.

Ultimately, the Grizzlies need to take it one game at a time and one quarter at a time

Game 5 Prediction:

Expect it to be as entertaining as Game 4 was. It will be a straight up battle like Dusty Rhodes versus The Four Horsemen back in the NWA days. Memphis will prevail and go up 3–2.

Independent Preview by Cory Hutson

Why Grizzlies Won:

“Mike Conley is worth his contract” was a frequent refrain for the Memphis point guard tonight. A glowing review when you realize that he’s being paid more than any other player right now. It might not be fair to say he was the best player on the court tonight, but it was very, very close.

While Conley was doing his best Tony Parker impression with his barrage of floaters, Memphis’s defense had their best game of the series, holding San Antonio to a 103 offensive rating. Kahwi Leonard was unstoppable, but the rest of the Spurs combined to shoot 2–20 from distance. Some of that is a fluke, but Memphis has to be credited for making things difficult for San Antonio all night, especially in the middle of the floor limiting their passing.

Why Spurs Lost:

Shot selection was definitely an issue, especially during those several-minute stretches multiple times in the game when the Spurs went ice cold. In the second half, San Antonio seemed like they overreacted to their poor long-range shooting by forcing things around the basket and from mid-range, and it didn’t do them any favors. Without Leonard’s incredible shot-making down the stretch of the fourth quarter, the offense would have been totally lost.

Containing Conley was obviously a problem. Late in the game, the Spurs switched bigs onto Conley on high pick-and-rolls, and he burned them every time with easy drives into the paint.

The blame doesn’t fall entirely on Tony Parker for those switching decisions, either, because a couple times were a result of Leonard guarding Conley. Popovich needs to figure out a better way of handling that matchup.

Game 5 Adjustments:

Leonard’s been one of the most consistent scorers in the league, but the Spurs shouldn’t rely on him for everything. Producing 16 assists on 41 made field goals is far too low for a team of the Spurs ilk.

At the same time, it’s easy to overreact to the last two games. There’s reason to think some of these results were flukey, most notably the miserable efficiency from the league’s most accurate 3-point shooting team. Emphasizing a return to the Spurs typical passing game and the offense should flow.

Game 5 Prediction:

If the Grizzlies somehow takes this series, I’m going down with the ship. I just can’t pick against San Antonio, even if Memphis has seriously out performed my expectations. Home court advantage is a thing for a reason, and the Spurs should take care of business back on their own turf. Therefore, San Antonio Spurs takes Game 5.

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Tamberlyn Richardson
16 Wins A Ring

NBA & Reality Writer gigs include: Tamberlyn's Tip-Off Podcast, EIC @16winsaring, Feature Writer ESPN: @RaptorsRepublic as well as @Thunderousint, etc