NBA Playoff Re-Cap (04/27/11)

04/28/11

The Spurs Stay Alive

It seemed almost certain that the Spurs were set to be done for the 2010 NBA season. But, before anyone was able to write them off in the West, they come back and stole game 5.

The Grizzlies thought they had it all but wrapped up when Zach Randolph went to the line and hit 2 of 2 free throws. Randolph walked to his sideline putting his index finger over his mouth, as if he could quiet the crowd. He, and the rest of the Grizzlies thought the game was sealed and they had won their first playoff series ever. Little did he know what would happen in the next 15 seconds of that game.

Down by 4 the Spurs had a strategy to get a quick 2, getting a layup from the in-bound pass that took a mere 2 seconds off the clock. They were down by 2 with aprroximately 12 seconds left in the game. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was willing to play the "free throw game". Hoping that by getting a quick 2, and fouling one of the Grizzlies players, they would miss at least 1 of their free throws to make it a one possession game. They did not miss. Putting the Grizzlies up by 3 still.

Ginobili coming down on the court on the next possession went on the corner of the court to get off a wild 3 pt shot. Swish, it went straight through. The 3 pt shot he just made put them even and still showing a glimpse of the old Spurs famous comebacks.....or so they thought. Replay was requested, and it was found conclusive that Ginobili had his left foot clearly on the 3 pt line, making it a long 2 pt shot-and putting the Grizzlies up by 1 still.

Grizzlies inbound the ball and the Spurs fouled Randolph immediately. With approximately 1.7 seconds left, Randolph had to nail both free throws to insure at worst they would end up in overtime. He got them both, without even blinking an eye at the line.

Popovich had (1) :20 second timeout left to advance the ball to the other side of the court, and set up one last second play to get off a 3 pt shot. We have seen this situation plenty of times for the Spurs, and Popovich is a master at creating a great look at the hoop with minimal time remaining. With 1.7 seconds left, I'm sure the Grizzlies and everyone else in the building was expecting another Manu Ginobili 3 pt shot to try and tie it up, or even possibly Matt Bonner-who lead the league in 3 pt shooting. But, not  coach Popovich. The  inbound pass went straight to Gary Neal, a rookie from the college Towson Tigers. With 1.7 seconds remaining, Neal faded right and threw up a good looking 3 pt attempt. Sure enough, it went straight to the bottom. The buzzer sounds, and that was the end of regulation. All tied up, and going into overtime, this game was meant to be for the Spurs.

You could hear the arena finally get a sense of confidence back in their team, who had gone down to the unlikely Grizzlies, 3 times in the first 4 games. The momentum had shifted, and the air was taken right out of the Grizzlies players.

The confidence of the Spurs in overtime, with the crowd giving them the much needed boost was all they needed to steal game 5.

The game ended in overtime with the Spurs keeping their hopes alive, winning 110-103. Maybe, just maybe the Spurs are still alive in this series. We will have to see, when they go back to Memphis to play the Grizzlies in Game 6. And you know that the fans and those players will surely be pumped up for that one.

Noteable stats of the game:

Spurs: Ginobili- 33 pts, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists. Parker 24 pts, 9 assists. Duncan 13 pts, and 12 rebounds .

Grizzlies: Randolph 26 pts, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists. Sam Young 18 pts, and 6 rebounds. Conley 20 pts, 5 assists, and 5 rebounds.