Spurs are too much for Grizzlies, advance to meet the Rockets

LOS ANGELES, USA – Kawhi Leonard tallied 29 points as the San Antonio Spurs advanced to the second round of the NBA playoffs with a 103-96 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday, April 27 (Friday Manila time).

Tony Parker delivered 27 points for the Spurs, who eliminated the Grizzlies by winning the Eastern Conference series in six games.

“He is playing at an MVP level and I hope he can keep it going because we are going to need him in the next round,” said Parker of teammate Leonard.

The Spurs next face the Houston Rockets in a best-of-7 series that gets underway on Monday.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 17 points and 12 rebounds for San Antonio, who won for the first time in Memphis this season.

The Grizzlies got 26 points from Mike Conley and 18 from Marc Gasol. This was Conley’s fifth straight game with 20 points or more.

Zach Randolph finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

San Antonio survived a strong challenge from Memphis by outrebounding the Grizzlies 46-28.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Memphis was a good test and now his team is better prepared to go on a long postseason run.

“One thing I do like is Memphis is a heck of a defensive team and they play rock ’em, sock ’em. That gets you ready for anybody you are going to play,” Popovich said.

“This was a chance for a lot of our guys who haven’t been with us a long time to see how it works in the playoffs. The kind of tenacity … and that anything can happen. We have had big leads, other teams have had big leads, and you lose them. It is tough, people are hungry, they want to win.”

Veteran Parker shot 78.6 percent from the field (11-of-14), the best he’s ever shot in a postseason game.

“I was just trying to be aggressive and my teammates were setting great picks for me,” France’s Parker said. – Rappler.com