Grizzlies seek to even series with Spurs
The Memphis Grizzlies fed off the choice words of their coach and a fired-up home crowd to get their first series win. Now things get tougher.
"It gets harder and harder as you go along, so, yes, Game 4 will be our toughest game we've played this year," Memphis veteran Vince Carter said after Friday's practice, as the Grizzlies prepare for Saturday's game with the San Antonio Spurs at FedEx Forum in Memphis.
Although the Spurs had more attempts (28, to Memphis' 20) from the free throw line in Game 3 on Thursday, two days after an anti-officials tirade from Grizzlies coach David Fizdale, Memphis was able to limit San Antonio star Kawhi Leonard and beat the Spurs 105-94. San Antonio leads the series 2-1.
Fizdale struck a different tone in Thursday's postgame press conference.
"I ain't going down the road, man," Fizdale said when asked about the continued disparity in foul shots. "I'm begging for my players to pay fines I don't think that's a good look, to keep going down that road.
"A lot of that was to put pressure on our team to step up."
On Thursday, San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich applied his own pressure to the Spurs.
Less than a minute into the second half, with San Antonio trailing by nine, Popovich pulled all five of his starters.
"We turned it over twice to start the minute like we were out on a picnic someplace," Popovich said in his postgame news conference. "I don't know. Those two turnovers, and then the mistake defensively where Marc (Gasol) got the three-pointer at the top, and all of a sudden, it was a nine-point game.
"I thought at that point, we lost a little bit of composure and a little bit of confidence, and the rest ensued."
Leonard, who scored 69 points in the first two games, and was limited to 18 on Thursday, got his coach's message.
"He was just disappointed in the last couple plays," Leonard said. "So, I guess he thought that we all should come out of the game at that time and see if that second unit had more energy."
Leonard was 4-for-4 from the line after making all 19 of his free throw attempts in Game 2.
Prior to Thursday, Fizdale had wondered if Leonard was even human.
"He was standing next to me the other night and, he wasn't breathing. He wasn't breathing," Fizdale told The Sporting News prior to Game 3. "So, I'm going to check the rulebook and find out if robots are allowed to play in the NBA 'cause somehow Pop and them have figured (it) out. They know something I don't know. I think he bleeds antifreeze or something."
In the first three games, Leonard is shooting 67 percent from the field and 32 of 32 from the line.
To even the series at 2-2, Memphis will need big contributions again from the trio of point guard Mike Conley, center Marc Gasol and power forward Zach Randolph, who accounted for 66 of the Grizzlies points on Thursday.
The series returns to San Antonio on Tuesday for Game 5.