The NBA Playoff Standings has only two teams in the West as the Memphis Grizzlies and San Antonio Spurs battle it out in the Conference Finals. In Game 1, the Spurs took a huge lead, almost lost it, but wrapped up their first meeting with a huge victory, 105-83 over the Grizzlies. It was the Spurs' firepower from the outside that catapulted them to victory on a record setting night.
The Spurs knocked down 14 threes led by the Red Mamba, Matt Bonner and Kawhi Leonard who had each made four three-pointers each. Danny Green added three of his own as the Spurs received a ton of help from their role players as they depended on Tim Duncan and Tony Parker to set the tone and pace of the game.
Though many would be retiring at Duncan's age, the 37-year-old is taking younger guys to school. Duncan added two more blocked shots to his record setting number and held Zach Randolph, one of the Grizzlies' two big men in the paint, to just two points. Duncan forced Randolph to the perimeter and received great help from teammates as the Spurs shutdown the Grizzlies' leading playoff scorer. Parker had his usual efficient game scoring 20 points off 9-14 shooting with nine assists. He opened up lanes and did a great job finding the open players as the finished with 20 assists in the game.
The Grizzlies are down 0-1 in the series. Now, this sounds familiar. A team never wants to trail against an experienced squad like the Spurs, however, the Grizzlies also trailed the Los Angeles Clippers and they fell behind early against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Versus the Clippers, the Grizzlies were actually down 0-2. They made adjustments and when they returned home, they won two straight, went to Staples Center to steal Game 5 before wrapping up the series at home. They took advantage of the Thunder's inability to score as they missed Russell Westbrook and won four straight games shutting down the series in five games.
For the Spurs, it's good news that they won Game 1 and they will probably want to take Game 2. The Grizzlies have yet to lose at home and have proven that they play great basketball especially when trailing in a series as they make great adjustments on the fly.
Here are the Conference Finals standings though the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers have yet to see action.
San Antonio Spurs 1-0 Memphis Grizzlies
Miami Heat 0-0 Indiana Pacers
