The Grizzlies struggled shooting, going just 31-of-79 from the field and 7-of-20 from 3-point land.
Despite not converting a field goal, Danny Green had a profound impact on the game.
Mike Conley led the Grizzlies, the seventh seed in the Western Conference, with 24 points.
ABOUT THE SPURS: San Antonio got a different performance out of their starting point guard, with veteran Tony Parker scoring 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting while stepping up defensively against Conley.
Leonard is putting up some insane numbers thus far in this series. The bench trio of David Lee, Pau Gasol, and Patty Mills combined for 20 points.
"It's unfortunate that I've got a guy like [point guard] Mike Conley that in his whole career has got zero technical fouls, and just can not seem to get the proper respect from the officials that he deserves", Fizdale said after Memphis took a 2-0 deficit. The Spurs also had no answer for Marc Gasol either.
Memphis has to make this game as ugly as possible. Fifteen - the number of wins they need to get to the Promised Land and hold up the National Basketball Association championship belt once again. Manu Ginobili suffered a small cut under his left eye late in the first half that forced him to the locker room, but he returned for the second half. Ginobli was fine, and returned to the game after the half. In the fourth, the Spurs refused to drop their guard, even with the starters out.
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"He's just super talented". Once some shots start falling, the team will get its mojo back. Gasol hit a turnaround jumper and 3-pointer on Dewayne Dedmon to open the game. Through two games, he has yet to miss a free throw.
Expect the Spurs to keep on rolling. Those losses, and that losing streak, mean absolutely nothing - San Antonio had nothing to play for and is a team that can turn on its execution like a light switch.
Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James (23) drives past Indiana Pacers' Myles Turner (33) in the first half in Game 1 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series, Saturday, April 15, 2017, in Cleveland. The Spurs appear to be too deep, too efficient on offense, and too stifling on defense. While LeBron James remains the face of professional basketball and is coming off another exceptional season, players like Russell Westbrook and James Harden have received considerable attention for the MVP award due to their stellar statistics. The Grizzlies actually controlled the ball well, with 8 turnovers compared to San Antonio's 14. The Grizzlies were flat out embarrassed after coming out to a great start early. They doubled him in the paint - he pump faked and had his defenders bite to extend the Spurs lead in the fourth quarter.
Leonard took over in the third quarter, pumping in 15 points - equaling the Memphis total output in the quarter - as the Spurs took the heart out of the Grizzlies while building an 84-64 lead at the end of the quarter.
The Grizzlies gave up after the third quarter.
"They just took over the game", Grizzlies power forward Zach Randolph told reporters. "But good. I think they are fresh on our minds". The production from the bench didn't help at all. "It's right back to the drawing boards and to zero pretty much on how we're attacking tonight's game".
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