San Antonio dominates a depleted Grizzlies team, takes 1-0 lead

The San Antonio Spurs gave everyone what they expected to see in Game 1 against the Memphis Grizzlies. Pity it wasn’t much to look at.

[Follow Dunks Don’t Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball]

Staring down a massively depleted Grizzlies squad, the Spurs peeled off a dominant 106-74 win over the Grizzlies on Sunday, taking a 1-0 series lead in the process. The beatdown was what one would presume when notified that a 67-win team would be taking on a Memphis outfit working without two All-Stars, with the Grizz handing heavy minutes over to midseason pickups.

Kawhi Leonard led the Spurs with 20 points in the win, sparking up several fast breaks with his four steals and three blocks, playing just 28 minutes in the blowout. No other Spur played as many minutes as San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich was afforded the luxury to rest his starters following a 33-20 third quarter advantage, one that put the Spurs up 30 with 12 minutes to go.

The Grizzlies – featuring a makeshift lineup that included Chris Andersen and Jordan Farmar in place of the injured Marc Gasol and Mike Conley – could only rally behind Vince Carter’s team-leading 16 points in 19 minutes. Lance Stephenson showed some spark of the bench with nine second quarter points and 14 in total, but those two were the only Grizzlies to hit double-figures on the night.

It was not a pretty night, we should remind.

The Grizzlies shot just 23 percent in the first quarter, and while they did well to compete deep into the third, a 11-2 run to end the first half helped San Antonio hit the break with a nine-point advantage. San Antonio mastered the art of the quarter-ending closeout, registering a 31-4 advantage in that department, spread out over the game’s first three quarters.

Meanwhile, the Spurs were just too much, too often.

Appearing in his first playoff game as a member of the team, Spurs big man LaMarcus Aldridge managed 17 points and two blocks in the win, while Tony Parker whirled his way toward 15 points on 6-10 shooting. Tim Duncan was content to do the dirty work, seven points and 11 rebounds with two blocks in 21 minutes, while Boris Diaw managed to get in some Silly Billy action off the San Antonio bench:

Despite starting big men Andersen and Zach Randolph (who missed 10 of 13 shots in 28 minutes), Memphis just had no answer for San Antonio’s size. The team hit 44 percent of its three-pointers, but made just four free throws in six attempts as the Spurs’ ability to play withering defense without fouling sustained over from the regular season. Adding 16 turnovers to the ledger, in a low-possession game, was the death knell.

What one has to wonder, moving forward, is if Memphis’ figurative bell has been rung.

The team, again, relied on 39-year old Vince Carter to bring it all home. Carter and fellow starter Matt Barnes (1-7 shooting, three points and three turnovers) were brought in to bulk up a fringe rotation, not to act as playoff-shifting pieces. Randolph, for all his wily ways, is lost amongst those San Antonio trees down low. Jordan Farmar has struggled to retain consistent NBA employment for the last five years. Lance Stephenson provided Memphis’ only bright spot, only to watch it dimmed by a resurgent Tony Parker.

This isn’t to say Memphis didn’t compete – it did, and that’s the scary part. A determined, Grit and Grind-level effort (Tony Allen also returned to work through what appears to be a painful left hamstring injury) still left the team 32 points short, and by Tuesday San Antonio’s band of rested warriors should be fresh as a daisy in time for Game 2.

It’s possible that Memphis could find a new wrinkle moving forward that San Antonio hadn’t anticipated. That brings the final scoring margin down to, what, 25 points?

– – – – – – –

Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops