In a closeout game on the road Sunday night (May 27), the San Antonio Spurs picked apart a capable but outgunned Memphis Grizzlies squad with old-school, below the rim basketball. The Spurs, led by point guard Tony Parker, head to the NBA Finals for the fifth time after a four-game playoffs sweep.
Fox Sports Southwest reports that the Memorial Day win for the Spurs places the fundamentally sound team back in the Finals for the first time since 2007. In each of their appearances in the championship game, the Spurs would go on to win it all. Although Tim Duncan is 37, the power forward showed he still has a little left in the tank despite his age.
"We want to get back there," Duncan said after the game. "We've had some really close years where we felt we were right on the verge of getting back. It seems like forever since we've been here, so everybody had been really focused, really driven and Pop [Gregg Popovich] has been pushing us all year to try to get back to this point."
While Duncan has been solid throughout the Western Conference Finals series, Parker exploded last night for 37 points despite some rough play from the Grizzlies defense.
"Since last year, I promised him [Duncan] that we would go back to the Finals and get an opportunity to win the whole thing," Parker said. "I tried to do my best, try to be aggressive every night and I think everybody on the team really wanted to do it for him. watch the video after cut
Duncan has a little more than basketball on his mind, this after the San Antonio Express-News reported that the married father of two is seeking to divorce his wife, Amy. According to sources, Duncan suspected his wife of cheating since last year and hired a private investigator to tail her. The pair reportedly signed a prenuptial agreement four years after they were married, but they are said to be working on an amicable financial support plan.
The team held Memphis stars Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph and Mike Conley far below their usual scoring averages. The Grizzlies held a lead of 6-4 early in the first quarter, although they would get no closer than that for the entire game.
The Spurs await the winner of the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers Eastern Conference Finals. Miami holds a 2-1 lead in the best of seven series. The teams face each other tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Check out Tony Parker at the post-game conference in the video below.
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