NBA Playoffs 2013, Grizzlies vs. Spurs Game 2: San Antonio holds on to go up 2-0

In Game 2, Memphis was overwhelmed in overtime. But by rallying late to force the OT, the Grizzlies responded well to the playoff pressure of the conference finals to reinforce a belief that they will be ready for the Spurs at home. The Grizzlies won both regular season matchups at the FedEx Forum and with a “We Believe” theme around town, the home crowd should be plenty amped to offer the Grizz additional motivation.

None of this should phase the veteran Spurs though, as they have an opportunity to seize the series and wipe away any hope Memphis maintains. Let’s take a closer look at what is in store for Game 3:

“Everything is fine,” Parker told McDonald. “They (doctors) still see a lot of blood. The size is going down. I feel like I’m turning the corner. I feel like I’ll be fine for Saturday.”

Either the Spurs will seize even more control of the series, or the Grizzlies will begin their battle to get back into the series.

Here, three defenders surround Randolph while he has the ball in the low post.

It’s also worth noting is that the post is clear while the Grizzlies have both Bayless (at the elbow moving off-ball) and Pondexter (planted in the corner) on the floor.

Manu Ginobili’s foul initially looked like a hard one and the referees deemed the foul flagrant. Upon further review, the league concluded that Allen had “flopped”. While Allen clutched his head in pain and rolled around the floor after hitting the deck, the replay shows his head never hit the floor.

Now, the Spurs hold a 2-0 lead going into Game 3 on Saturday.

The Memphis Grizzlies lost Game 2 to the San Antonio Spurs in overtime on Tuesday night, falling behind 2-0 in the series. That’s bad. Generally, it’s very hard to come back from a 2-0 deficit in a playoff series.

But with that bad news comes a silver lining that could prove crucial in their attempt to come back in this series. In Jerryd Bayless and Quincy Pondexter, the Grizzlies may have found a wing combination that provides them with enough perimeter shooting to get back offensively. The duo was on the floor for a majority of the Grizzlies’ comeback effort. From the 4:22 mark of the third quarter on, the Bayless/Pondexter pairing shared the court for over 15 and a half minutes. The Grizzlies outscored San Antonio by eight points during that stretch and would have done so by more if they could hit a couple more open shots and didn’t miss a handful of layups near the end of the fourth quarter.

But do the way things played out mean anything in terms of a shift in the series dynamic?

The Spurs did what they were supposed to do and held home court; they will now take a 2-0 series lead into Memphis and can afford a lapse.

Tuesday night ended up being a pretty exciting few hours for fans of NBA teams good and bad. The night began with the draft lottery, wherein the league’s worst teams hoped fortune might hand them the rights to this gentleman:

That’s Nerlens Noel, and as luck would have it, the Cleveland Cavaliers will have the first chance to draft him. The Gilbert clan was pleased to hear the news:

On second look, though, Ginobili’s foul could have been common and Allen’s head-clutching cries of pain may have been exaggerated. If you watch closely, you’ll see his head never actually strikes the floor. It was a hard fall, but it still didn’t appear to match Allen’s reaction. (The momentary pause is a little weird, too.)

The flagrant held up after review, though, and Allen made both free throws to help Memphis come back and eventually tie the game and send it to overtime. Very sneaky.

(Honestly, though, that’s just poor timing on a badly thrown toss. It’s tough for all parties involved.)

All five of the Grizzlies’ first-quarter buckets came in the paint, but they weren’t able to continue the trend in the second quarter, finishing the half with just 12 while allowing the Spurs to score 20 points in the paint. San Antonio blocked nine shots, including two in a sequence with less than 30 seconds left in the half in which Memphis missed seven layup attempts.

• Kevin Durant donates $1 million to tornado relief

The best players on this Spurs team have been to the NBA Finals on three occasions, winning each time. The Grizzlies are the furthest they’ve ever been in the postseason, a team that’s finally found the right combination behind a group of players that’s had many successes across basketball’s vast landscape.

But a history of winning stands in Memphis’ way, and following a 105-83 beatdown in the first game of the series, their season comes to a breaking point Tuesday.

Memphis will be competitive if it can get a better performance team-wide, but to win, it will probably need a strong performance from Randolph. The team’s leading scorer in the playoffs, Randolph has dazzled all postseason long with his ability to barrel through, shoot over, and while his way past superior defenders, to the tune of 18.3 points per game, while averaging a team-high 9.1 rebounds. In Game 1? Two points on 1-for-8 shooting, with four boards. Some of it was nice interior defense, but a lot of it was an off-night from a guy who’s had relatively few.

Here’s the info on Game 2, the only game Tuesday night in a rapidly slimming NBA Playoffs schedule: