Game Six: (8) Memphis Grizzlies vs. (1) San Antonio Spurs, FedExForum, Memphis, TN
- Final Score: Grizzlies 99, Spurs 91
- The Grizzlies finally close out the series against the top-seeded 61-game-winning Spurs, only the second 8th-seed team to accomplish the feat in a seven-game 1st-round series after the Golden State Warriors memorably beat the Dallas Mavs in 2007.
- Spurs – Richard Jefferson: 0 points, 1 rebound, 0 assists, 10 minutes
- Grizzlies – Zach Randolph: 31 points, 11 rebounds, 5 offensive rebounds
- Key Stats: Grizzlies had 62 points in the point compared to just 38 for the Spurs. With no answer for Randolph and solid play from a deep, athletic Grizzlies bench (that, incidentally, includes Rudy Gay in a suit) the Spurs needed big-time contributions from starters Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and Jefferson to counter but didn’t get them. Uneven play by bench players like Gary Neal and George Hill (a combined 6-22 from the field) didn’t help the cause either, though they were able to storm back from a nightmarish opening sequence that featured the Grizzlies scoring 14 straight points.
- The Spurs had a game 7 in San Antonio in their sights when they led 80-79 with less than 5 minutes left in the game. In the end, Randolph’s 17 4th-quarter points were too much to overcome.
- Spurs coach Gregg Popovich elected not to utilize DeJuan Blair off the bench, preferring to give Tiago Splitter minutes instead. Though the Brazilian was on the floor in place of Duncan when the Spurs got back into the game late in the first quarter, he hardly distinguished himself with 4 points along with a pair of rebounds and steals in 14 minutes.
“Not a lot of people knew about us coming in, but we certainly have made some noise and turned some heads and got some attention that probably wouldn’t have been given to us if we’d lost this series,” Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said. “We’d just be another eight seed losing to the No. 1 seed.”- “This was my last game,” said 16-year veteran Antonio McDyess. “I’m pretty definite on that. But this was not the way I wanted it to end.”
- The Grizzlies move on to face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western conference semifinals. Game 1 is Sunday in OKC at 1:00 pm on ABC.
