Champs end Grizzlies’ magical season

Tim Duncan, who was celebrating his 28th birthday, netted 26 points for the third-seeded Spurs, who won the best-of-seven set 4-0 and will play either the Los Angeles Lakers or the Houston Rockets in the conference semifinals.

San Antonio, which is the defending NBA champion and has won its last 15 games dating back to the regular season, also got 14 points from Robert Horry, who made 4-of-5 shots from behind the arc.

"It’s the toughest thing to do to close out a team," said San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich.

The Spurs shot a blistering 59 percent from the field (37-of-63) and converted 11 of their 17 three-point tries (65 percent). Memphis connected on 36-of-75 shots from the field (48 percent) and made 5-of-16 from behind the arc (31 percent).

Pau Gasol scored 22 points for the sixth-seeded Grizzlies, who were appearing in the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. James Posey contributed 20 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.

"I can handle this because of who we just went out to," said Memphis’ 70-year- old head coach Hubie Brown. "They are a very classy organization. Their coach (Popovich) I have the utmost respect for. He and his staff countered everything that we would change. They have class people on their team. They just play and that is a joy in this day and age. You can understand why they are world champions and why they are on the top of their game."

Memphis jumped out to a 10-4 lead on Posey’s breakaway dunk with 9:17 left in the first quarter. However, the Spurs settled down and used a commanding 14-2 spurt to pull ahead 18-12 near the midpoint of the period. During the San Antonio run, Parker scored five points and Duncan added four.

The Spurs stretched their advantage to 29-19 on Parker’s jumper late in the quarter and they eventually enjoyed a 32-21 edge after one.

In the second, the Grizzlies trimmed the deficit to 36-31 on Gasol’s jumper with around 6 1/2 minutes left in the period, but San Antonio then scored the next five points to stretch the gap to 10. Memphis did close within five points two more times in the half, with the latest coming at 42-37, but the Spurs took over late in the stanza and headed into the intermission with a 57-45 advantage.

Parker scored 17 points and Duncan added 14 for San Antonio, which made 22- of-35 shots (63 percent) and hit on 6-of-10 from three-point range in the first half (60 percent). Gasol netted 12 for the Grizzlies, who hit 45 percent of their tries in the opening 24 minutes (18-of-40).

"Parker and Duncan had great games because they do what they do best," said Brown.

The margin rose to 17 points on a basket by Rasho Nesterovic with around seven minutes left in the third and the Spurs maintained a comfortable double-digit advantage throughout the period. San Antonio took an 87-72 lead into the fourth quarter.

Memphis tried to hang in the game as it began the fourth quarter on an 8-2 run to pull within 89-80 with 9:44 left in the contest. However, the Spurs would not let the margin get any smaller as they extended their cushion to 96-83 on Bruce Bowen’s jumper 6:22 remaining.

San Antonio stretched its advantage to 16 points moments later and was never threatened the rest of the game.

Memphis, which received a long ovation for its tremendous season after the game, played at The Pyramid for the final time. The team will move into its new home called the FedEx Forum next year.