Grizzlies' Gay halts Spurs' comeback bid

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Web Posted: 12/20/2007 12:14 AM CST
Jeff McDonald
Express-News

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis' Rudy Gay caught a pass near the top of the 3-point arc, took one dribble to his right and launched a prayer.
Then, he said one.

"I said, 'Please Lord, let it go in,'" Gay said.

His plea was answered with a swish.

Gay's 3-point buzzer-beater lifted the Grizzlies to a thrilling 88-85 victory over the Spurs on Wednesday at the FedEx Forum, one that didn't come until after Memphis had blown every bit of a 23-point second-half lead.

Mike Miller had 31 points, including five 3-pointers, and Gay finished with 23 as the Grizzlies — last in the Southwest Division — blitzed the first-place Spurs early and then clung for dear life.

"Bottom line is an NBA game is 48 minutes," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "They played well for more of the 48 minutes than we did."

Only moments before Gay's game-winner, Manu Ginobili's driving dunk with 2.4 seconds to go tied the game at 85, the first time the Spurs had not trailed since early in the first quarter.

Momentarily, it recalled Ginobili's Herculean efforts to beat the Grizzlies in their season-opener here on Halloween night. Ginobili had 30 points in that game, which the Spurs won by three, including a go-ahead runner with 32.4 seconds to play.

This time, Ginobili's clutch basket only set the stage for heartbreak.

Gay's game-winner accounted for Memphis' only basket in the final 6:57.

For the struggling Grizzlies, the victory was just their second in nine games. For the suddenly struggling Spurs, the loss was their fourth in five, including three straight on the road.

After Wednesday, the teams' records are mirror images — the Spurs dropped to 18-7; the Grizzlies improved to 7-18.

If you ask the Spurs, however, they didn't lose their latest game on Gay's last-second 3-pointer. They lost it during a ghastly first half when they could neither score nor stop Memphis from doing so.

"We played so soft in the first half," Ginobili said. "No aggressiveness. No juice. There's no excuse for playing that way."

Playing without second-leading scorer Pau Gasol, the Grizzlies opened the game with a 17-6 burst, pushed that lead out to 21 in the second quarter and to as many as 23 in the third.

"We dug ourselves too deep a hole," Tim Duncan said.

If there's a bright spot for the Spurs, it's this: After enduring a shooting slump that has swallowed half of his December, Ginobili was Ginobili in the second half.

He scored 16 of his 20 points after intermission to help the Spurs transform a rout into a nail-biter. Duncan added 16 points and 14 rebounds for the Spurs, who were again without injured point guard Tony Parker.

Memphis led by 17 going into the fourth before the Spurs sprung to life.

Jacque Vaughn, Parker's replacement, threw in a trio of baskets. Brent Barry tossed in a 3-pointer. Duncan knocked down a jump hook.

The gap began to inch shut.

Meanwhile, the Grizzlies were awful in the fourth, shooting just 5 of 22 and giving away six turnovers.

By game's end, the Grizzlies would require divine intervention to make a basket.

With overtime looking inevitable, Gay took an inbounds pass from Juan Carlos Navarro, saw Duncan had switched on a screen to guard him, and — against his own better judgment — promptly fired away.

"When you're going through a bad stretch like that, you want easy baskets, going to the rim," Gay said. "I broke the rule."

The rule-breaker was rewarded with a game-winner.

As the ball nestled through the net, answering Gay's far-flung prayer, the Spurs had their own moment of Zen.

"That's the basketball gods talking to you," Barry said. "Any time you have an effort like we had in the first half, even though we got back in the game, the basketball gods have a way of reminding you that you've got to play the whole game."

For their first-half sins, the Spurs paid their penance.