Spurs' Ginobili exhausts Grizzlies
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA110107.01C.BKNspurs.grizzlies.gamer.3404eea.html
Web Posted: 11/01/2007 12:09 AM CDT
Jeff McDonald
Express-News
MEMPHIS, Tenn. —
Tony Parker spent his summer getting married, playing basketball, traveling the world and basically enjoying the well-deserved fruits of being
Tony Parker.
Manu Ginobili?
Blissfully, he did next to nothing.
After putting an extra dash of wear and tear on Ginobili's battered body last season,
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had two offseason orders for his human bruise of an off-guard.
Take it easy. And call me in September.
Ginobili's offseason of inactivity reaped rewards Wednesday night, as the
Spurs outlasted Memphis 104-101 at the FedEx Forum.
When his tired team needed a lift on the second night of a back-to-back, Ginobili had the legs to provide it, scoring 30 points to help the
Spurs fend off a Grizzlies team looking to fend off a bit of its own bad history.
"The difference in the game was that
Manu Ginobili willed it," Popovich said. "He just willed it. He saved the day for us."
Ginobili made five of the Spurs' 12 3-pointers, hit 13 of 14 free throws and had seven assists.
He saved his best for when the
Spurs needed him most.
His driving, twirling, twisting layup over Darko Milicic, spun with the English of a pool shark, broke a 95-95 tie with 32.4 seconds remaining.
From there, he drew a charging foul on Rudy Gay on Memphis' next possession then made seven of eight foul shots down the stretch to seal the game.
Tony Parker and
Tim Duncan each added 17 points for the Spurs, while
Matt Bonner gave 11 off the bench to help send the Grizzlies to their seventh loss in seven home openers since moving from Vancouver to Memphis.
For the Spurs, who beat Portland in San Antonio on Tuesday, it marks the first time they have opened a season with victories on back-to-back nights since 1998-99.
It was Ginobili who provided the gas when the rest of his teammates appeared on empty. For that, he credits an offseason in which he rarely touched a basketball.
"At this point of the season, I can really tell the difference," Ginobili said.
Grizzlies coach Marc Iavaroni cannot. His Memphis debut was ruined by the same guy who used to ruin many of his nights when Iavaroni was an assistant in Phoenix.
The Grizzlies had their chances to help Iavaroni make a grander entrance. The game see-sawed back and forth for four quarters, producing 16 lead changes and 17 ties. No team led by more than seven points.
Shaking off an ankle injury left over from the preseason, Pau Gasol poured in 22 points to lead the Grizzlies. Damon Stoudamire, a reclamation project of a point guard in his 13th NBA season, scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half to nearly steal the game from the Spurs.
The Grizzlies led 95-93 with less than two minutes to go, after Gasol slithered around Duncan for a reverse layup.
"There are things we could have done, and we'll get there," Iavaroni said. "It was a good start, but not good enough."
For Memphis, the trouble was in the finish.
Moments after Gasol's last basket, Duncan tied the game on a jump hook for his only points of the fourth quarter.
That set the stage for the Spurs' freshest player to make their most significant play.
Ginobili charged into a thicket of opposing players, slid his body between two of them, and — while nearly directly under the backboard — flipped the ball backward and rimward.
It rolled around the iron before dropping through, giving the
Spurs the last lead they would need.
Ginobili had willed it. He had saved the day. He could rest on the plane ride home.