Sunday’s series-starter between the Grizzlies and Spurs was a good day for skilled big men — my favorite type of player.
- LARRY KUZNIEWSKI
- Marc Gasol and Tim Duncan played each other straight up in Game 1. Expect this to continue in Game 2 tonight.
It began with Charles Barkley becoming, as far as I know, only the second non-fan to pick the Grizzlies to actually win the series. The color commentator on the national broadcast was Kevin McHale, who couldn’t stop repeating the “heart, grit, grind” mantra.
Once the game started, Tim Duncan looked like he’d been playing rope-a-dope with us all season, scoring 8 first-quarter points on a series of bouncing, energetic dunks, drives, and post moves.
But then things settled down and the skilled-big headliners turned out to be the guys without Hall of Fame credentials.
Two Bigs Are Better Than One: The biggest factor in the Grizzlies’ hanging with the Spurs long enough for a Shane Battier three-pointer to steal the game was the production the team got from Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, who combined for 49 points, 23 rebound, 6 assists, and 4 blocks on 19-25 shooting.
Randolph’s game was not surprising: His 25/14 was in line with his averages on the season (20/12) and in the season series with the Spurs (23/14).
Gasol’s game (24/9 on 9-10 shooting) was somewhat less expected. He’d averaged 12/7 on 52% shooting for the season (down from his 15/9 on 58% last year), and had struggled — to a rather bizarre, probably flukish degree — in the season series with the Spurs (8 points per game on 35% shooting). Gasol had topped 24 points only once in the regular season and scored 20 points only four times.
