The Grizzlies begin their first playoff series since 2006 this weekend, meeting the San Antonio Spurs at noon Sunday, with Game 2 on Wednesday night. The series travels north to FedExForum for Games 3 and 4 next Saturday (the 23rd) and the following Monday (the 25th). Can the Grizzlies snap the franchise’s record 0-12 playoff losing streak and extend the series further? Can they pull off a big upset?
- LARY KUZNIEWSKI
- The Grizzlies hope to shock the NBA and upend the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs. Or at least not get swept.
Let’s break it down. In detail:
1. Haven’t we seen this before?
Longtime Grizzlies fans — and one current Grizzlies player — might be experiencing a little déjà vu with this series. The last time a Grizzlies team began a playoff run, back in 2004, it debuted against a Gregg Popovich-coached San Antonio Spurs team built around the core trio of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili, who were supplemented by a good group of defender/shooter role players (Bruce Bowen, Robert Horry, Hedo Turkoglu, etc.).
Seven years later, this Spurs team looks essentially the same, just with a different group of role players. But this edition of the Spurs actually plays much, much differently. The 03-04 Spurs were a middle-of-the-road offensive team (14th in offensive efficiency) but a defensive juggernaut (first in defensive efficiency, ahead of even the Larry Brown Pistons) built around Duncan’s interior presence and Bowen’s nasty, physical perimeter defense.
This year’s Spurs model is more of an offensive-oriented finesse team by contrast. They’re only decent defensively — 11th overall — and haven’t been great at defending the paint. They’ve been a scoring juggernaut instead — second in offensive efficiency, first in effective field-goal percentage, and first in three-point percentage.
Unlike the Spurs’ title teams, this version hasn’t been built around Tim Duncan’s post game but rather around its quick, penetrating guards (Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, George Hill), who break down defenses and find the team’s phalanx of good three-point shooters.
2. How significant is Manu Ginobili’s injury?
Potentially major. Potentially overblown. Ginobili — a lefty — departed from the Spurs’ final regular-season game Wednesday night clutching his right elbow. An MRI Thursday revealed a sprain and the official pronouncement from the Spurs is that Ginobili is “doubtful” for Game 1 on Sunday.
Before Grizzlies fans throw a party, let’s remember: “Doubtful” is not the same as “out.” There are still three days until these teams play their first game, so I’ll be certain Ginobili isn’t playing when the game starts and he isn’t there. (Indeed, Ginobili later tweeted that the pain was almost gone.)
