SAN ANTONIO —
Game Story
First Quarter
Jaren Jackson Jr. opened the game with a quick dunk and three, showcasing his ability to finish high-efficiency looks.
Keldon Johnson drilled a three, got a putback, then went to the free throw line to score the first six points for the Spurs. Memphis hit their first five shots from the floor, building an 11-6 lead before their first miss and a three by Dejounte Murray.
Memphis answered with a three of their own, but DJ hid behind a screen and launched another one that swished. Murray set up a corner three that VAssell hit, but the officials wiped it off and called an offensive foul on DJ. Pop called time to disagree with the officials about it, but didn't get T'd up.
Keldon drove in transition for an and-1, but San Antonio struggled a bit with turnovers. Memphis cooled off, and Keldon drove, spun, and went with a lovely pass to Jakob Poeltl underneath for a finish. Jak blocked former Spur Kyle Anderson in the paint.
Lonnie Walker IV got back on the court for the first time after missing four games due to back spasms, getting a warm ovation from the crowd.
Memphis built their lead out to nine as they hit a few threes. Keldon scored inside, Josh Richardson hit a three, and San Antonio cranked up the defense a bit to force a few turnovers and a shot clock violation.
Memphis led 31-27 after one.
Second Quarter
The Spurs forced a turnover, then Murray went to the rack and switched hands mid-air for the layup. San Antonio made several head-scratching plays on defense.
Lonnie drove and made a crazy pass to Poeltl for points inside. Memphis pushed their lead to 10, then 13 before Pop picked up a technical. Dejounte responded with a three, but the Grizzlies just kept scoring and built their lead to 16.
Jak grabbed an offensive board and got it to Vassell for a three, then Keldon knocked one down as well. Keldon muscled his way in for a bucket, but the Grizz pushed it to 17.
Vassell got free throws, then Murray. San Antonio trailed 65-52 at the break.
Third Quarter
Memphis built their lead to 17 before Murray hit a three and then found Devin Vassell for another, forcing a timeout.
The Grizzlies pushed it to 18, then gave up another quick 6-0 run. Lonnie made a hard baseline drive, then a tough pass to J-Rich in the corner, who found DJ for his fifth triple in seven tries. Then Lonnie hit one from deep.
San Antonio trailed 95-86 heading to the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
In between periods, a review took away one of Memphis' buckets and set the score to 93-86.
Zach Collins scored inside, the Spurs forced a turnover, and the crowd roared. J-Rich stole an extra possession, and Dejounte hit his sixth triple as the crowd roared louder.
Memphis called time clinging to a 93-91 lead. San Antonio got a stop, Collins got another bucket inside for the tie.
Memphis finally broke their fourth-quarter dry spell. Tre Jones grabbed a loose one and got to the line in transition. The Grizzlies pushed it back to six before Dejounte scored inside.
Murray took a quick breather, but came back in when Dillon Brooks picked up his fifth foul. The Grizz pushed it back to eight, and Pop called time with 3:43 to play. He drew up an open three for Richardson, which he hit, and Memphis called time.
DJ set up an open corner three that Vassell couldn't convert, then scored a tough one between the trees. San Antonio forced a turnover, but Murray just missed a pass to Poeltl for a dunk. It was his fifth turnover.
The Spurs got the stop, and Murray hit a shot, and the Spurs cut it to just three.
Keldon drove, missed, and tipped it in to make it a one point game, and the Spurs got a huge stop and took timeout to draw up a game-winner.
Keldon cut to the basket got smacked on a good looking layup, but didn't get the bucket or the call.
San Antonio lost at the buzzer 112-111, falling to 31-45 on the year.
Pregame
The San Antonio Spurs (31-44) will host the Memphis Grizzlies (53-23) tonight as the Spurs will look to extend their 4-game winning streak and remain in the NBA Play-In Tournament as they currently sit at the tenth spot in the Western Conference.
The Spurs are 0-3 against the Grizzlies this season. Before the game, we asked Gregg Popovich if he's seen a change in effort or focus from his team in the closing stage of the season.
“No, they’ve played pretty much the same way all year," he said. "We've had some really good wins against some really good teams earlier in the year, and we've been inconsistent for a few games, what you might expect from a team in a growth stage.”
In their previous game, the Spurs defeated the Rockets, 123-120.
Dejounte Murray had a career night with 33 points to lead the team while Keldon Johnson added 21 points in the win. San Antonio also had 72 paint points in the win.
“Obviously, we wanted to close out strong. We were just like whatever we got to do to win. It wasn't easy. It was tough. They [Houston] were getting shots," Johnson said. "We dug down. DJ [Dejounte Murray] made some big plays."
Here are five things to watch for in tonight's game:
1. The Spurs have recorded fewer fouls than their opponent in five-straight games.
2. The Spurs are 1-18 at home when trailing after the third period.
3. The Spurs are averaging 118.2 points per game in their last four games.
4. The Spurs are averaging 5.5 blocks per game in the month of March. Their highest block average so far this season.
5. The Grizzlies have won 5-straight games and have made more three-point shots than their opponent in that span.
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