SAN ANTONIO —
Postgame
Game Story
First Quarter
Dejounte Murray opened his duel with Ja Morant by picking his pocket for an easy layup to open the game. The next play, Murray chased down his All-Star counterpart and blocked him emphatically at the rim.
Devin Vassell drove and dumped it off to Jakob Poeltl for a pop-a-shot from the low block. Murray got it to Poeltl for a big dunk, then Doug McDermott found Vassell for three. Vassell passed to Keldon Johnson for three, then Murray dished to McDermott for another to put the Spurs up 15-9.
Ja rescued a possession with a deep three off the bounce, then took it to the rim to cut San Antonio's advantage to one and force a timeout by Pop. Memphis got a stop, and Ja scored inside again to take the lead. Morant got unlucky, and Poeltl went up and under in the post for the lead. De'Anthony Melton answered with a three, Keldon failed to connect on the response, and Melton hit another to put Memphis up 5.
Dejounte settled things down with some free throws, but Ja pushed after a made free throw for another contested transition layup. Kyle Anderson hit a floater against his former team, and Jakob Poeltl missed a pair of free throws.
Morant made a sick pass to Steven Adams inside for a dunk, and Dejounte missed another shot before Morant scored in the paint again to put the Grizzlies up double digits.
Lonnie Walker IV hit a pull-up jumper, then play stopped for a bit with one of the shot clocks out. Keita Bates-Diop got blocked on a corner three, but on the next trip down Lonnie found him underneath for a dunk. Walker got his own miss at the basket and got free throws for it.
Memphis kept scoring, but Lonnie got hot as he pulled up from 18 feet, then from 20, then from 23, hitting nothing but net each time. The Grizzlies led 42-34 after one.
Second Quarter
Lonnie picked up right where he left off, drilling another pull-up jumper and then driving in transition to create a layup for Tre Jones with a no-look pass. Jones returned the favor on the next break, lobbing it up to give Walker 15 and cut San Antonio's deficit to two on a 6-0 run.
Tyus Jones bailed Memphis out with a deep three over his brother, the Spurs missed, the Grizzlies netted a corner three, and the 6-0 run went the other way.
Tre Jones got to the stripe and hit. Dejounte came back in, and the Spurs went zone and dodged a bullet, but failed to execute on offense and gave up another three.
Keldon Johnson got a lane in transition and threw a tomahawk dunk through the rookie defender. Poeltl posted up, pumped, and pushed it in over Steven Adams. Keldon made another hard cut and a nifty move past his defender for a floater. Vassell ran pick and roll with Poeltl, stepped back on a switch and canned the jumper.
Poeltl played tough defense on Morant in the paint to force a miss, then tied him up on the next trip for a jump ball. Murray threw the first Spurs turnover of the game, but it was a bad one that gave Morant a three. Murray answered with a jumper, then forced another turnover by Ja.
The refs let them play inside, so Morant stepped out and drilled another deep one to take a five-point lead and force a timeout by Pop. Poeltl scored out of it off a drive and dish from Primo.
Morant drove right at Poeltl and dunked so hard the entire state of Tennessee shook. San Antonio missed a few shots, and Ja hit his fourth triple in four tries to extend the lead back to 10. Murray answered with a three, then Ja dribbled through everyone for a layup. San Antonio missed before the buzzer, but Murray stole the ball and got fouled.
With 0.4 seconds left, Adams threw it all the way down the court. Morant leapt to catch it on the baseline, and while floating behind the backboard threw it up, over and in. He had 29 in the first half, absolutely unguardable.
The Spurs trailed 68-58 at halftime.
Third Quarter
Ja missed his first attempt of the second half, and Dejounte took Jaren Jackson Jr. off the bounce for an and-1. Morant made it on his next try.
Murray tied up Desmond Bane, but lost the jump. San Antonio couldn't hit shots, but the Grizzlies made a few mistakes. Poeltl gave McDermott a handoff for a mid-range jumper, then Jak posted up Adams and finished a hook over him to make it a 5-point game.
Keldon hit a free throw, then Poeltl handed it to Murray for a middie that made it a 10-2 Spurs run to open the half. Taylor Jenkins called time clinging to a two-point lead.
Desmond Bane stepped back for three, but DJ countered from mid-range. Kyle Anderson took a slow, wonky three from the corner and hit, and McDermott answered from the top which much more precise form.
McDermott passed to Vassell, who drove baseline and made a tough adjustment for a layup. Vassell passed to McDermott in the corner for three more, and Poeltl hit a floater.
McDermott got blocked, twice, but Primo busted up the ensuing transition break. McDermott missed his next three, but got another shot and drilled it. Anderson scored down low to put Memphis back up three, and Pop called time.
Collins caught it in the paint and got to the stripe for two, then forced a miss and got the board. The next time he fought for a defensive rebound he popped it into his own basket.
Lonnie got a switch, backed out, drove on the big, kicked to the corner, and got to the opposite corner for an open three, but missed. Ja drove and scored, San Antonio coughed it up, and Tyus Jones scored after an offensive board. Ja pushed and scored in transition again, putting the Grizzlies up 11 on a 10-0 run.
The Spurs trailed 96-85 heading to the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
Josh Richardson double teamed to force a turnover, then Lonnie drove for an acrobatic finish in traffic. Tre Jones drove and kicked to Walker for three between buckets on the other end by his brother.
Memphis built their largest lead of the game to a dozen before Poeltl and Murray checked back in. Murray fed to Vassell in the corner for three, but it got wiped off because of an offensive foul. Murray and Poeltl scrapped to get another jump ball, Jak won it, and Lonnie hit Vassell for a layup.
Poeltl snatched a block down low, Keldon scored on a spin to cut it to single digits, and Memphis called time with 7:45 to play. Lonnie cut, and Poeltl lobbed it to him for a layup. Murray dribbled to the top of the key and drained a jumper to make it an 8-0 run.
Morant got an extra possession and scored with sheer will, then got free throws. After a timeout, the Spurs failed to execute and Ja continued his individual brilliance, getting to a career-high 50 points as Memphis pushed their lead to 14 late.
Dejounte Murray got ejected for bouncing the ball to the ref, and that was basically it.
Pregame
The San Antonio Spurs (24-37) will wrap up their 2022 Rodeo Road Trip Monday night as they visit the Memphis Grizzlies (42-20).
Before the game Gregg Popovich spoke about Dejounte Murray's leap, Tre Jones' recent play, and former Spur Kyle Anderson.
Keldon Johnson talked at shootaround about bonding with his teammates on the Rodeo Road Trip, and said the key to his shooting success has been the continued confidence his teammates show in him.
San Antonio is 0-2 versus Memphis this season.
In their previous game, the Spurs lost to the Heat, 133-129.
Keita Bates-Diop led the team with 22 points. Devin Vassell had 22 points and Lonnie Walker IV added 22 points as well.
San Antonio was without Jakob Poelt, Dejounte Murray, and Keldon Johnson versus Miami.
"I couldn't be more proud of them. They were spectacular. We just kept on playing. That's the character of these guys that's probably the most special thing about them. A young group that keeps on playing," said Gregg Popovich.
Here are five things to watch for in tonight's game:
1. The Spurs have lost four straight games overall versus the Grizzlies.
2. The Spurs are averaging 107.5 points per game in two meetings against the Grizzlies this season.
3. Memphis is 23-6 since Christmas Day, the league’s second-best record over that span.
4. Memphis is 15-6 at home versus West teams.
5. Grizzlies' Ja Morant scored a career-high 42 points against the Bulls ahead of tonight's game versus the Spurs.
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