TONY PARKER DELIVERED 27 points to help the San Antonio Spurs beat the Memphis Grizzlies 103 – 96 and advance to the second round of the NBA play-offs in last night’s Game 6.
Kawhi Leonard tallied 29 points for the Spurs, who will face the Houston Rockets in the next round on Monday.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 17 points and 12 rebounds for San Antonio, who won for the first time in Memphis this season. The Grizzlies got 26 points from Mike Conley and 18 from Marc Gasol. This was Conley’s fifth straight game with 20 points or more.
San Antonio survived a strong challenge from Memphis by outrebounding the Grizzlies 46-28. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Memphis were a good test and now his team is better prepared to go on a long postseason run.
“One thing I do like is Memphis is a heck of a defensive team and they play rock ‘em, sock ‘em. That gets you ready for anybody you are going to play,” Popovich said.
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SIPA USA / PA Images
SIPA USA / PA Images / PA Images
“This was a chance for a lot of our guys who haven’t been with us a long time to see how it works in the playoffs. The kind of tenacity … and that anything can happen. We have had big leads, other teams have had big leads, and you lose them. It is tough, people are hungry, they want to win.”
Parker, who will turn 35 next month, shot 78.6% from the field (11-of-14), the best he’s ever shot in a post-season game.
“I was just trying to be aggressive and my teammates were setting great picks for me,” France’s Parker said.
Elsewhere, DeMar DeRozan delivered 32 points as the Toronto Raptors bounced back after blowing a 25-point second half lead to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks 92-89 to reach round two.
The Raptors used a 9-0 surge late in the fourth quarter at Milwaukee’s Bradley Center arena to win the first-round Eastern Conference series, eliminating the Bucks in six games. They advance to face reigning champions the Cleveland Cavaliers a rematch of last season’s Eastern finals.
DeRozan led the way for Toronto, making 12-of-24 from the field, including a highlight reel dunk with 48 seconds remaining. Kyle Lowry added 13 points for the Raptors.
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 34 points and grabbed nine rebounds in 47 minutes, but made just seven of 13 attempts from the free-throw line. The Bucks made only 18 of their 28 foul shots.
DeRozan tries to shoot past Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo Morry Gash
Morry Gash
The Raptors led by as many as 25 in the third quarter before Milwaukee finally got their act together. The Bucks closed the quarter on a 15-3 run to make it a 74-61 game heading to the fourth.
Toronto led by six in the fourth when Serge Ibaka drew his fourth foul, but a 14-0 Milwaukee run put the Bucks up 80-78 with just over three minutes to play.
Jason Terry nailed a long range three-pointer to make it a one-possession game with 16 seconds left but DeRozan closed it out from the foul line.
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Veteran Tony Parker at his most efficient as Spurs finish off Grizzlies
TONY PARKER DELIVERED 27 points to help the San Antonio Spurs beat the Memphis Grizzlies 103 – 96 and advance to the second round of the NBA play-offs in last night’s Game 6.
Kawhi Leonard tallied 29 points for the Spurs, who will face the Houston Rockets in the next round on Monday.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 17 points and 12 rebounds for San Antonio, who won for the first time in Memphis this season. The Grizzlies got 26 points from Mike Conley and 18 from Marc Gasol. This was Conley’s fifth straight game with 20 points or more.
San Antonio survived a strong challenge from Memphis by outrebounding the Grizzlies 46-28. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Memphis were a good test and now his team is better prepared to go on a long postseason run.
“One thing I do like is Memphis is a heck of a defensive team and they play rock ‘em, sock ‘em. That gets you ready for anybody you are going to play,” Popovich said.
“This was a chance for a lot of our guys who haven’t been with us a long time to see how it works in the playoffs. The kind of tenacity … and that anything can happen. We have had big leads, other teams have had big leads, and you lose them. It is tough, people are hungry, they want to win.”
Parker, who will turn 35 next month, shot 78.6% from the field (11-of-14), the best he’s ever shot in a post-season game.
“I was just trying to be aggressive and my teammates were setting great picks for me,” France’s Parker said.
Elsewhere, DeMar DeRozan delivered 32 points as the Toronto Raptors bounced back after blowing a 25-point second half lead to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks 92-89 to reach round two.
The Raptors used a 9-0 surge late in the fourth quarter at Milwaukee’s Bradley Center arena to win the first-round Eastern Conference series, eliminating the Bucks in six games. They advance to face reigning champions the Cleveland Cavaliers a rematch of last season’s Eastern finals.
DeRozan led the way for Toronto, making 12-of-24 from the field, including a highlight reel dunk with 48 seconds remaining. Kyle Lowry added 13 points for the Raptors.
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 34 points and grabbed nine rebounds in 47 minutes, but made just seven of 13 attempts from the free-throw line. The Bucks made only 18 of their 28 foul shots.
The Raptors led by as many as 25 in the third quarter before Milwaukee finally got their act together. The Bucks closed the quarter on a 15-3 run to make it a 74-61 game heading to the fourth.
Toronto led by six in the fourth when Serge Ibaka drew his fourth foul, but a 14-0 Milwaukee run put the Bucks up 80-78 with just over three minutes to play.
Jason Terry nailed a long range three-pointer to make it a one-possession game with 16 seconds left but DeRozan closed it out from the foul line.
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