Both teams had very inconsistent performances on this game. San Antonio had some phases of pure offensive domination, where their baskets would be the result of good looks, with no contested shots. On Game 1, they dished 28 assists for 40 FG made and on this game, they had 29 assists and 36 FG made for an absurd 80.5 A/rate%! The Spurs were superb in passing the ball: drive and kicks to the shooters, great passes for the open frontcourt player on pick and rolls, you name it! So, no wonder that San Antonio shot 9-10 FG 1.82 PPP on cuts and 11-22 FG 1.33 PPP on spot ups, after having had 15-27 and 1.50 PPP on spot ups on Game 1! The problem for the Spurs was that they struggled on keeping their focus in some moments. Their offense went awol and they couldn't score a single point on the last 4:24 of the first quarter and they scored just 2 points on the last 8:11 of the fourth quarter! If we add these two periods, it was like the Spurs scored just 2 points for a whole quarter!
Memphis tried since early on to put Zach Randolph in evidence on the game, in such a way that their offense lost all its flow. Mike Conley got in early foul trouble and he is the key for his team's offense. But the truth is that Memphis ended up having way better numbers on post ups (17% volume and 0.65 PPP) on Game 2, after having just 11% volume and 0.33 PPP on Game 1. Memphis's starting lineup has been struggling on offense, as Tony Allen and Tayshaun Prince bring no threat on the perimeter with their poor shooting, especially Prince who shot 9-31 FG on the last 5 games! San Antonio's defense can then focus on Mike Conley, Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, so if one of Prince or Allen is on court brings an edge to the Spurs' defense, let alone when both are on court at the same time! This is why Coach Hollins made a great adjustment: he benched Prince, who played just 16 minutes on Game 2! Quincy Pondexter played on Prince's position for 37 minutes, something that gives thew Grizzlies a much bigger threat on the mid-range shooting to the Grizzlies. In fact, the Grizzlies had their best moment on Game 2 when they presented the following lineup: Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph, Quincy Pondexter, Jerryd Bayless and Mike Conley! I believe the Grizzlies will continue insisting on this lineup to try to be competitive on this series.
On the other side, Tim Duncan was limited due to foul trouble on Game 2 and he played just 31 minutes. But during that span, San Antonio outscored Memphis by 22 points! On the other side, Mike Conley was also limited to 35 minutes due to foul trouble, but with him on court, the Grizzlies outscored the Spurs by 1 point! It would have been interesting to check the final score of this game if these two players hadn't been in foul trouble!
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