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| San Antonio Spurs |
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The San Antonio Spurs celebrate their
Western Conference Finals victory. |
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| Tony Parker |
The San Antonio Spurs have swept the Memphis Grizzlies in four games in the Western Conference Championship. The Spurs will play either the Miami Heat or the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals. Spurs point guard Tony Parker has come up big for his team in the Western Conference Finals, making big plays and racking up big point totals. Tim Duncan made some nice plays in the paint, and Manu Ginobli stepped up, as well. As a team, San Antonio was able to overcome Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol and the Memphis Grizzlies. The Spurs beat the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Semifinals, and the Grizzlies upset the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Conference Semifinal round. Originally, I thought the Heat would take on the Thunder in the Finals, just as last year, but the Grizzlies were able to pull off the upset and complete the upset. The Heat are said to be one of the best teams in NBA history, and I can't disagree. The Heat are leading the Pacers 2-1 right now, and I'm thinking Miami is going to be San Antonio's opponent in the Finals. Can the Spurs beat the Heat? Can they beat the Pacers? What are their chances in the Finals?
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| Tim Duncan |
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Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph and a Memphis Grizzlies
team that beat the Oklahoma City Thunder was not enough to
stop the Spurs. |
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| Manu Ginobili |
Game 1 was all Spurs. Tony Parker had 20 points and 9 assists, and was Player of the Game. It ended up at 105-83, but the Spurs were not satisfied. Oh, no. They're still remembering last year in the Western Conference Finals. Just ask Tony Parker. "I can promise you this: Nobody's happy in our locker room, because we were up 2-0 (in the West finals) last year and we lost," Parker said. "It's just one game. It means nothing. We still have a long way to go." That determination worked in their favor. "We just didn't play well. It's not anything specific," Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said. "It's just that we were running too fast, we missed some layups, we were taking bad shots and our defense was really awful. And the Spurs played well." Game 2 was a bit closer, with it ending in overtime. Parker had 15 points and a career high 18 assists. When he started running low on big plays, Tim Duncan was there to pick up the slack. At one point, San Antonio blew a 13-point lead and were forced into overtime. "I hate that we gave up that big of a lead in that situation," Duncan said. "But we were resilient enough to go to overtime and not let it affect us." Duncan opened the extra period with a layup, and then made a tiebreaking putback on Parker's missed jumper. He then made a runner that bounced high off the back iron and rattled in for a 91-87 lead with 1:08 to play. In the end, it was 93-89 Spurs. Tim Duncan had an amazing game, scoring 17 points, 9 rebounds, 4 blocks, 3 assists and 2 steals. Tony Parker had 15 points, 18 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 steals. Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley had 18 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Zach Randolph had 15 points, 18 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks. Game 3 was very similar. The Spurs won in overtime, and Tim Duncan was great. The 37-year-old center took control in overtime for a second straight game, this time scoring the first five points as the Spurs rallied from an 18-point deficit Saturday night. "He was huge for us the other night in overtime and got it done for us, and he did it again tonight," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of the two-time MVP. "That's why he is considered as great as he has for the last 17 years. He's been unbelievable. He feels a responsibility to carry us in those kinds of times, and he did it again tonight." "I'm not worried about how old I am or whatever, whatever it may be," Duncan said. "I'm very focused on having another opportunity to make it to a championship and try to win, that's all." He had 24 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks. Tony Parker had 26 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals. Manu Ginobili had 19 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and a steal. Game 4 was pretty close through the whole game, though the Spurs had the slight advantage through the whole thing. Tony Parker exploded for 37 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds. Tim Duncan had 15 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks, 1 assist and 1 steal. Now an aged Spurs team has a spot in the 2013 NBA Finals, and is set to play either the Heat or the Pacers. Can the Spurs beat the Pacers? Yes. Can they beat Miami? No. The Heat are one of the best teams of all time, and the Spurs can't top that.
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