After two discouraging road losses to the Memphis Grizzlies, the San Antonio Spurs were back home on Tuesday night. They hosted the Grizzlies for Game 5 of their first-round matchup. Coming into Tuesday's matchup the series was tied at two wins a piece. It was a sellout crowd of 19,000 fans in downtown San Antonio as they wanted to see their squad come one step closer to advancing to the second round. The Spurs have lost three straight games only once this season.
Wire to wire victory for the Spurs
Memphis opened the first quarter with an early 14-8 lead but the Spurs would respond.
They went on an 11-0 run shortly after switching Leonard onto Conley defensively, holding the Grizzlies scoreless for 2:46 midway through the first quarter. Manu Ginobili had six points in 33 seconds in the first quarter. The score was tied at 23-23 after the first quarter. Teams traded baskets in the second quarter but San Antonio managed to take a 55-49 lead before the halftime buzzer. James Ennis had 11 points for the Grizzlies at halftime. It was in the third quarter of Tuesday's game that the Spurs started to pull away. Despite Mike Conley scoring 17 points in that third period, San Antonio held a 87-76 lead coming into the fourth quarter of the game. The closest Memphis would come was five points (100-95) midway through the fourth quarter but that was it.
Patty Mills hit four of his five threes in the fourth quarter alone and the Spurs held on to a 116-103 victory. San Antonio had 23 assists and just seven turnovers for the game. They connected on 14 of their 28 three-point attempts, two short off their postseason record.
Leonard leads the Spurs with 28 points
San Antonio had six different players finish in double digit scoring.
Kawhi Leonard led all scorers with 28 points and six assists. Leonard was efficient from the field (9-16) and he was 3-for-5 from behind the arc. Leonard has scored in double figures in 25 straight playoff games. Patty Mills finished the game with a career postseason-high of 20 points. 12 of his 20 points came in the fourth quarter on 4-of-4 shooting.
Manu Ginobilli added 10 points off the bench.
For the Grizzlies it was Mike Conley who led them in scoring. He finished with 26 points and six assists, while Marc Gasol added 17 points and five rebounds. Memphis has now lost nine straight playoff games in San Antonio.
Game 6 will be played on Thursday night in Memphis.
