National Basketball Association
San Antonio 116, Memphis 103
When: 9:00 PM ET, Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Where: AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas
Officials: #25 Tony Brothers, #24 Mike Callahan, #11 Derrick Collins
Attendance: 18418

SAN ANTONIO -- This time, the San Antonio Spurs supplied the help necessary to avoid wasting a big game by Kawhi Leonard.

Leonard scored 28 points, Patty Mills added 20 and Tony Parker 16 as the Spurs defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 116-103 on Tuesday night to take a 3-2 lead in their Western Conference first-round playoff series. Game 6 is Thursday in Memphis.

On Saturday, Leonard scored a career-best 43 points and the Spurs lost in overtime. He converted 7 of 10 3-pointers in that game, while his teammates missed 18 of 20.

On Tuesday, Mills, the backup point guard, made five 3-pointers -- four in the fourth quarter -- while finishing with a career-best playoff scoring total. Leonard made three 3-pointers, Parker had two, and the Spurs finished 14 of 28 from long range.

"We did not play defense at all," Memphis coach David Fizdale said. "The Spurs did what the Spurs do. Every mistake, they capitalized on, and it ended in a 3 every time."

LaMarcus Aldridge added 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds for the Spurs.

All that help was needed to stem a Memphis rally. The Grizzlies trailed by 18 with less than two minutes remaining in the third quarter, but made a 17-3 push to get within four with nine minutes left.

But Mills came off the bench to make his four treys, ruining a spectacular performance by Mike Conley, the Memphis guard who scored 17 of his 26 points in the third quarter.

"You get guys like Patty and Kawhi wide-open looks and you're gonna lose every night," Conley said.

Marc Gasol scored 17 for Memphis and added a team-high seven assists.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had something in common with Fizdale. He wasn't impressed with his team's defense, at least down the stretch.

"I wouldn't say we stopped anybody," Popovich said. "But you know we made shots, and that's what we didn't do last game."

Leonard, despite facing multiple defenders when he drove to the basket, scored 12 points as the Spurs took a 55-49 halftime lead. He reacted to the extra attention by becoming a facilitator, assisting on five baskets in the half, including consecutive 3-pointers by Danny Green and Pau Gasol in the second quarter, when the Spurs made six treys.

James Ennis III, the primary defender against Leonard, led Memphis with 11 points in the half, four more than his average per game during the series and the regular season. Ennis didn't score another point.

Spurs guard Manu Ginobili made his first basket of the series, a driving shot in the first quarter. He followed that with a 3-point basket less than a minute later and scored eight in the quarter. Ginobili missed his first 15 shots in the series, including 10 3-pointers.

Ginobili also made a big contribution in the third quarter with two assists and two steals, helping the Spurs to their big lead.

"I was so happy for him," Parker said. "I knew it was gonna come. It was just a matter of time. Tonight you could see it in his eyes. He was very determined, motivated and aggressive."

NOTES: Spurs F Kawhi Leonard's playoff streak of perfection from the free throw line was snapped in the first quarter. Leonard made his first 42 in the series, including two Tuesday, before missing. Nearly half of those 42 made free throws -- 19 -- came in Game 2. ... Grizzlies coach David Fizdale said F JaMychal Green did not complain about being replaced in the starting lineup by Zach Randolph for the last three games. Green replaced Randolph as the starting power forward early this season, but Fizdale went to Randolph after the Grizzlies scored only 82 points in each of the first two games. "He's just 100 percent professional," Fizdale said. "The kid's all about winning. I think when (Randolph) sacrificed his spot earlier in the year that kind of set the tone for any change I felt like making when it came to how guys would respond." ... C Dewayne Dedmon was available to the Spurs on Tuesday after missing Game 4 with some type of stomach ailment, but he played only two minutes as a reserve. He scored one point.
Top Game Performances
 
Memphis   San Antonio
Mike Conley 26 Scoring Kawhi Leonard 28
Marc Gasol 7 Assists Kawhi Leonard 6
Zach Randolph 6 Rebounds LaMarcus Aldridge 9
Vince Carter 5 Free Throws Made Kawhi Leonard 7
Mike Conley 4 Steals Manu Ginobili 3
Mike Conley 1 Blocks LaMarcus Aldridge 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Memphis 103 51.4 9-22 20-22 22 31 1 7 10
San Antonio 116 52.5 14-28 18-22 23 34 2 7 8
Upcoming Games
  • San Antonio will play their next game on the road against Memphis. The Spurs have a W/L % of .742 after a win and .750 after a loss.
  • Memphis will play their next game at home against San Antonio. The Grizzlies have a W/L % of .512 after a win and .538 after a loss.