Zach Randolph finished with 31 points and 11 boards as the Memphis Grizzlies advanced to their first NBA quarter-finals by eliminating the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs 99-91 on Friday.
“I felt that I could take over the game,” Randolph said. “I wanted to get the ball in my hands, get to the paint and take my shots.”
In victory, the Grizzlies became just the second eighth seed to upset a top seed since the NBA expanded the first round series to a best-of-seven.
PHOTO: EPA
Memphis knocked out the Spurs in six games and now face Oklahoma City in the next round.
“We are a good team,” Randolph said. “People don’t get to see us a lot, but we got young players who like to play and so we are a team to be reckoned with.”
It marked the first playoff series win in franchise history for the Grizzlies, who went 0-12 in their first three playoff appearances.
“This is a blue collar town I am a blue collar player, so this is a good fit for me,” Randolph said.
Marc Gasol finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Grizzlies. Tony Allen chipped in with 11 points and Greivis Vasquez had 11 off the bench in the win. Memphis coach Lionel Hollins hailed his unheralded side.
“Not a lot of people knew about us coming in, but we certainly have made some noise and turned some heads and got some attention that probably wouldn’t have been given to us if we’d lost this series,” Hollins said. “We’d just be another eight seed losing to the No. 1 seed.”
France’s Tony Parker had a team-high 23 points for the Spurs, who won 61 games in the regular season. Manu Ginobili scored 16, Tim Duncan 12 and Antonio McDyess 10.
“We played well all season long,” Parker said. “As you know, it doesn’t mean anything if you don’t play well in the playoffs, and overall Memphis played better than us. We didn’t make the plays we needed to play.”
McDyess nailed a 15-footer with just under five minutes left in the fourth quarter to give San Antonio an 80-79 lead. It was one of just two leads for the Spurs on the night.
Spurs veteran Tim Duncan finished off the second quarter with a dunk that cut Memphis’ halftime lead to 46-43. Duncan, who turns 35 on Monday, has won four NBA titles with San Antonio.
However, the Spurs had a half dozen turnovers in the opening quarter as the Grizzlies led 28-16 heading into the second.
Memphis also outscored the Spurs 30-15 in the third quarter.
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
Francesco Bagnaia yesterday profited from a mistake by rookie Pedro Acosta to win the Japan MotoGP sprint and close the gap on overall championship leader, Jorge Martin. Spaniard Acosta crashed with four laps to go while leading the field at Motegi, allowing defending world champion Bagnaia to take first ahead of Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez. Spain’s Martin finished fourth and saw his overall lead over Italian Bagnaia in the championship standings cut to 15 points. “I am very happy because with these conditions, it’s not very easy to win and gain points,” Bagnaia said after a sprint race that took place under
RSS