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Memphis Grizzlies 84, San Antonio Spurs 82
San Antonio, TX Feb. 26 / Wire Reports --
The San Antonio Spurs were shaken up by this week's trade of longtime teammate Malik Rose, and on Saturday night they looked
it.
The Spurs committed a season-high 24 turnovers, the last one a steal by Memphis' Shane Battier with time running out, and
lost to the Grizzlies, 84-82. San Antonio lost for only the second time in 26 home games this season.
Earl Watson hit a 14-foot fadeaway jumper with 17 seconds left and James Posey later added two free throws for Memphis,
which snapped a four-game losing streak.
``That was just a real terrific win for us over a great team,'' Memphis coach Mike Fratello said. ``And as you can see, they
don't die easy at the end.''
Watson's basket over Tony Parker gave Memphis an 81-77 lead, but Manu Ginobili then drove down the middle for a layup.
After two free throws by the Grizzlies' Posey, Ginobili made a 3-pointer on the left wing to make it 83-82 with 6.5 seconds
remaining.
Brian Cardinal was fouled on Memphis' inbounds play, and he made one of two foul shots with 3.9 seconds left.
On San Antonio's last-chance play, Brent Barry inbounded to Ginobili, who scored 14 of his 16 points in the fourth.
Ginobili squared-up on Battier and started to make a play, but Battier reached in and slapped the ball away.
``He's one of the best drivers in the league, and as soon as I saw him pause, I knew someone was coming off a screen and I
did my best to get my hand in the passing lane,'' Battier said.
The turnover was Ginobili's seventh in the game, more than triple his average.
``We have the best record in the league, so teams are going to come hard at us,'' Ginobili said. ``We've got to be ready and
expect everybody to do that. We were not (tonight), so that's why we lost too many balls.''
But he and Tim Duncan -- both close to Rose, a fan favorite traded to New York for Nazr Mohammed -- played down the deal's
impact on their play.
``I don't think it had any part to do with this game,'' said Duncan, who scored 27 points and had 19 rebounds and five
turnovers. ``We take care of the ball a little more and get a couple of extra shots, that's the difference in the game.''
Mohammed, who had been the Knicks' starting center, was in uniform for the Spurs, but he did not play.
Lorenzen Wright led Memphis with 19 points, Mike Miller had 12 and Watson 11.
Memphis took a 19-17 lead late in the first quarter on a pair of free throws by Bonzi Wells. Parker made all four of his
shots for 10 points in the period for San Antonio, but the Spurs committed seven turnovers.
A reverse layup by Wells and dunks by Watson and Posey extended the Grizzlies' advantage to 31-21 less than a minute into
the second.
San Antonio, trailing 47-40 at halftime, went ahead late in the third when Memphis went into a shooting slump. The Grizzlies
managed only 10 points in the quarter on 4-for-25 shooting.
The Spurs' Devin Brown made a 3-pointer from the corner to tie it 57-all at 2:33, and Duncan later made one of two free
throws to put San Antonio on top for the first time since early in the first.
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