If the Spurs had revenge on their mind Monday night, they didn’t get it.
If they had a lingering bad taste in their mouth from the way Memphis had manhandled them two nights earlier, they didn’t cleanse it.
What a difference 48 hours makes? Not much apparently.
The Grizzlies returned to the AT&T Center and promptly picked up where they left off in the rematch, slicing and dicing and eventually humiliating the Spurs to the tune of 133-102.
It was the Grizzlies’ seventh victory in a row, the longest streak in the NBA and the club’s longest since January 2020.
To say Monday was a carbon copy of the Grizzlies’ 129-112 trouncing of the Spurs would not be entirely accurate.
Everything Memphis did Saturday, Memphis did better Monday.
They set season bests in scoring, in 3-pointers made (15) and in assists (36). Gorgui Dieng — of all people! — led a franchise-record nine Memphis players in double figures with 19 points.
It added up to the most lopsided victory over the Spurs in Grizzlies history, surpassing their 17-point win two nights earlier.
The Spurs got 25 points and 11 rebounds from Keldon Johnson, and not much of a night to write home about from anyone else.
So thorough was the woodshed beating Memphis laid on the Spurs, star guard Ja Morant could spend most of the night on cruise control en route to 13 points and eight assists.
That three-game winning streak the Spurs were riding before the Grizzlies came to town never seemed so far away.
Here are three takeaways from what the Spurs can thank their stars is their last scheduled meeting with Memphis this season:
Second-quarter blues
There is probably a way the second quarter could have gone worse for the Spurs, but it would have probably involved the Coyote catching rabies.
Down by only two points after the first quarter, the Spurs absolutely fell apart in the second quarter, getting outscored 36-22 as Memphis got whatever shot it wanted.
The Grizzlies took a 69-53 edge into the halftime locker room, slapping the Spurs with the highest opponent scoring half of the season.
Memphis did all that with only one player reaching double figures by intermission, and it wasn’t who you think. Dieng, a reserve big man, had 12.
A telling snapshot of the quarter came with 5:37 left, when Kyle Anderson ended a two-man fast break against five Spurs defenders with his first dunk of the season.
Take away the 24-5 run the Grizzlies rattled off between the 7:15 and 2:07 mark of the quarter, and the Spurs were right there.
As it stood, they could get no closer than 10 points the rest of the way, late in the third quarter, and that didn’t last long. John Konchar had a tip dunk and Dieng hit a trailing 3-pointer and the Grizzlies were out and rolling again.
The type of turnovers are troubling
The Spurs came into the night as the NBA’s stingiest team, allowing 11 turnovers per game.
On paper, the 14 turnovers they gave away against Memphis should have been acceptable. By their own lofty standards, however, the Spurs were basically a silver and black Santa Claus.
It wasn’t just the number of turnovers that doomed them Monday but the type. Eleven of the Spurs’ miscues were live-ball steals by the Grizzlies.
That helps explains Memphis’ efficiency in turning those turnovers into 30 points.
This plays into the Grizzlies’ wheelhouse. Heading into Monday, they were the top team in the Western Conference at turning teams over, producing 16.4 per game.
The Spurs actually came in under that average.
Yet Monday marked the fourth consecutive game the Spurs handed out more than their average in the turnover department. It’s something worth monitoring going forward.
Quinndary Weatherspoon was the Spurs’ biggest offender, giving up three turnovers in six minutes of fourth-quarter garbage time. Nine other Spurs committed at least one.
Derrick White is going to need some time to re-adjust
White was the story of the Spurs’ loss to Memphis on Saturday, returning from a 14-game injury layoff to produce a team-best 18 points and two steals.
He wasn’t nearly as together in 21 minutes of action Monday, going 2 of 10 from the field and 1 of 5 from the 3-point line.
As is his custom, White was able to find other ways to contribute, tossing out five assists and blocking a pair of shots.
However, Monday showed it will still take a while for White to adjust as he works himself back into form.
It will take a while for the Spurs to adjust, as well. With their rotation thrown in a bit of flux due to White’s comeback, the Spurs’ bench was outplayed in consecutive games against Memphis.
They need their bench to be a strength in order to be successful. It was not on Saturday or Monday.
Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN
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The triple take: Grizzlies 133, Spurs 102 - San Antonio Express-News
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