Spurs cruise to 94-68 victory over Grizzlies

SAN ANTONIO (AP) The more things change the more the San Antonio Spurs remain constant.

Twelve years to the day after holding Memphis to franchise lows in total points and points in a quarter, San Antonio put another stranglehold on the Grizzlies.

Patty Mills had 16 points, Kawhi Leonard added 13 and San Antonio never trailed in beating Memphis 94-68 on Tuesday night to sweep the first two games of the first-round series in imposing fashion.

The Grizzlies' lowest postseason production came two days after they suffered their largest postseason defeat.

''We're coming to a gunfight with some spoons,'' Memphis forward Matt Barnes said. ''We've got to do something to try to switch this up at home next game.''

If history and the Grizzlies' current state are any indication, Memphis' prospects don't look good heading into a home game Friday night.

The Spurs first established those dubious records against the Grizzlies on April 19, 2004, on their way to a sweep of their first-round series.

Don't expect San Antonio to relax following 30- and 26-point victories. Not with Spurs coach Gregg Popovich telling his team to play with some pride during a timeout of a game they led by 29 points.

''You've got to fight,'' Leonard said. ''We've got to still execute. (We) turned over the ball a lot today. They were physical. They've got hands, but there's still opportunity for us to improve. They're still an NBA team.''

LaMarcus Aldridge had 10 points and eight rebounds in 26 minutes. Aldridge sat out the entire fourth quarter along with Leonard and Tony Parker while Tim Duncan and Danny Green made brief appearances.

Tony Allen led Memphis with 12 points and Zach Randolph had 11 points and 12 rebounds.

After matching a franchise low with a 13-point first quarter in Game 1, the Grizzlies lowered that mark by tying a franchise low for any quarter with 11 points in Tuesday's opening period.

''I think bringing that energy and effort that's one thing that we try to do,'' Mills said.

The Grizzlies continued to struggle to find consistency on offense without injured starters Marc Gasol and Mike Conley.

Memphis took 20 more shots than San Antonio in falling behind 2-0.

''It doesn't matter where we play, we've just got to play better,'' Barnes said. ''We can play here, we can play at the YMCA, we can play in Memphis; it doesn't matter where we play at if we play the way we've been playing the court doesn't matter. It's on the players we've got to do a better job executing.''

Randolph's struggles continued after he was held to six points in the opener. He opened the game shooting 1 for 5 and Aldridge hit two mid-range jumpers against him.

''I just think LaMarcus played excellent defense tonight,'' Popovich said. ''We didn't double-team (Randolph) or anything like that. If he got in the lane, we tried to make a play I guess, but mostly L.A. gets the credit for doing a fine job on a great player.''

NOT HAPPY

Barnes wants to play more after being limited to nine points in 29:58.

''I don't want to play 20 minutes getting beat so bad,'' he said. ''I want to play 40-45 minutes and swing every second we can. I don't want to save nothing, nothing should be in the tank. I'm not even tired right now, it's frustrating. Hopefully next game we get out there and get more minutes and we'll see what happens.''

HISTORY REPEATING

The Spurs beat the Grizzlies 87-70 on April 19, 2004, in Game 2 of their opening-round series.

Parker had 27 points and Duncan added 23 in the victory.

Parker had six points and four assists Tuesday and Duncan had three points and nine rebounds.

TIP-INS

Grizzlies: Memphis' lowest production previously was 70 points against San Antonio on April 4, 2004. ... Randolph is a combined 8 for 30 in the series. ... Jordan Farmar received a technical foul with 1:43 left in the first half. The technical came shortly after Farmar was whistled for fouling Leonard on a defensive rebound. ... Randolph became enraged late in the first quarter, claiming he was slapped on the hand as David West fell at his feet and Aldridge blocked his short jumper in midair.

Spurs: San Antonio is 6-0 against Memphis this season, winning by a 12-point average. ... Duncan appeared in his 243rd playoff game, leaving him one shy of tying former teammate Robert Horry for second all-time in NBA history.

UP NEXT

Game 3 is Friday night in Memphis.