Without the productive but inefficient Gay, they went on to "grit and grind" their way to a 4-2 win over the Spurs, and followed that act with and a thrilling seven game series with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Grizzlies played at an unprecedented level, suffocating the Spurs' perimeter attack and rattling their bigs.
What developed over the next six games demonstrated how capricious an NBA team can become when they are forced to realign following a seemingly insufferable loss. The Grizzlies were destined to lose to the venerable 1-seed San Antonio Spurs, who had just completed only their fourth 60-win season at 61-21. Albeit with much less media attention, the ’10-’11 Memphis Grizzlies scraped into the playoffs, an 8-seed without their leading scorer and supposed fulcrum for success, Rudy Gay. It’s a compelling storyline, as the Lakers will encounter their first playoffs enterprise in the Kobe-era without their incomparable court dynast.Ī similar story developed a couple of years ago in a playoff series many Spurs fans have selectively forgotten. The majority of basketball fans will watch to see if Lakers can win this one in the name of Kobe, and restore "Showtime" to its customary position amongst basketball royalty. Just about every Joe Schmoe outside of the Alamo City will be feel the pull of the LA media hype vortex, and the narratives it has fashioned from the recent circumstances surrounding the Lakers. While it appears that they will face a team with which they have become intimately familiar over the last decade and a half, they will actually battle an unfamiliar foe in a series which could prove to be anything but predictable. On Sunday, April 21st, at 2:30pm STTOTTM, the Spurs will take the floor of the AT&T center to begin their postseason pursuit of a fifth championship.