NASHVILLE — The San Antonio Spurs wanted no part of playing a seventh game against the Grizzlies, not with the Houston Rockets looming in the next round.
Kawhi Leonard scored 29 points, helping the Spurs advance to the Western Conference semifinals by beating Memphis 103-96 Thursday night to take the series 4-2.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich congratulated Memphis on a great year, especially rookie coach David Fizdale.
“I’m seriously thrilled that we were able to get through that first round,” Popovich said. “That’s the good news. The bad news is that now we have to go play Houston.”
The Spurs now have beaten Memphis four of the five playoff series between these teams, and this was San Antonio’s second straight win over the Grizzlies in the first round. But this was the first time all season that the visiting team won.
“It’s huge for us,” Spurs guard Tony Parker said.
Parker added 27 points on 11-of-14 shooting, while LaMarcus Aldridge had 17 points and 12 rebounds. San Antonio outrebounded Memphis 46-28, with 16 of those offensive boards. That led to 17 second-chance points.
The Spurs’ semifinal series with Houston will start Monday night in San Antonio.
Mike Conley scored 26 points, leading the five Memphis starters in double digits. Marc Gasol added 18.
The Grizzlies fell to 3-10 in elimination games, losing six straight.
The Spurs took control after the Grizzlies went up 88-81 on three free throws from Conley with 6:29 left. Then Leonard scored eight straight for San Antonio, starting a 22-8 run to finish the game.
“The guys were amazing in the fourth quarter,” Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said. “Huge plays. Great defense too. So, happy to go back home with a win and win the series.”
Even with Conley and Gasol a combined 2 of 10 in the first quarter, the Grizzlies trailed only 24-22 after Conley knocked down a 3 at the end of the quarter for his first bucket of the game. Conley hit another 3 for the final shot in the second quarter, putting Memphis up 50-45. The team that led at halftime won each of the first five games.
In Milwaukee, DeMar DeRozan delivered 32 points as the Toronto Raptors rebounded after blowing a 25-point second half lead to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks 92-89 to reach the second round.
The Raptors used a 9-0 surge late in the fourth quarter at Milwaukee’s Bradley Center arena to win the first-round Eastern Conference series by eliminating the Bucks in six games.
Toronto advances to face the second-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round, a rematch of last season’s East finals. DeRozan led the way for Toronto Thursday. He made 12-of-24 from the field, including a thunderous dunk with 48 seconds to play. Kyle Lowry added 13 points for the Raptors.
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 34 points and grabbed nine rebounds in 47 minutes but made just seven of 13 attempts from the free-throw line. The Bucks made only 18 of their 28 foul shots.
The Bucks stumbled through the second quarter, going six-for-22 from the field and missing all four of their three-point attempts to fall behind by as much as 13.
DeRozan had 16 points by halftime as Toronto took a 51-38 lead into the break.
The Raptors led by as many as 25 in the third quarter before Milwaukee finally got their act together. The Bucks closed the quarter on a 15-3 run to make it a 74-61 game heading to the fourth.
Toronto led by six in the fourth when Serge Ibaka drew his fourth foul but a 14-0 Milwaukee run put the Bucks up 80-78 with just over three minutes to play.
Jason Terry nailed a long range three-pointer to make it a one-possession game with 16 seconds left but DeRozan closed it out from the foul line.—Agencies
