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Grizzlies-Spurs: 56k | 300k |
Duncan, the NBA's Most Valuable Player the last two seasons, is sidelined with a bruised thigh. San Antonio posted a 117-92 over Denver without Duncan in the lineup Saturday night.
It looked like the Spurs were on their way to a second straight win without their star as they built a 68-57 lead after three quarters.
But things came apart in the fourth quarter, when the Spurs managed just 12 points on 3-of-12 shooting and committed seven of their 18 turnovers.
Wright's basket off his own miss gave the Grizzlies an 81-80 lead. Following a timeout, the Spurs struggled to get off a final shot and Malik Rose's wild attempt while falling down in the lane missed and the clock ran out with the ball loose on the floor.
"The play wasn't run for me," Wright said. "I just wanted to be persistent. I wanted to go after the loose ball and get the rebound. Then the ball just ended up in my hands and I went back up strong."
Rose had given the Spurs an 80-79 lead with 68 seconds left by making two free throws.
In addition to be being without Duncan, the Spurs also received a poor performance from point guard Tony Parker, who scored just three points on 1-of-9 shooting. He also sat for much of the fourth quarter in favor of Jason Hart.
"One game I'll play good, the next game I'll do nothing and the next I'll play good," Parker said. "I just have to fight through it and keep working and try to be aggressive every game."
Parker also drew criticism from coach Gregg Popovich.
"He needs to be more consistent," Popovich said. "You can't play like a hero one night and the next you don't exist. It happens too often. He needs to understand if he wants to be a leader, mentally he needs to be more prepared to play. It's very important for our team. We can't do anything close to what we did last year if he's that inconsistent."
While Parker struggled, the Grizzlies received a big effort from backup point guard Earl Watson, who scored eight points in a 19-3 run to start the fourth quarter.
"Earl Watson was the key," Grizzlies forward Shane Battier said. "The intensity that he brought off the bench tonight was huge for us. He really did singlehandedly turn the momentum of the game in our favor."
"Once again, our second group bailed us out," Grizzlies coach Hubie Brown said. "They played terrific together. We held them to 12 points in the fourth quarter and that was big. Perhaps more than that was the 13-0 spurt when we took the lead."
Watson's 3-pointer with 5:13 remaining capped the burst and gave the Grizzlies their first lead of the night at 76-74. Watson collected 13 points and four assists in 23 minutes.
Wright scored 12 points and Pau Gasol 11 for the Grizzlies, who won for the sixth time in eight games. Memphis won despite shooting 39 percent (31-of-80).
Without Duncan, Rasho Nesterovic attempted to pick up the slack as he had 18 points and 10 rebounds. He scored 14 points in the first half, helping the Spurs to a 47-43 lead.
But the Spurs received little from starting forwards Bruce Bowen and Robert Horry, who combined for just seven points on 2-of-7 shooting.
Hedo Turkoglu contributed 19 points and Mau Ginoboli 15 for San Antonio, which shot 42 percent (30-of-72) and held a 46-38 rebounding advantage.
