Top Seeds In the West Stagger Out Of the Gate

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: April 17, 2011




Sixteen years after entering the N.B.A., the Grizzlies finally have a postseason win.Zach Randolph had 25 points and 14 rebounds, and Shane Battier made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 23.9 seconds left Sunday to give Memphis a 101-98 victory over the top-seeded Spurs in San Antonio in the first game of their Western Conference series.









Memphis had been 0-12 in three previous trips to the playoffs.

“It’s nice from an annoyance perspective to have it out of the way, because I don’t have to answer questions about being 0-13,” Grizzlies Coach Lionel Hollins said.

Instead, most of the questions will be about how the 61-win Spurs are behind, 0-1.

Playing without the All-Star guard Manu Ginobili, who continued to rest his sprained right elbow, San Antonio had a chance to send the game to overtime. But Richard Jefferson missed a straight-ahead 3-pointer as time expired, then bit down on his jersey collar.

“I was wide open,” Jefferson said.

Randolph, who scored 9 points in the fourth and bullied San Antonio’s aging frontcourt with his 255-pound frame, walked past Jefferson with his fists raised in triumph. The rest of the Grizzlies players spilled onto the court, waving towels and leaping as they ran back into the locker room.

The Grizzlies entered the league in 1995 as an expansion franchise in Vancouver, where they played six seasons without ever reaching the playoffs. After moving to Memphis in 2001, the Grizzlies waited two seasons before the first of three consecutive first-round sweeps. The last was in 2006.

The Grizzlies have little playoff experience. Hollins had never coached in the postseason before Sunday, and eight of his players had never been in the playoffs.

Not Battier. He was with the Grizzlies for all three of those playoff sweeps, making it fitting that his 3-pointer sealed the franchise’s first playoff win.

“When you’re on the road, down 2, may as well go for the 3,” Battier said.

Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich was not in the mood to dissect Battier’s winning shot.

“What do you want to know about it?” he said. “It counted for 3. He caught it. He shot it. And he made it.”

Tony Parker led the Spurs with 20 points, but San Antonio sorely missed his backcourt partner, Ginobili, who had been listed as doubtful. Popovich played it safe and kept him out, and he would not speculate whether Ginobili would play in Game 2 on Wednesday. But after the Spurs lost their sixth consecutive playoff opener, Ginobili may not have a hard time convincing Popovich he is ready.

George Hill, starting in Ginobili’s place, shot 2 for 7 from the field and finished with 15 points.

HORNETS 109, LAKERS 100 Chris Paul had 33 points, 14 assists and 7 rebounds, flawlessly leading New Orleans past host Los Angeles down the stretch in Game 1.

Carl Landry scored 17 points and Jarrett Jack added 15 for the seventh-seeded Hornets, who overcame the Lakers’ significant size advantage with cagey defense and a disciplined offensive approach that led to just three turnovers, tying an N.B.A. playoff record.

New Orleans also had a phenomenal game from Paul, who scored 17 points in the fourth quarter and led a decisive 8-0 run after the Lakers cut the lead to 4 points. Repeatedly shredding Los Angeles’s defense on pick-and-roll plays, Paul looked every bit the four-time All-Star he is.

“I’ve struggled all season long, trying to figure out where to pick my spots,” Paul said. “It’s the playoffs. It’s a whole other energy.”

Game 2 is Wednesday in Los Angeles.

Kobe Bryant scored 34 points for the Lakers, who opened the postseason with the same halfhearted effort that marked much of their regular season after three straight exhausting trips to the finals.

Los Angeles’s 7-foot starters, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, were widely expected to be an awful matchup for smallish New Orleans.

But the Hornets’ rookie coach, Monty Williams, concocted an impressive game plan to minimize the big men’s impact.

The most glaring problem was Gasol, who struggled to 8 points — only 2 more than his season low — on 2-for-9 shooting and had only 6 rebounds.

A few people in the Staples Center crowd heckled Gasol in the final minutes, and some fans booed as they streamed out of the building.