The San Antonio Spurs thrashed the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday to take a 2-0 lead in their play-off series as Atlanta also cruised past Boston with a second straight win.
The San Antonio Spurs thrashed the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday to take a 2-0 lead in their play-off series as Atlanta also cruised past Boston with a second straight win.
San Antonio, boasting the second best regular season record in the league behind the Golden State Warriors, raced into the lead early on against Memphis and never looked back en route to a comprehensive 94-68 win.It was a second blowout victory for San Antonio over the Grizzlies, who had crashed to a 106-74 defeat in Game One on Sunday.
With Game Three looming on Friday, San Antonio will now be odds on to take a step closer to a clean sweep against a Memphis side who have been comprehensively outclassed in their opening two Western Conference playoff games.
“So far, we just did our job by winning our two games at home,” Spurs guard Tony Parker said.
“We just have to make sure we take care of the ball (in Memphis) and stay focused. It’s the playoffs. (We need to) respect the opponent and know that over there it’s going to be a lot harder,” he added.
Memphis’ Matt Barnes called on his teammates to “go down swinging.”
“We are coming into a gunfight armed with spoons,” he said.
“We have to make some shots. We have to roll the dice a little and find a way to switch things when we get home. I don’t know how good our chances are. I just know I want to go down swinging,” he said.
In Atlanta, the Hawks took a stranglehold on their Eastern Conference series against Boston, romping to an 89-72 win to go 2-0 up in the best-of-seven series.
An early barrage of three-pointers from Kyle Korver set the tone for a one-sided encounter as the Hawks raced into a big early lead that Boston never looked like overhauling.
Korver, Atlanta’s joint top scorer with Al Horford on 17 points, hit five three-pointers to leave Boston reeling.
