Kawhi Leonard
Mar 22, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard (2) works against Atlanta Hawks center Al Horford (15) during the second half at Philips Arena. The Spurs defeated the Hawks 114-95. REUTERS/Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Led by Kawhi Leonard, the San Antonio Spurs continued their surge by beating the suddenly-struggling Memphis Grizzles to the tune of 103-89 on Sunday night. Leonard scored a game-high 25 points, including 15 straight at the start of the payoff period to give the Spurs their 13th win in the last 16 games.

Leonard missed just 6-of-17 shots from the field and also added 10 rebounds as he was virtually unstoppable in the fourth quarter. San Antonio led 51-42 at halftime but the Grizzlies made a run in the third to cut the lead down to four, 70-66 before the final canto. Suddenly, Leonard got hot to start the fourth. Too hot for the Grizzlies, who scored only 9 points in the first four minutes of the final quarter while Leonard scored 15 on a variety of ways to give the Spurs an 85-75 lead.


From there, the Grizzlies never really threatened and the Spurs tied the season series with the Grizzlies, 2-2. More importantly, the Spurs (46-26) stretched their winning streak to three games and have won 6 of their last 7 games— giving them a one and a half game lead over the seventh place Dallas Mavericks (45-28), which lost to the Indiana Pacers also on Sunday night.

Coupled with a Houston Rockets (50-23) victory on the same day, the Grizzlies (50-24) fell to No. 3 in the cutthroat Western Conference; the former now holds the second seed while the latter is bumped down to the third seed with a few games to go in the regular season. Curiously, if the playoffs started today, Memphis will take on sixth seed Spurs.

Four players scored in double-figures for the Spurs, which shot over 50 percent from the field. Tony Parker had 17 points and Tiago Splitter had 15 markers. The Grizzlies were led by Zach Randolph’s double-double of 20 points and 13 rebounds.

The Grizzlies have eight games left in the regular season including difficult games against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Washington Wizards, New Orleans Pelicans, Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors. The Spurs have nine games left including match-up against playoff-bound teams, Warriors, Rockets— twice; and against teams battling for a playoff spot: Thunder, Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Pelicans. 


To contact author of this article, email j.quizon@IBTimes.com.au.

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