This series, these playoffs, or this calendar year may be over before anyone has fully recovered from Game 5’s madness. San Antonio somehow managed to escape with a win, but I’m not quite sure anyone could properly explain how it happened.
The Grizzlies converted down the stretch in the fourth quarter. They worked the ball inside to Zach Randolph time and time again, and were sustained by the results. They hit their free throws, and they got key stops. But the Spurs’ resolve was commendable, their execution enviable, and their luck impossible; after an incredible San Antonio effort to merely keep the game within reach, Manu Ginobili and Gary Neal hit a pair of insane shots to force overtime — the first a step-back, heavily contested, foot-on-the-line two-pointer from the right corner, and the second a single-dribble, pull-up three from the top of the key. Neither should have gone in, but both did, and now we’re left to pick up the pieces of a shattered near-reality. Against all odds, the San Antonio Spurs are still alive.
For now. Ominous, right?
Though in truth, it’s hard to dissect exactly what this game means. We knew that the Grizzlies could compete in any environment. We knew that they held a substantial advantage by taking a 3-1 series lead. We knew that the Spurs weren’t going to roll over. All of that has only been confirmed, though confirmed in a way that tells us so very little about what to expect in Game 6. San Antonio isn’t in a drastically different place than they were 24 hours ago, but they are one win closer to making it out of the first round. That’s something, but it isn’t a something that’s instructive about what to expect going forward.
Memphis was so, so close. Randolph was a dominant force, but Sam Young had an amazing two-way game (and made Richard Jefferson look absolutely silly in the process), Marc Gasol did it all, Mike Conley connected on his jumpers, and the bench came up with some huge buckets. It was all for naught in the “one game at a time,” microcosm, but only because the Spurs fell into a miracle. San Antonio’s late jumpers were fired from fingertips but delivered by divinity, as some force beyond human comprehension guaranteed at least one more game in this series.
The Spurs will have to do better next time. They have two games in which they have to get it right — lest they enjoy a long summer and their place as a footnote in the record books — because the Grizzlies aren’t going to fold, even after a loss like this one. There may not be any predictable shift in the series’ momentum, but we know Memphis will run, and swarm, and fight for every point in Game 6 on their home court. Those miracle shots probably won’t be there for a late-game bailout, and honestly, a 33-point, six-rebound, six-assist performance from Ginobili may not be either. Tony Parker may not be quite as accurate on his jumper, even though his three straight Js sealed the win for San Antonio in overtime of this game. Can San Antonio really bring more of the same (but better) over the next two games to make it through this series alive?
Beats me — I’m still dumbstruck. The odds of pulling off two more wins in a row are certainly against the Spurs, but considering the events of Game 5, I’m not sure probability as we know it is really a factor here. The dynamic of the series hasn’t shifted, but the dynamic of the universe may have; after an outcome as absolutely insane as that one, no one should have call, nor gall, to say what either team is capable of.
