SAN ANTONIO — Tony Parker had 15 points and a career playoff-high 18 assists, Tim Duncan scored San Antonio’s first six points of overtime and the Spurs bounced back after squandering a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 93-89 on Tuesday night.
The Spurs took a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals with Game 3 on Saturday in Memphis.
Duncan opened the extra period with a layup, then made a tiebreaking putback on Parker’s missed jumper before making a runner that bounced high of the back iron and rattled in for a 91-87 lead with 1:08 to play.
The Grizzlies had a chance to tie after Jerryd Bayless hit a jumper and Parker missed one of two free throws with 14.6 seconds left, but Bayless’ 3-pointer from the left wing was off-target. Bayless and Mike Conley each had 18 points to lead Memphis.
Duncan had 17 points and nine rebounds, missing most of the second half with foul trouble before coming up with the key baskets in overtime.
Memphis stormed back from a 13-point deficit with a 15-2 run over the final 8 minutes of regulation to tie it at 85 on Conley’s runner in the lane with 18.2 seconds to play.
The Grizzlies got the chance to pull even after Manu Ginobili was called for a flagrant foul for pulling down Tony Allen by his left arm on a fast-break layup try. Allen hit both free throws and Memphis got possession, setting up Conley’s tying basket at the end of a string of seven straight Grizzlies points. But Memphis, which trailed by as much as 18 in the second half, could never pull ahead.
Up until the final stretch, Parker had been in control for 2 1/2 quarters. He kept San Antonio humming along after Duncan went to the bench with four fouls, the last three picked up within a span of 30 seconds, early in the third quarter.
Parker provided the assist on the Spurs’ first seven baskets of the second half, then scored the next two on mid-range jumpers before getting pulled for a rest with a 72-54 lead.
The Spurs put all five starters in double figures, getting 14 points from Tiago Splitter, 12 from Kawhi Leonard and 11 from Danny Green.