|
 Rookie George Hill scored 20 points and Roger Mason added 18 to lead the Spurs. Tim Duncan added 14 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks for San Antonio, which has won five of its last six games.
O.J. Mayo scored 23 of his 26 points in the second half to lead Memphis. Rudy Gay scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Darko Milicic had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The Grizzlies started the 7-foot Milicic at forward in place of rookie Darrell Arthur. That allowed Milicic to battle with Duncan early rather than putting Gasol, also a rookie, on the All-Star.
Duncan still was getting the ball deep in the post, but Milicic was at least making life difficult for the Spurs forward. He led San Antonio with 12 points in the half, but was 5-of-13 from the field. Duncans first-half play helped the Spurs take a 41-36 lead into the halftime break.
In the third, the Grizzlies were able to pull within a basket on several occasions, but the Spurs always had an answer. When Mason hit a 3-pointer, his fifth of the night, San Antonio had rebuilt the lead to 69-53.
That helped the Spurs take a 72-55 lead, their biggest lead of the night at that point, entering the fourth period.
Notes: While Ginobili returned to action, Tony Parkers return from his ankle injury could be less than two weeks. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said before the game that he expected the point guard could return in under two weeks. The Spurs are 6-2 in the eight games since Parker was injured Nov. 7. The Grizzlies are expected to announce Tuesday that they are sending Hamed Haddadi, the 7-foot-2 center from Iran, to the NBDLs Dakota Wizards to get playing time. Haddadi has not played in any of the Grizzlies 14 games this season and was on the inactive list for Monday nights game. The Grizzlies were held to 36 points in the first half, their lowest for a first half this season. The previous low was 37 on opening night at Houston.
| 
