Spurs cruise to Game 2 win over Grizzles

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[April 20, 2016]  (The Sports Xchange) - Patty Mills scored 16 points off the bench as the San Antonio Spurs made things look easy from the opening tip and shellacked the Memphis Grizzlies 94-68 Tuesday in Game 2 of the two teams' Western Conference quarterfinal playoff series.

The Spurs own a 2-0 lead in best-of-seven series, which moves to Memphis for Game 3 on Friday and Game 4 on Sunday.

San Antonio led from the start and methodically took apart the Grizzlies. The Spurs built their lead from 11 points after one quarter to 14 at halftime, 17 after three quarters and as much as 28 in the fourth while playing their bench players for the majority of the final period.

The 68 points were Memphis' lowest offensive output of the season, supplanting the 74 points the Grizzlies scored Sunday in a 106-74 defeat in Game 1 of the series.

Kawhi Leonard, who on Monday was selected the NBA Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, added 13 points despite not playing in the fourth quarter.

Leonard did most of his damage from the inside, where he took advantage of his size mismatch against Memphis' defenders to attack the basket. Three of his first four made baskets came on dunks after driving to the hole, and all of his free throws were products of fouls when he worked in the paint.

Kevin Martin and LaMarcus Aldridge scored 10 points each for the Spurs, who are 6-0 against Memphis this season. All 13 San Antonio players who saw the floor scored.

Memphis was led by Tony Allen's 12 points, eight of which came in the first half. Zach Randolph added 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

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The Spurs' defense put the clamps on Memphis from the start, holding the Grizzlies to 25 percent shooting in the first quarter while allowing just 11 points while forging a 22-11 lead at the end of the initial 12 minutes of play.

Mills' 3-pointer that bounced high off the back of the rim and then into the net with 0.7 seconds left in the period gave San Antonio its first double-digit advantage of the game and capped an 11-1 run over the last 3:30 of the quarter.

San Antonio fashioned a 15-6 run in the second quarter and eventually settled for a 49-35 lead at halftime.

(Editing by Peter Rutherford)

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