Spurs Beat Grizzlies, Lead Series 3-0

<br>MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) _ The San Antonio Spurs took the best shot the Memphis Grizzlies had to offer so far in the playoffs. Now, the defending champions are a game away from moving into the second round.

Friday, April 23rd 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) _ The San Antonio Spurs took the best shot the Memphis Grizzlies had to offer so far in the playoffs. Now, the defending champions are a game away from moving into the second round.

Tim Duncan scored 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, and the Spurs got a little luck when Mike Miller's 3-point attempt bounced off the back rim at the buzzer Thursday night in pulling out a 95-93 victory over the Grizzlies in their first-round series.

The win gave the Spurs a commanding 3-0 lead, and they can sweep in Game 4 at Memphis on Sunday night.

``We know it's hard to come back from 3-0, but we don't want to be the first,'' Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said. ``We don't want to make it long.''

In the only other playoff game Thursday night, New Jersey beat New York 81-78 to go up 3-0 in that series.

The Grizzlies had a sellout crowd of 19,351 on hand to mark the first home playoff game in the franchise's nine-year history, and the fans stayed on their feet for much of the night as they tried to help the league's third-youngest team stay in this series.

Not even the presence of five different men dressed as Elvis could help the Grizzlies take care of business against one of the NBA's best teams.

Hedo Turkoglu hit his first seven shots and finished with 18 points for the Spurs. Tony Parker added 18 points and six assists, and Ginobili had 12 points.

The Spurs routed Memphis by an average of 20 points in the first two games in San Antonio, but the Grizzlies countered by shooting 60 percent for much of the first half and finished at 48.7 percent (38-of-78) as they fed off their rowdy fans.

Memphis led by 10 twice with the Spurs staying in it by hitting seven of their first nine 3-pointers. The Spurs took control in the third quarter by outrebounding the Grizzlies 18-8 and finished with a 48-31 margin on the boards.

``We did one thing well, and we grounded it out,'' San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. ``The defense was fantastic, and they were physical, and they attacked us for 48 minutes. I just think we were really fortunate to come up with the victory.''

The Spurs have won 14 straight, and maybe it's their experience that helped them hold off the Grizzlies down the stretch. Memphis lost its seventh consecutive game and ninth in the last 10 overall.

NBA Coach of the Year Hubie Brown knows his Grizzlies had plenty of chances to make franchise history by pulling out the victory.

``Down the stretch, we had five possessions and only one score,'' Brown said. ``We missed four shots and had one turnover.''

Duncan scored with 1:37 left to put the Spurs ahead to stay at 92-91. Ginobili hit the second of two free throws with 3.6 seconds left for the final margin.

The Grizzlies inbounded the ball, and Miller launched a long 3-pointer that bounced off the back rim at the buzzer. It was a shot that had the Spurs holding their breath and remembering Game 1 of last season's first-round series when Stephon Marbury hit the same type of shot for a Phoenix victory.

Turkoglu was right beside Miller as he put up the possible game-winner.

``It was a good shot, you know,'' Turkoglu said. ``Thank God it didn't go in,'' he said.

Nets 81, Knicks 78

Kenyon Martin had a three-point play in the final 30 seconds to lead New Jersey at New Jersey.

The Nets scored just six points over the final 4 1/2 minutes, but it was enough for New York, which trailed by as many as 14 in the first playoff game at Madison Square Garden in three years.

Game 4 is Sunday, and the Knicks will try to become the first NBA team to rally from a 3-0 deficit to win a seven-game series.

Martin led New Jersey with 19 points and 15 rebounds, while Jason Kidd had 19 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, and Richard Jefferson had 17 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.

Stephon Marbury scored 10 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter but shot just 7-for-23 for New York.