Is Marc Gasol Grizzlies Equalizer vs. Spurs?

In a battle of proven big men, Marc Gasol will have to come out on top against Tim Duncan for the Memphis Grizzlies to beat the San Antonio Spurs.

Let’s get this out-of-the-way: this is an important game for the Grizzlies.

The Spurs have been Memphis’ kryptonite in recent memory more than any other team. The Grizzlies haven’t gotten a real shot at going up against Stephen Curry and the rest of the Golden State Warriors in the playoffs, but they’ve beaten pretty much everyone else.

The Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Clippers have both consistently fallen to Memphis, but San Antonio hasn’t let the “grit-n-grind” Grizzlies dominate besides one playoff series back in 2011 in which Memphis upset the Spurs in a first-round series.

Memphis won that playoff match-up four games to two, but in the 2013 Western Conference Finals the Grizzlies didn’t stand a chance and got blown out 4-0.

Even though the Grizzlies have been dominant on defense with the Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph, Mike Conley and Tony Allen group, the Spurs have a systematic offense predicated on ball movement and smart play. The Thunder and Clippers rely on a lot of isolation scoring. Memphis is good at neutralizing those iso plays, but against quickness it’s been a little tougher for the Grizz to get wins.

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One way to slow things down and bring the game inside is for the Grizzlies to focus their offensive attack on Marc Gasol, Memphis’ biggest and arguably most talented player.

Gasol can do a variety of things on offense, be it scoring or facilitating. He can get baskets from anywhere inside the arc and act as a distributor at the high post. But Memphis must have him be a magnet for the ball down low where he will surely be meeting all-time great player Tim Duncan.

Duncan’s size and savvy have spelled disaster for the Grizzlies most of the time, especially Gasol. The career numbers for Gasol against the Spurs aren’t exactly anything to write home about, as he’s averaged 13.1 points per game on 47.4 percent shooting from the field. The Spurs do a lot of switching on defense making it hard for the Grizzlies to head into the game with one specific plan on offense, but Duncan is the glue that holds everything together because of his rare combination of elite individual and team defense.

Duncan is always in the right spots on defense. He knows how to block shots and play the passing lanes at the right angles, taking away both of Gasol’s greatest strengths on offense. His wingspan affects Gasol’s game down low because Gasol isn’t a vertical big man. He’s fairly grounded in what he does, making it easier for a player like Duncan to affect his shots.

If Gasol can take Duncan out of the paint and hit some perimeter jump shots, it may force more defensive attention his way and away from Randolph, who’s long been Memphis’ go-to option on offense. Randolph has struggled mightily against the Spurs in terms of shooting the ball, only making 42.2 percent of his shots against the Duncan-led defense. As long as Gasol can manage to stretch his game and distract the Spurs from Randolph, then the Grizzlies will succeed in this game.

However, I think the depth of the Spurs may end up being too much for Memphis to handle and will lead to them coming out on top. The Grizzlies don’t have the perimeter scoring to keep up with the likes of Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker.

Prediction: Spurs 102 Grizzlies 96

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