[Mr. JewboyParticipant]

I’m sorry if this has already been posted, but isn’t what Memphis is doing amazing?

Is this the biggest upset/surprise EVER!?

I mean, Memphis is playing without arguably their best player, while San Antonio started the season with a crazy record. Also, San Antonio may be the most experienced team in the league, and their core has won 3 Championsips, so this isn’t something that is supposed to be expected.

What are your thoughts?

[ilike.panochasParticipant]

#1 seed losing to #8 seed has happened 3 times if I’m not mistaken, so it’s not so much making a “history.”

I think the Warriors beating the Mavs was a bigger upset.

[Mr. JewboyParticipant]

 but the mavs were always losers, the year before they lost a 2-0 lead in the finals and have never won a ship.

These Spurs have won 3 rings together, while on the other hand Memphis has never won a playoff game!! and are arguably playing without their best player.

[BKKnicksfanParticipant]

Not the biggest upset…… The Denver over Seattle series will always be the biggest upset ever.

[steviechillzParticipant]

 Yeah BKKnicks fan is right, the Denver vs Seattle was straight up ridculous back then….but this could be in the top 10 upsets especially if they continue to win in the second round…..i still cant believe they are doing this without a legit SF on their team right now! imagine if they had Rudy Gay suited up

[Mr. ChicagoParticipant]

Shane Battier is a legit small forward, one of the better perimeter defender and three point shooters in the league.

BKKnicks Fan, couldn’t agree more. That was a great series.

[SwatLakeCityParticipant]

 This certainly did come as a surprise to me but the playoffs are all about matchups. The Grizzlies match up better against the Spurs. Both teams have fast point guards who are somewhat good passers but more so shooters in Tony Parker and Mike Conley. They also both have bruising PF’s who just get the job done in Tim Duncan and Zach Randolph. The difference is that Memphis is younger and has a better bench than the Spurs. The presense of Marc Gasol and an upstart bench headed by Greivis Vasquez and OJ Mayo gives them the edge over the Spurs. The Spurs are an old team and age has certainly seemed to have finally caught up with them. That’s why I now think that it is certainly possible that the Grizzlies advance to the next round but that is where they will falter unless Denver somehow rallies back from being down 3-0. 

Even though the Grizzlies don’t have Rudy Gay, that has not affected the Grizzlies so far because of two reasons: One, because during the regular season after the allstar break they seemed to have caught fire and were playing really well even without Rudy Gay. So they have kept on the fire in a matchup where they matchup alot better than the Spurs. Two: the trade deadline acquisition of Shane Battier I think was key. It gave the  Grizzlies a veteran presence on a young team, and he is just the blue-collar worker who will keep a team in it. He is very similar to the Spurs’ Richard Jefferson. Both are not great players but they are hard workers who just know what it takes to win games. Unfortunately though once the Grizzlies make it out of first round they will struggle without Rudy Gay when they have to go up against Kevin Durant and the Thunder. It is possible that Rudy Gay will come back in the 2nd round, but you have to wonder if he is going to be that much of an effect after not playing for like 3 months. But even when he is fully healthy he is not nearly the player that Kevin Durant is and that I think will make all the difference in Round 2. This is why I do not expect the Grizzlies to get past the second round.

From an outsider’s perspective this certainly is surprising but when you look at how the Grizzlies and Spurs matchup on paper it really isn’t that surprising. The NBA Playoffs: "Its all about the matchups."

[esperanzafleet69Participant]

GS over dallas was a way bigger upset… grizzlies were 46-36 (with a much better team i might add) and i think the warriors were like 42-40…

not to mention the spurs are all old and ginobli is comin off an injury.

[TallmanNYCParticipant]

Duncan is old, Manu is hurt, Zach Randolph is Memphis’s best player, Battier is better than you think. This is not a shocking upset.

[sheltwon3Participant]

I actually was calling out this match up and Grizz winning with 10 games left.  I knew Spurs record was inflated and they were too old to hang with a young team with a solid front court.  This matchup was the worst for the Spurs.  They could have probably beaten New Orleans because they would match up better at other positions. 

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

The series isn’t over yet…

 

[kaceyParticipant]

I think if the Grizzlies upset the Spurs, it will be just as big if not bigger than the W’s upset over the Mavs. Everyone seems to forget that the Warriors were 3-0 against the Mavs in the regular season that year. Warriors were playing some great basketball to end that season, plus Don Nelson as their head coach, he knew how to defend Dirk and he knew most of the Mavs’ players tendencies. Sure the win columns between the two teams was huge, but the Warriors had the Mavericks’ number that year and it showed in the playoffs. Plus like someone else mentioned the Spurs are winners come playoff time, the Mavs haven’t really proved anything in the playoffs.

I’m not saying I wasn’t shocked when the Warriors beat the Mavs, but rather that the W’s-Mavs series wasn’t a bigger upset than the Spurs-Grizz.

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