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Spurs escape in OT; send series with Memphis to Game 6

Apr 28, 2011 - 11:15 AM San Antonio, TX (Sports Network) - Gary Neal gave San Antonio new life and the Spurs capitalized on their overtime opportunity to remain alive in their first-round series with the Memphis Grizzlies.

Neal hit the tying three-pointer at the end of regulation, and the Spurs surged in overtime for a 110-103 win over the Grizzlies to send this Western Conference quarterfinal series to a sixth game.

San Antonio, still in danger of becoming the second top-seeded team to lose a best-of-seven series in the first round, is behind 3-2 to the No. 8 seeded Grizzlies. Game 6 is Friday night in Memphis.

Tony Parker scored six of his 24 points in the extra session and had nine assists for the Spurs, who received a game-high 33 points from Manu Ginobili. Tim Duncan had 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Zach Randolph had 26 points, 11 rebounds and six assists for the Grizzlies, who also got 20 points from Mike Conley. Marc Gasol added 11 points and 17 rebounds, but his air ball led to a 24-second violation in the last minute of overtime.

"As a team we've got to be able to wash this one away, the taste of it away, realize what we didn't do and come back ready to go Friday in front of our home crowd," Conley said.

The Spurs had two incredible shots in the last 2.2 seconds of regulation to essentially save their season.

Randolph hit a pair of foul shots for a 95-92 difference with 9.4 seconds left. Then, after the Grizzlies nearly came away with the ensuing inbounds pass, Ginobili somehow, falling out of bounds, hit a long shot from the right corner. The bucket with 2.2 seconds left was originally ruled a three-pointer, but was changed to a two when replays showed Ginobili's left foot was on the line.

"I didn't even see the rim," Ginobili said. "I had Marc on top of me, falling out of bounds. I just got lucky, that's the truth."

Randolph then sank two more from the charity stripe for a 97-94 score with 1.7 seconds to go. Following another Spurs timeout, Neal, a rookie, received the inbounds pass at the top of the arc and delivered the incredible tying shot, breathing new life into the Spurs and their fans.

"We hung in tough. That's all about character," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.

Parker then sparkled in overtime to spur San Antonio to victory. His pull-up shot from the left elbow with nearly 1 1/2 minutes left gave the hosts a 105-103 edge. Tony Allen was way off on a three-point try at the other end, but misses from Parker and Antonio McDyess gave the Grizzlies a shot for the tie.

Memphis, which went 1-of-7 from the field in OT, was called for a shot clock violation on its next possession. Gasol was under pressure from Duncan and his fall-away jumper hit nothing with 21.3 seconds left.

George Hill sank two foul shots with 18.6 seconds left and Ginobili made three more to seal the outcome.

"I think we were down after the loss of the lead when they did it up at the end," Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said. "We had too many guys who were hurt and not mature enough at this stage to just let it go, play and get the win."

Duncan had 11 points in the first quarter, helping the Spurs to a 20-14 lead after 12 minutes. Conley, though, had 10 in the second, a period in which the Grizzlies went 12-of-18 from the field. That helped the visitors cut what was a 16-point deficit to eight at halftime.

The problem was Ginobili went for 15 points in the stanza, as the Spurs widened the margin to 50-42 at halftime. They were up as many as 35-19 after a layup from Tiago Splitter.

San Antonio went in the tank in the third quarter, shooting 4-of-17. The Grizzlies went on an 18-5 run to take a 68-63 lead on Gasol's layup with a minute left. Hill then sank two free throws for the final points of the period.

Two free throws from Sam Young extended Memphis' advantage to 86-80 with under five minutes left, but it wouldn't hold.

Game Notes

Hill had 12 points...The Spurs shot 7-of-22 from three-point range...Young had 18 points...Memphis held a 50-45 rebounding advantage.