While rescue workers tried to save victims of the flash floods in San Antonio, the Spurs were 750 miles away virtually clinching a trip to the NBA Finals by taking a 3-0 lead over Memphis Saturday night. Two were killed and 200 had been rescued in San Antonio, according to the AP.
Pau Gasol and his Lakers teammates fought hard to get to seventh place in the West to get a shot at the team everyone thought could be beaten in the playoffs, the San Antonio Spurs. Saturday he could only watch from the stands as his brother Marc Gasol and his Memphis teammates were all but eliminated as they became the 108th NBA team to fall behind three games to none – and the other 107 have all lost.
Suddenly the team everyone wanted to play in the playoffs is all but in the NBA title game, taking a 3-0 lead Saturday that no NBA team has ever overcome. The Memphis Grizzlies thrilled their fans by jumping out to a 29-11 lead late in the first quarter, but it was not enough.
Short of Memphis being the first team in 108 tries to rally from down 3-0, the Spurs will be resting and waiting for the winner of the now more interesting Miami Heat vs. Indiana Pacers series in the East.
At the end of the regular season, the Lakers and Rockets fought hard to finish seventh and avoid the Houston Rockets. The Lakers won the battle but lost the war, getting swept by the Spurs.
Marc Gasol, the NBA’s defensive player of the year, had 16 points and 14 rebounds but could not slow down Tim Duncan, who had 26 and 10 in the 104-93 overtime win.
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