Neal Bails Out the Spurs

By - Kris Fletcher

The good news for Memphis is, they've basically out played San Antonio the entire series. The bad news is, they still haven't put them away.

Last night, the Grizzlies were 1.7 seconds away from becoming only the second eight-seed to knock off a one-seed since the NBA went to a best-of-seven opening round format. But thanks to undrafted rookie Gary Neal, it didn't happen.

Neal, who last year played for the Unicaja Malaga in Spain, ripped a three-pointer in the face of O.J. Mayo at the buzzer to force overtime. The Spurs then went on to defeat the Grizzlies by a final score of 110-103.

Photo by: Jed Jacobsohn

Manu Ginobili led the way for the San Antonio with 33 points, while Zach Randolph paced Memphis with 26 points and 11 rebounds.

The Grizzlies still lead the best-of-seven series 3-2, and they'll host the Spurs on Friday night. Had Memphis just done the right thing in Game 5 however, Game 6 wouldn't even be necessary.

One word: FOUL.

I've seen this kind of situation time and again in the NBA, and in almost every instance the team leading does the wrong thing. If you're up by 3 with a few seconds left, why in the world would you even let the other team attempt a three-pointer? Just FOUL and make them shoot two free-throws. Who cares if they hit them both? Winning by 1 is still winning. Especially in this kind of situation, where you have a chance to eliminate a team. Now you've let a veteran-laced Spurs team right back in it, and if they steal Game 6 in Memphis, they'll have all the momentum and home court advantage back for Game 7.

I'm not saying the Grizzlies can't still win the series, but if you have a chance to put a team out of their misery, you better do it, or in all likely hood you're going to end up regretting it.