NBA: San Antonio Spurs hold off Memphis Grizzlies in overtime thriller

The San Antonio Spurs survived an overtime thriller to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 93-89 in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals.

The Spurs had held a 14-point lead in the final quarter and were 83-70 up with less than seven and a half minutes to play before they allowed the Grizzlies to force overtime.

A 15-2 run had given Memphis a chance of levelling the Western Conference final series, only for Tim Duncan to lead the way for the Spurs with eight overtime points.

Duncan scored 17 points overall, while Tony Parker registered 15 points and 18 assists as San Antonio stretched their lead in the best-of-seven series to 2-0.

Mike Conley and Jerryd Bayless each scored 18 points for Memphis, while Zach Randolph added 15 points and 18 rebounds.

“I hate that we gave up that big of a lead in that situation,” said Duncan “But we were resilient enough to go to overtime and not let it affect us.”

Duncan opened the extra period with a layup, and then made a tiebreaking putback on Parker’s missed jumper. He then made a runner that bounced high of the back iron and rattled in for a 91-87 lead with 1:08 to play.

The Grizzlies had a chance to tie after Jerryd Bayless hit a jumper and Parker missed one of two free throws with 14.6 seconds left, but Bayless’ 3-pointer from the left wing was off-target.

Memphis has fallen behind in all three playoff series so far, including rallying from an 0-2 deficit in the first round against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Game 3 is Saturday in Memphis.