Spurs 94, Grizzlies 68

The more things change, the more San Antonio remains constant.

Twelve years to the day after holding Memphis to franchise lows in total points and points in a quarter, San Antonio put another stranglehold on the Grizzlies.

Patty Mills had 16 points, Kawhi Leonard added 13 and San Antonio never trailed in beating Memphis on Tuesday night to sweep the first two games of the first-round series in imposing fashion.

The Grizzlies' lowest postseason production came two days after they suffered their largest postseason defeat.

"We're coming to a gunfight with some spoons," Memphis forward Matt Barnes said. "We've got to do something to try to switch this up at home next game."

If history and the Grizzlies' current state are any indication, Memphis' prospects don't look good heading into a home game Friday night.

The Spurs first established those dubious records against the Grizzlies on April 19, 2004, on their way to a sweep of their first-round series.

Don't expect San Antonio to relax following 30- and 26-point victories. Not with Spurs coach Gregg Popovich telling his team to play with some pride during a timeout of a game they led by 29 points.

"You've got to fight," Leonard said. "We've got to still execute. (We) turned over the ball a lot today. They were physical. They've got hands, but there's still opportunity for us to improve. They're still an NBA team."

LaMarcus Aldridge had 10 points and eight rebounds in 26 minutes. Aldridge sat out the entire fourth quarter along with Leonard and Tony Parker while Tim Duncan and Danny Green made brief appearances.

Tony Allen led Memphis with 12 points and Zach Randolph had 11 points and 12 rebounds.

After matching a franchise low with a 13-point first quarter in Game 1, the Grizzlies lowered that mark by tying a franchise low for any quarter with 11 points in Tuesday's opening period.

"I think bringing that energy and effort that's one thing that we try to do," Mills said.

The Grizzlies continued to struggle to find consistency on offense without injured starters Marc Gasol and Mike Conley.

Memphis took 20 more shots than San Antonio in falling behind 2-0.

"It doesn't matter where we play, we've just got to play better," Barnes said. "We can play here, we can play at the YMCA, we can play in Memphis; it doesn't matter where we play at if we play the way we've been playing the court doesn't matter. It's on the players we've got to do a better job executing."

Randolph's struggles continued after he was held to six points in the opener. He opened the game shooting 1 for 5 and Aldridge hit two mid-range jumpers against him.

"I just think LaMarcus played excellent defense tonight," Popovich said. "We didn't double-team (Randolph) or anything like that. If he got in the lane, we tried to make a play I guess, but mostly L.A. gets the credit for doing a fine job on a great player."

Crawford is first three-time winner of NBA's Sixth Man Award

Jamal Crawford needs to make more room at home for another trophy.

The 36-year-old Los Angeles Clippers guard won the NBA's Sixth Man Award on Tuesday, becoming the first three-time winner as the league's best reserve. Two years ago, he was the oldest to receive the honor.

"It's always weird being up here by yourself because this is truly a team award," he said during a presentation at the team's practice facility, with teammates including Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and J.J. Redick joining in a standing ovation.

"I made shots but I couldn't do it if Doc (Rivers) didn't draw up the plays and my teammates didn't pass me the ball. It's not just about me."

Crawford received 51 first-place votes and 341 points from a panel of 130 sports writers and broadcasters in the U.S. and Canada. NBA Finals MVP Andre Iguodala of Golden State finished second with 288 points (33 first-place votes), and Oklahoma City's Enes Kanter was third with 182 points (19 first-place votes).

Crawford averaged 14.2 points in 79 games, coming off the bench in 74 of them. He ranked second in the NBA in free throw percentage at 90 percent.

"This is his best year. We needed him," Rivers said. "When you look at a guy at his age that's still improving, it says why he's the Sixth Man of the year. Sixth man doesn't mean that you shouldn't be a starter. It means that you've accepted a role to help your team. It's a really unselfish role and Jamal epitomizes that."

The 16-year veteran added his latest trophy to his awards in 2009-10 with the Atlanta Hawks and 2013-14 with the Clippers.

"If I keep my muscles firing, I don't feel age is an excuse," Crawford said. "I keep things as if I'm as young as possible."

Kevin McHale, Ricky Pierce and Detlef Schrempf all won the Sixth Man Award twice. Crawford is the only player to win with multiple teams.

"I never envisioned myself being a sixth man," he said. "I always started my whole life. Starting is the cool thing and everybody wants to do it."

Crawford first took on a reserve role with the Hawks under coach Mike Woodson, who is now a Clippers assistant. He flourished and has embraced leading the bench ever since.

"Jamal's impact on our team goes so far beyond what you can actually even see. It's the things in the locker room, it's the calming presence on the bench, it's the steady hand," Griffin said. "We, as a team, value Jamal so much, but it's great to see him get that recognition from other people for his impact on our team."

Crawford's wife, Tori, their children J.J. and London and his mother joined him for the presentation. Crawford's wife is expecting a baby girl in late June, his mother said. Crawford has an older son Eric.

The award sponsor Kia will donate a 2016 SUV to the Watts Willowbrook Boys & Girls Club, a charity chosen by Crawford.

Curry undergoes MRI exam on injured right ankle, no concerns

Stephen Curry’s troublesome right ankle has no serious structural damage.

The reigning NBA MVP underwent an MRI exam on his injured right ankle Tuesday in the Bay Area, and the Golden State Warriors said nothing of concern came up on the test. Curry remained questionable for Game 3 of his team’s playoff series on Thursday in Houston.

Curry missed Monday night’s 115-106 victory against the Rockets at Oracle Arena after cutting short his warmup routine because his troublesome ankle was tender. He will continue to undergo treatment for the injury ahead of Thursday, and coach Steve Kerr mentioned there is ample time for Curry to try to get healthy and stay off his feet.

“We’ll see how he responds the next couple of days, and if he’s not right obviously being up 2-0 does give us more cushion if we decide to sit him,” Kerr said after Monday’s game. “But it will be based on his health, not the series score. It’s really what the training staff says and what Steph says about how he’s feeling.”

Top-seeded Golden State leads the best-of-seven series 2-0 as it shifts to Houston for the next two matchups. The Warriors had the day off from practice Tuesday ahead of their flight to Houston on Wednesday.

The news about Curry’s MRI was huge given the superstar point guard had two surgeries on that ankle in 2011-12. He averaged a league-leading 30.1 points per game this season and does so many other things to make his teammates better and set them up to score.

“When Steph goes down, that’s obviously not easy to replace, so not one guy’s going to come out and do what Steph does for this team,” Draymond Green said. “Even if a guy comes out and gets 30, he’s still not going to do what or bring what Steph brings to this team. He draws so much attention that he gets other people shots as well. ... I think we’re the deepest team in the NBA.”

Shaun Livingston contributed 16 points and six assists playing in Curry’s place, while Klay Thompson had 34 points and five assists. Andre Iguodala, last year’s Finals MVP, added 18 points with four 3-pointers and Green had 12 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists.

Yes, a couple of players even referenced that catch phrase “Strength In Numbers” that blares on those bright yellow T-shirts throughout Oracle Arena.

“Obviously when you lose the MVP you’ve got concern, but we believe in our depth and in our ability to win when we’re down a man even if it is Steph,” Kerr said. “So, very pleased with the effort. Obviously with the outcome. We had a lot of guys just step up and play extremely well.”

Nowitzki joins Mavs’ long injury list with right knee bruise

Add star Dirk Nowitzki to the long injury list for Dallas in the playoffs.

Coach Rick Carlisle said Tuesday that Nowitzki bruised his right knee when he fell early in the Mavericks’ 85-84 Game 2 win over Oklahoma City in a first-round playoff series that is tied 1-1.

Nowitzki joins a list of players who might miss Game 3 on Thursday, including starting guards Deron Williams and J.J. Barea and backup forward David Lee.

Williams is dealing with a sports hernia injury that will require offseason surgery. He had an effective first half in Game 2 on Monday but left in the third quarter and didn’t return. Barea (right groin strain) missed Game 2, and Lee has yet to play in the series because of a right heel injury. Lee has targeted Game 3 for his return.

Guard Devin Harris is playing with a torn ligament in his left thumb, and Carlisle said he came through Game 2 in decent shape. It’s hard to say the same for the Mavericks as a whole after an improbable win that kept them in the series.

Dallas went into the series without another starter in versatile forward Chandler Parsons, who is out for the season following the second surgery on his right knee in less than a year.

“We know from a manpower standpoint we’re at a pretty big disadvantage,” Carlisle said. “And we know we’re not going to outrun or outdunk or outskill these guys. We’ve got to play a working man’s, grinding, highly intelligent game and hang with them.”

Guard Raymond Felton had 21 points and a team-high 11 rebounds and Nowitzki scored 17 points on 7-of-19 shooting to help the Mavericks bounce back from a 108-70 loss in the opener. That had been the fifth straight loss to the Thunder in the playoffs for the Mavericks since Dallas beat Oklahoma City in the Western Conference finals on the way to the NBA title in 2011. The Mavericks also lost all four matchups this regular season.

“I’m proud of the way we played last night, but we haven’t done anything,” Carlisle said. “The idea and the goal is to win a series, not just to win one game. We’ve got to keep our medical staff extremely busy and we’re going to see who we can get healthy for Game 3.”

And suddenly, Nowitzki tops a list that’s been crowded for weeks. Carlisle said he hopes the extra day off between games with boost the 7-foot German’s chances of playing.

‘’He’s a great player who’s been a big part of any success we’ve had this year,” Carlisle said of his leading scorer. “Without him we wouldn’t be in the playoffs.”

Suns remove ‘interim’ tag, retain Watson as coach

Without formally interviewing anyone else, the Phoenix Suns retained Earl Watson as their head coach for next season.

Watson was named interim coach after Jeff Hornacek was fired on Feb. 1.

The team went 9-24 under Watson, finishing the season with the second-worst record in franchise history (23-59). But general manager Ryan McDonough liked what he saw from the young coach.

“He reminds me of a young Doc Rivers,” McDonough said at a news conference on Tuesday. “... When they speak there’s some natural leadership qualities and characteristics that kind of emanate from them.”

McDonough said that, in the final 2½ months of the season, other potential coaches were considered.

“The more and more we discussed it,” he said, “Earl continued to emerge from the front of the pack and really had anything we were looking for in terms of the ability to connect with and motivate players, the ability to communicate effectively and directly and the ability teach and inspire while also being direct with the players and holding them accountable.”

Watson got a three-year contract.

The decisions leaves the Suns under young leadership as they attempt to end a streak of six seasons without making the playoffs. Both Watson and McDonough are 36 years old.

Several players had voiced their support for Watson.

“The players have been great,” he said. “The ability to teach, nurture and also love them allowed them in the process to grow. The thing about growth is you have to give them the opportunity to fail and they understood that and they embraced it. ... They embraced everything that came along with me.”

A handful of players attended the news conference.

“He has that relationship where he knows how it is to be a player,” said Devin Booker, one of the league’s most promising rookies, “but at the same time when he speaks as a coach, everybody listens. He’s gained that respect from everybody in the locker room.”

In an interview after the news conference, Watson said he had wanted to be a coach from the moment, as a UCLA freshman, he walked into John Wooden’s condominium.

“The way he spoke to me and the way he talked to me inspired me to be more than just a basketball player,” Watson said, “to one day have the ability to connect, reach young people, inspire, change lives, however you want to put it, to make them a better man.”

Watson, who played in the league for 13 seasons, is the NBA’s youngest head coach. His only coaching experience was as an assistant for the San Antonio Spurs’ Developmental League team in Austin in 2014-15.

He was hired as a Suns assistant for player development last summer and moved up to a bench coach position when Hornacek’s top two assistants were fired in early January.

A second-round draft pick out of UCLA in 2001, Watson played point guard for Seattle/Oklahoma City, Memphis, Denver, Indiana, Utah and Portland.

His coaches included Hubie Brown, George Karl and Jerry Sloan.

McDonough said that Watson became interim coach in February, “under some of the most difficult circumstances I could imagine.”

“From day one I think he came in and did a great job of settling things down,” McDonough said, “getting our team to play hard and give it everything they had.”

As time went on, McDonough said, he saw Watson and the players grow comfortable with each other. There was a marked improvement in “the culture and the vibe of the team over the last month and a half of the season,” he said.

After an 0-9 start under Watson, the Suns went 9-15, winning two of their final three games.