Desmond Bane took on the point guard duties tonight in place of Ja Morant and his team ran roughshod on the Spurs from three in the second half again | Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images The Grizzlies walloped the Spurs with an 18-0 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to take the two game mini-series After a tightly contested rematch for 2+ quarters tonight between Memphis and San Antonio, the Grizzlies went “Beautiful Game Spurs” and ended the third on a 16-0 run. Memphis continued to pour it on the helpless Spurs defense in the fourth to salt away a blowout victory after closing the game out with a 54-26 blitzing. A pair of impressive rookies - Stephon Castle and Jaylen Wells (22 points) did stand tall in a frenetic and close first half before the second half nightmare repeated itself for San Antonio. Castle (20 points and 4 rebounds) had a great start in his first half minutes - going 6-for-7 to pace San Antonio to a slight lead at the break. Vassell (21 points and 5 assists) carried the team over his third quarter minutes, but Victor Wembanyama (19 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 blocks) had another uneven performance and there simply wasn’t enough support when it mattered. In relief of Ja Morant (foot), Desmond Bane (22 points, 14 assists, and 3 steals) led the way for Memphis, while Santi Aldama (29 points and 8 rebounds) had another strong performance off the bench with the team hitting 57% overall from the field. Observations Deep in the rabbit hole of old NBA archival footage, I found the 4th highest scoring game (in its entirety!) in NBA history between San Antonio and the Milwaukee Bucks in 1983. Area 51: Moments into the second quarter, Wembanyama - operating from his optimal place around the free throw stripe - found a diving Castle for an and-1. Area 51 - Part Deux: After being called for an offensive foul partway through the third, Castle ripped the ball away from Kennard, and laid up a perfect lob to Wembanyama for the alley-oop. Sequence of the Game #1: After two freebies early in the second period, Harrison Barnes took a pass baseline like Sean Elliott would and slammed it home. Sequence of the Game #2: Keldon Johnson ripped the ball away from Desmond late in the opening half, and found Vassell on the left side for a transition three. Sequence of the Game #3: Vassell paired a slick three with a transition behind the back dribble sequence and a one-handed tomahawk slam late in the third to keep San Antonio afloat. Charles Bassey had 12 points and 9 rebounds in the non-Wemby minutes. Encouraging! Game Rundown Memphis started with five quick ones before the Spurs put up a touchdown. Edey again had two dunks with Wembanyama lurking nearby. Castle again put his stamp on a quarter of action by putting up three quick buckets in succession. His fourth field goal “rocked his (defender’s) world” as Marc Jones exclaimed. Kennard continued his personal MVP campaign against San Antonio with his third easy basket. Vassell and Wembanyama had back-to-back turnovers. Johnson’s pair of wing threes put the Spurs up six. Aldama came in and chipped in seven quick ones to help Memphis re-take the lead. Another fast-paced first quarter yielded a two point lead for San Antonio after he swatted a Kennard lay-up and threw it off of him. Barnes, at the start of the second quarter, made his usual understated impact with six quick points and assisted Wembanyama on a three and Julian Champagnie on a driving reverse layup. Jackson, Jr. had consecutive tough makes over Wembanyama. Barnes’ free throws briefly put the Spurs up ten, but Memphis answered with an 16-4 run to surge ahead as Bane scored and assisted on three of the baskets with Jaylen Wells chipping in a pair of threes. The teams ratcheted up their offensive execution the rest of the stanza and Charles Bassey’s third dunk of the half allowed San Antonio to head the half up 64-62. Jackson, Jr. and Wells’ threes put Memphis up early in the third. For the third time tonight, Jackson, jr. tried to challenge Wembanyama and was turned away. The teams remained within 1-2 possessions of each other over a handful of minutes. Vassell’s gritty and-1 tied things at 73, but Bane’s steal and dunk put San Antonio down six again. Vassell continued to assert himself with a three, transition dunk, free throws, and midrange jumper. Vassell fed Bassey on a lob to keep the Spurs within two. In a rehash of Wednesday night, the Grizzlies closed the quarter on a devastating 16-0 run and ran away with it. For the Grizzlies fan’s perspective, please visit Beale Street Bears. San Antonio starts its transtlantic trip in earnest with a 2:00 PM CDT tilt Sunday with Tyler Herro and the Miami Heat.