(SportsNetwork.com) - Two Western Conference powers collide Sunday night when the Memphis Grizzlies travel to the AT&T Center to take on the San Antonio Spurs.
The Grizzlies are the No. 2 seed in the conference, but their advantage has shrunk to a half-game over the Houston Rockets for both that spot and the Southwest Division lead.
Memphis has lost two in a row, decisively, and will not be able to catch Golden State for the top seed in the Western Conference. When the Warriors defeated the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, they clinched the top seed in the conference playoffs.
The Spurs are sixth in the standings, just a game behind the Portland Trail Blazers and 1 1/2 in front of the Dallas Mavericks, who are seventh in the conference.
Memphis has looked bad in its last two outings. The Grizzlies fell to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers by 22 at home on Wednesday, then lost to the Warriors by 23 on Beale Street Friday.
"Another tough night. We played a very, very good team," Grizzlies coach David Joerger said. "We did not play very well again, which is very disappointing."
Mike Conley and Jeff Green each scored 16 points to lead Memphis. Marc Gasol scored 13 points and Zach Randolph managed 10 points.
Stephen Curry scored the first five points of the second half as Golden State grabbed a double-digit edge. He canned successive 3s later in the quarter to extend the lead to 21, and Golden State brought an 85-65 lead into the fourth.
The Warriors led by as many as 24 as they improved to 39-0 this season when holding their opponents under 100.
The Grizzlies had won 12 of their last 14 against the Warriors and 10 of 11 as the host versus Golden State.
The Spurs have won five of their last six and seem to be peaking at the perfect time. The defending NBA champions have won four in a row in Alamo City, but hit the road starting Tuesday in Miami.
On Friday, just two days after a 39-point dismantling of the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Spurs clobbered the Dallas Mavericks, 94-76.
Boris Diaw scored 19 points to lead the Spurs. Danny Green had 14 points, Tiago Splitter donated 13 points and seven rebounds, while Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard each gave 12 points and six boards for San Antonio.
"They did well. We shared the ball really well. We have got to get assists, that's how we score," Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said. "We had about seven guys with three assists or more. That's how we have to play."
San Antonio handed out 28 assists on 37 made field goals.
The Spurs never trailed in this game, but did go cold in the third quarter. Dallas got within five, but Diaw made a 3-pointer to start a 12-2 run to begin the fourth quarter. The Spurs held an 81-63 lead with just under seven minutes to play. The lead reached as high as 21 as San Antonio cruised to the finish.
The Grizzlies have won two of three this season against the Spurs. Memphis prevailed over the Spurs in San Antonio in three overtimes on Dec. 17.
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