career-best 32 points in a win against Flo

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Tim Duncan is doing his very best to get the San Antonio Spurs back to the NBA Finals one more time. The 37-year-old centre took control in overtime for a second straight game, this time scoring the first five points as the Spurs rallied from an 18-point deficit to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 104-93 Saturday night. That put them a win away from their first finals since 2007. "He was huge for us the other night in overtime and got it done for us, and he did it again tonight," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of the two-time MVP. "Thats why he is considered as great as he has for the last 17 years. Hes been unbelievable. He feels a responsibility to carry us in those kinds of times, and he did it again tonight." Duncan wants to get back to the finals after being on the verge last year. He said he was more aggressive in overtime after being a bit tentative with his shot in regulation. "Im not worried about how old I am or whatever, whatever it may be," Duncan said. "Im very focused on having another opportunity to make it to a championship and try to win, thats all." The Spurs grabbed a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference finals and now have won five straight this post-season. With the memory of blowing a 2-0 lead a year ago in the West finals to Oklahoma City, when they lost the next four, the Spurs shook off their sloppy play early and pushed the young Grizzlies to the edge of elimination in the first West final played in Memphis. The Grizzlies knocked off the Clippers after trailing 0-2 and upset the Wests top seed in Oklahoma City in the semifinals. Now their task is even tougher with Game 4 in Memphis on Monday night. "Weve been fortunate to get this far, and weve got to play better if we want to continue," Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said. Memphis set up for the final shot to win in regulation, but guard Mike Conley missed on a runner at the buzzer. He said he went a little too deep in the paint on the shot. No NBA team has lost a series when leading 3-0. "It is frustrating, but you know it gives us hope at the same time knowing that we can fight our way back," Conley said. "And we have had chances to win each of these games. This was a tough one to swallow, but it was a good learning lesson. Theres no group of guys Id rather be with down 3-0 to try to fight back in it." San Antonio, which didnt lead this game until the opening minute of the fourth quarter, can wrap up the series Monday in Memphis and get back to the finals for a shot at their fifth title as a franchise. "One of the best wins Ive witnessed being a Spur," Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said. The Spurs hit eight of their 10 shots in overtime, with Duncan scoring seven of his 24 points. He also had 10 rebounds. Tony Parker had five of his 26 in overtime, and even Tiago Splitter, playing with four fouls, scored six in the extra five minutes to finish with 11. "For whatever reason, we didnt panic," Parker said of a start that included four turnovers in the first quarter. "We knew they wanted to come with a lot of energy in the first half. We played our game and came back." Mike Conley led Memphis with 20 points. Marc Gasol had 16 points and 14 rebounds, Zach Randolph added 14 and 15, and Quincy Pondexter had 15 points. But the Grizzlies, who thrived at the free throw line in knocking off Oklahoma City, got there only 18 times and made only 10. The Grizzlies last led 85-84 with 1:04 left in regulation on a 15-footer by Gasol. After that, they managed only to tie it up twice, the last on a layup by Randolph with 4:28 left in overtime. Duncan scored and knocked down the free throw with 4:10 remaining to put the Spurs ahead to stay. The Spurs dominated the Grizzlies in the paint, outscoring Memphis 58-42 to offset their 17 turnovers, which the Grizzlies turned into 25 points. After the Grizzlies outscored San Antonio in the first quarter, the Spurs outscored them in each of the final three periods and overtime, where they had an 18-7 edge to put away the win. Memphis, which had a lead for only 90 seconds in San Antonio, opened up with its trademark grit and grind defence, forcing eight turnovers in the first quarter to grab an 18-point lead. The Spurs quit turning the ball over and whittled away that lead to set up a doozy of a fourth quarter where the teams swapped the lead 11 times with 10 ties -- all in the final 17 minutes. "They went small real quick, and we couldnt contain the pick and roll ...," Gasol said. "Its painful to watch." With neither team leading by more than two in the final 8 minutes of regulation, fans stayed on their feet, holding their "Believe Memphis" towels trying to will the Grizzlies to yet another win. Ginobili scored seven of his 19 points in the quarter, and he put the Spurs back up first with a layup with 1:19 left and then a pair of free throws with 54.5 seconds remaining. But Ginobili also picked up his fourth foul, giving Tony Allen a chance to split free throws and tie it up at 86 for the ninth time. Ginobili then missed a 3-pointer with 20.9 seconds left with Allen getting the rebound. With the Spurs taking control in their second straight overtime win in this series, they pushed their lead to as much as 11 down the stretch and sent fans heading toward the exits. The Grizzlies lost for the first time at home this post-season and just their second since Feb. 8. Conley, who led the NBA in total steals this season, set the tone with a steal on the Spurs first possession. Parker, who set a career high in the post-season with 18 assists in Game 2, finished with seven turnovers. San Antonio turned it over eight times in the first, with the Grizzlies stealing seven of those, prompting Popovich to pull his starters and go with five fresh Spurs. "It was one of the worst starts Ive ever seen," Popovich said. Memphis went up by as much as 18 and was ahead 29-13 at the end of the first quarter. The Spurs opened the second quarter with an 11-2 run and hit 10 of their first 15 to pull within 42-36. The Grizzlies went into halftime up 44-40. In the third, the Spurs pulled within a point six different times only to see the Grizzlies hit another bucket to hold onto the lead. San Antonio closed the quarter with a 12-4 run and trailed 65-64 on a bucket by Duncan. The Spurs picked up in the fourth quarter and finally got their first lead of the game on a corner 3-pointer from Danny Green -- his first bucket of the game -- with 11:45 left to set up the back and forth quarter. Notes: Duncan had his 144th post-season double-double, moving into second by himself behind Magic Johnson. ... Conleys five steals in the first quarter were the most in a quarter of a playoff game over the past 10 postseasons, according to Elias Sports Bureau. He finished with five turnovers. ... The Grizzlies had their 16th straight post-season sellout. ... The Spurs now have played five overtime periods this post-season, the most in franchise history. ... The Grizzlies are 1-2 in overtime games this post-season. Custom Johnny Bower Jersey .C. -- Al Jefferson joked that he feels he can score from anywhere on the court. Maple Leafs Jerseys China . After the whistle, Thornton skated the length of the ice, pulled Orpik to the ice from behind and punched him in the face several times. http://www.custommapleleafsjersey.com/ . -- Tony Stewart is 20 pounds lighter and has a titanium rod in his surgically repaired right leg. Johnny Bower Jersey Large . Louis. To which I would say two things: 1. Where there is smoke, there is or perhaps has been a little fire. Or, in other words, the two teams would appear to have at least spoken. And spoken is defined as one calling the other to inquire, no more, no less. Custom Maple Leafs T-shirts .875,000, avoiding arbitration. Clippards deal Monday means all eight Nationals players who filed for arbitration wound up settling before a hearing. Editors note: Charlie Creme, Graham Hays and Mechelle Voepel each vote to determine espnWs national player of the week, which is awarded every week of the womens college basketball season.For seven quarters of basketball over the past seven days, Temples Feyonda Fitzgerald put together a really good week. It was the eighth quarter she played that set her apart.From DePaul. And from the rest of the country.Temples Fitzgerald is espnWs player of the week after the senior guard totaled 44 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and seven steals in victories against No. 17 DePaul and at Rutgers. Temples win over the Blue Demons was its first against a ranked nonconference opponent in nearly a decade, since a win against Purdue in 2007 when Fitzgerald was in middle school.Add those results to a win the previous weekend against Villanova, a game in which Fitzgerald scored 20 points, and the Owls have three consecutive victories against teams from traditionally bigger leagues. That is one fewer than they earned the past three seasons combined.But if Fitzgerald was a lonely source of offensive optimism in Saturdays somewhat dour 48-37 win at Rutgers -- she scored 19 points in 40 minutes to help the Owls move to 7-3 -- her fourth quarter against DePaul made the week.Fitzgerald led all scorers with 25 points in the 84-74 victory over the Blue Demons, with both the scoring distinction and the result impressive enough against the likes of Jessica January. Each was made all the more remarkable by the fact Fitzgerald entered the final quarter with just 10 points.She scored seven points in the first half as teammate Alliya Butts shot the Owls into contention when the teams traded big quarters. Then a lot of work from Donnaizhaa Fountain and Ruth Sherrill turned a one-point halftime deficit into a small third-quarter advantage.dddddddddddd But with that lead at just two points, Fitzgerald hit a 3-pointer with 8 seconds left in the third quarter to put the Owls up 55-50. She was just getting started.Fitzgerald engineered a 5-0 run all of her own early in the fourth quarter, capped by a three-point play that pushed the lead to 12 points. When the Blue Demons made one attempt to rally, Fitzgerald hit a 3-pointer that wiped out the push. When a late surge by DePaul cut the deficit to single digits, she hit two free throws to push it back to double digits. When Temples lead twice dipped to seven points, she again knocked down free throws. She attempted nine free throws in the quarter and hit eight.It was just over a year ago that Fitzgerald scored a career-best 32 points in a win against Florida. Yet she was reminded that points are relative earlier this month when it took her 27 field goal attempts to produce 29 points in a loss at Hampton. Against the Blue Demons, and never more than with each fraught possession in the final quarter, she scored the most meaningful of points.DePaul scored 24 points in the fourth quarter and didnt make up any ground.It picked the wrong game to test Temples leading scorer.Also considered: Alaina Coates, South Carolina; Ashley Deary, Northwestern; Diamond DeShields, Tennessee; Chanette Hicks, Virginia Tech; Victoria Vivians, Mississippi StatePrevious winners: Notre Dames Ogunbowale (Nov. 21) | Virginia Techs Hicks (Nov. 28) | Dukes Greenwell (Dec. 5) | UConns Williams (Dec. 12) ' ' '