By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The Memphis Grizzlies of Marc Gasol, Beno Udrih, Nick Calathes and Kostas Koufos advanced in the West semifinals over the Portland Trail Blazers by beating them 99-93 (4-1).
The Spanish star was dominant (26 p., 14 r.), Greek-American Calathes was the starting point guard (6 p., 4 r., 4 as.), Slovenian Udrih came from the bench (4 p., 3 r., 1 as.) and also Greek-American Koufos added 7 rebounds in 9 minutes. Frenchman Nicolas Batum had 6 points on 2/12 shots, 10 rebounds and 7 assists for the losing side and England’s Joel Freeland wasn’t used. The series will be remembered also from a Euro-incident which has taken much more publicity in the States. Before the start of Game 1 among the motivational messages on the Blazers locker room, Batum has written “We don’t lose to Spanish players”. It’s part of the long Spanish-French feud that has to do mainly with the national teams, however in the States it was considered racist.
Also the Hawks of Pero Antic and Dennis Schroder beat the Nets (107-97) of Bojan Bogdanovic and gain a 3-2 lead in their series.