AT&T Center – Four weeks ago, Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol was named the 2013 NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Gasol and the Grizzlies were defensive juggernauts in the regular season as they won games with their style of play, “grit and grind.”

Today, with Gasol’s Grizzlies down 0-2 to the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, something was visible Tuesday that didn’t catch a lot of the spotlight. Game 2 was all about Tim Duncan’s offense in the headlines, but not much was mentioned in regards to his defense.

Going back to four weeks ago, Gasol won the DPOY award with a total of 212 points. His teammate Tony Allen even finished fifth in the voting with 102 total points. However, even after Duncan and the Spurs began to insert themselves in top defensive categories this season as they did in their prime defensive years, Duncan only received 94 total votes and finished 6th in voting.

“It was huge,” said Tony Parker Tuesday of Duncan’s scoring plays in overtime. “He made some big baskets for us. A big rebound and it was a great boost for us.”

That's Grizzlies' Tony Allen flailing on the court, apparently in agony as he is grabbing his head after San Antonio Spurs' Manu Ginobili was called for a flagrant foul late in the fourth quarter of Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals. But was it more an outstanding overreacting job by Allen?

Clearly Manu went for his arm but no where did Allen hit his head during his fall yet there he was, clutching his head seemingly in agony.

When asked about Manu's foul postgame, Allen replied, "Yes, most definitely. He cannot pull me out the air."

However, this isn't the first time Allen showed off his flopping skills on the court.

According to Jared Greenberg of NBA TV, San Antonio Spurs' Tony Parker will undergo an MRI on his calf during the three-day layoff before Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals versus Memphis.

Tony Parker to undergo an MRI tomorrow on calf. Says three days off couldn't have come at a better time @nba. @nbatv @nbaontnt

— Jared Greenberg (@NBATVJared) May 22, 2013

Parker, who led the Spurs in Game 2 with 15 points and a career playoff high 18 assists, showed no signs of any calf injury during the overtime win. However, during the semifinals versus the Warriors, he did suffer a left calf injury when Andrew Bogut kicked him in Game 3. Parker did finish out the series versus Golden State despite the "baseball" size knot in his calf. At that time, no medical tests were given.

This feels eerily similar. Deja vu, maybe.

AT&T CENTER -- Whether looking at a series as a whole, or individual games, the objective in the  playoffs remains the same. Make a run, build a lead, and then protect that lead with everything you have.

Through three quarters the San Antonio Spurs appeared to pick up where they left off in Game 1, combining a dominant defensive performance with a precision offense directed by the brilliant play of point guard Tony Parker.  For a brief moment in the third quarter, Parker was at the height of his powers, getting into the middle of the Grizzlies defense and reading their schemes and rotations at an elite level.

When Parker wasn’t finding Tiago Splitter at the rim for a layup or dunk, he was kicking out passes to Danny Green or Kawhi Leonard for open three-pointers. Parker scored four points and eight of his career-high 18 assists in a third quarter that saw the Spurs build an 18-point lead.

The matchup of the game for Game 2 in the Western Conference Finals will be between Tim Duncan and Zach Randolph.

Duncan had a 6 point, 10 rebound game in Game 1, which wasn't the prettiest offensive numbers for the Spurs' cornerstone. He did make up for it on the defensive end, holding Randolph to 2 points (1-8 shooting). Duncan's commitment to stopping Randolph paid off for the Spurs because of the Grizzlies couldn't get into an offensive rhythm. Memphis had to rely on different offensive pieces for the top options, something they weren't used to with Z-Bo on the floor for them. With Duncan towards the end of his career, his offensive numbers weren't that important as he's willing and able to be the fifth option if necessary without the Spurs losing any rhythm.

What Duncan must do on offense:

Between Games 1 and 2 I had a chance to catch up with Joshua Red Coleman from the fantastic Memphis Grizzlies Blog, 3 Shades of Blue for a little back and forth talk reflecting on Game 1 and expectations moving forward.

Project Spurs: So, Game 1 seemed to be full of outliers both in terms of the San Antonio Spurs accuracy from deep and the Grizzlies allowing so many open looks from the corners. Both teams seemed quick to write the blowout off as an outlier, but was there anything you saw from Game 1 that might apply for the rest of the series?

3SOB: I think the biggest thing you can take away from Game 1 as a potential foreshadowing is that, when the Spurs are allowed to run their sets, they are a dominant offensive team. Also, over helping on defense in the paint is a very bad idea against them, as they have the shooters to make an opponent pay for that.

The San Antonio Spurs landed the first punch in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals versus the Memphis Grizzlies winning 105-83 in San Antonio. They way the Spurs won was a bit of a surprised considering Memphis s one of the better defensive teams and looked very formidable heading into Game 1 versus the Spurs. Also, no one expected Zach Randolph to have a dismal performance in Game 1.

The Spurs and Grizzlies tipoff later today and the Spurs are expecting a different Memphis team than the one they played Sunday afternoon.

Check out what Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, coach Gregg Popovich and Danny Green had to say about Game 1 including their thoughts on Game 2 and how Parker is expecting a "war" tonight.

Parker on the Spurs' offense and is ready for "war" tonight against the Grizzlies:

Being an NBA player in the era of super teams has to be tough. From player movement through draft day trades, offseason free agency and the midseason trade deadline, it would not be to my surprise if most players rented homes until they complete a full year with a new team.

One minute you are an exciting new player sure to dazzle crowds and the next you can be shipped off to the next NBA city as an underperforming throw-in as part of a trade or salary dump. While player movement has long been part of the NBA, I can’t remember so many key players moving from team-to-team in their careers and collecting a new jersey as their “thanks for playing” prize.

AT&T Center - The San Antonio Spurs throttled the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, 105-83. From precise offensive execution, a franchise playoff record 14 threes made to holding Zach Randolph nearly scoreless for the game, the Spurs put on a clinic to go up 1-0 in the series.

However, Memphis has been in this spot before in the postseason. They were down 0-1 against the Clippers and Thunder only to rally and win both series.

After the game, I caught up with Memphis' Austin Daye, who finished Game 1 with 4 points, and 1 rebound, spoke about the loss to the Spurs, adjustments heading into Game 2 tonight, confidence, and more including his thought's on Tony Parker's MVP-caliber regular season.