Video: Vince Carter turned back the clock and threw a block party against the Spurs
The Memphis Grizzlies submitted a throwback gritty and grind-y defensive effort against the San Antonio Spurs, cementing themselves as the most dangerous playoff-bound underdog, and nobody embodied that vintage determination more than a 40-year old Vince Carter in the fourth quarter.
On one sequence midway through the final frame, Carter blocked LaMarcus Aldridge and Kyle Anderson on back-to-back layup attempts, despite giving up a total of eight inches to the two Spurs forwards. Just over a minute later, Carter rejected Aldridge again at the rim, bringing his block total to four for the game and helping stave off one last San Antonio comeback in a hard-fought 89-74 victory.
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Carter had a career-high six blocks as a 22-year-old rookie in March 28, 1999, and he hasn’t had more than four since early in his second NBA season. He’s matched Monday’s effort 17 times in his career, and he hadn’t logged four blocks in a single game since April 13, 2009, when he was just 32 years old.
Only one other 40-year-old has ever logged four blocks in a game since the NBA started recording them in 1973: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who did it three times. Carter is the oldest player ever to record four blocks against the Spurs — three years older than a 37-year-old Hakeem Olajuwon in 2000 — and the oldest non-center to do it by a decade (Craig Ehlo in a loss to San Antonio at age 30 in 1991).
Carter’s performance embodied a defensive effort we haven’t seen since 2011, when the Philadelphia 76ers were the last team to hold the Spurs to 74 or fewer points. The Grizzlies held the Spurs to 36.6 percent shooting, a number no doubt helped by Kawhi Leonard’s absence due to a quad contusion.
Still, Memphis has won five of six games, keeping opponents under 100 points in each of the five wins and holding steady as the league’s fourth-best defense (102.6 points allowed per 100 possessions). More importantly, the Grizzlies have climbed out of the cellar in offensive rating, improving from one of the league’s least efficient offenses to a middle-of-the-pack unit — and a top-10 outfit since Jan. 1.
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As a result, they’ve moved into a virtual tie with the Los Angeles Clippers for fifth place in the Western Conference and within two games of the Utah Jazz for a home playoff seed. Following Monday’s win, the Grizzlies are the only team to beat the Spurs, Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers this season. Add in a victory against the Houston Rockets, and Memphis is 6-2 against the NBA’s top four title favorites, including a 2-0 record against the two-time defending West champion Warriors.
There’s little doubt any title contender will feel comfortable entering a playoff series against the Grizzlies, especially now that their ageless veteran forward has transformed into a rim protector extraordinaire. Just one more reason “The NBA has never seen a 40-year-old like Vince Carter.”
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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
