One is a Southwest Division team and postseason staple that recently traded away its face of the franchise north of the border, losing its gritty identity in the process, and the other is — well, you get the joke.
Anyway, the Spurs close out the first leg of their Rodeo Road Trip on Tuesday in Memphis, greatly in need of a win after an 0-4 start to the typically catalyzing rite of passage. Unlike San Antonio’s previous road opponents, the Grizzlies appear firmly headed toward the lottery, a fate they sealed at the trade deadline in sending away organizational cornerstone Marc Gasol to the Raptors.