They imposed their will, and the Grizzlies withered.

The fourth and final meeting between these teams was nothing like their last when it took two overtimes to decide a winner. San Antonio brought heavy artillery while Memphis offered Nerf-quality retaliation.

Misfiring at 39 percent and unable to overcome 17 turnovers, the Grizzlies struggled mightily against the Spurs' defense Friday night before losing, 91-80, in FedExForum.

"They wanted to get this one over with," Griz coach Marc Iavaroni said of the Spurs. "We got down. We got down on ourselves, unfortunately, and that's not going to help. That's only going to make it worse. We've got to do a better job of getting through the tough stretches when a team steps up."

In having their losing streak extended to four games, the Griz struggled to score without their main weapons firing. Leading scorers Rudy Gay and O.J. Mayo combined for just 21 points - the duo's lowest point total this season.

Gay was held to single digits (nine points) for just the second time. Mayo had 12 points on 6-of-14 shooting. The rookie guard averaged 29 points in his first three outings against the Spurs. But Mayo ran into a Spurs' crowd at every turn. San Antonio dared Memphis' frontcourt to do damage.

"We didn't want (Mayo) to go off in the third and fourth quarters," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "We made the decision to try and blitz him every time and keep him out of the mix."

Hakim Warrick led the Griz with 16 points off the bench. Marc Gasol chipped in 15 points and 11 rebounds. Memphis fell behind by 19 points in the third period, and never seriously threatened after that.

Not with Gay and Mayo bottled up.

"When we're running, we can mitigate some of that," Iavaroni said. "But when we're not running, they really load up on (Mayo) and lock into him."

Memphis was limited to six fast-break points.

"They did a good job with ball pressure," Warrick said. "They played the passing lanes. They just wanted it more. They outplayed us from the start. They outrebounded us and out-toughed us. We just didn't have it."

The Spurs pulled away midway through the third by taking advantage of the Grizzlies' stagnant offense and lazy passing. When Parker intercepted a Mayo pass and charged into the lane for a layup, the Spurs led 67-48 with 3:48 left in the period.

That sequence capped a 13-2 Spurs run.

"It seemed like we were throwing the ball right to them," Iavaroni said.

San Antonio finished with 12 steals and six blocks three by Duncan.

"Hopefully," Duncan said, "this is the start of a trend of us playing the kind of defense we want to play - keeping teams in the 80s where we like them."

Duncan's 20 points and 10 rebounds led the Spurs, who got 19 points from Parker. Manu Ginobili added 13 off the bench, including seven straight points to start the fourth quarter. Ginobili then assisted Michael Finley's 3-pointer that put the Spurs ahead 77-61 with 8:58 left in the game. The Griz never got closer than the final margin.

"We didn't play well. I didn't play well," Gay said after his slump continued with 4-for-13 shooting. "These are games that I need to step up, and I didn't. I take the blame for this one. I have to play better."

Mayo called the Grizzlies soft.

"We've got to play harder," Mayo said. "Rebound harder, dive harder, talk more, do everything more and harder. We're a young team, so we can't afford to be nonchalant about anything. We can't be soft anywhere."

Memphis didn't experience any carryover from how it finished the first half.

Trailing by as many as 10 points in the first half, the Griz tightened up their defense and cut the deficit to 44-40 by the intermission.

Their effort without the ball coupled with Warrick's seven points in the quarter helped the Griz climb back into the game. The Spurs committed six of their 10 first-half turnovers and missed 12-of-16 shots in the second period.

Momentum changed from the opening period when the Griz appeared flat-footed on the boards and did little to disrupt the Spurs' offense. San Antonio shot 71 percent in the opening period as Duncan and Parker took turns scoring.

"The last game they jumped on us and had a good first half," Parker said. "We wanted to have a good start and from there play solid Basketball."

Mission accomplished for the Spurs, who sent the Griz back to the practice court searching for answers.

"We've got to go to practice and beat each other up a little bit," Mayo said. "Maybe that will wake us up for the next game."

- Ronald Tillery: 529-2353