The Nuggets took Game 5, and nearly took Game 6 thanks to a 43-point effort from Jokic, but the Spurs won in the end as Gay contributed 19 points off the bench. The Spurs won Game 3 thanks to a 36-point effort from Derrick White, but Nikola Jokic led the Nuggets to a Game 4 victory. The Spurs won the first game on the road but then were defeated in Game 2 despite 31 points from DeMar DeRozan.
The Spurs returned to the playoffs in 2019 where Gay averaged 11.1 points and 7.1 rebounds in a highly competitive playoff series with the Denver Nuggets. The Spurs were defeated by eventual NBA champion Golden State. Gay averaged just 12.5 points per game and 5.6 rebounds in five games. It was a drastically different type of production compared to back then. The 2018 playoffs were the first for Gay since 2012. After a fourth-place spot in the standings in 2010, the Grizzlies made the postseason, but Gay didn’t record a single statistic due to being hurt. In Gay’s first three seasons, the Grizzlies finished last in the division and won a season total of 22, 22, and 24 wins. However, despite the individual success, Gay never enjoyed the fruits of the postseason. That landed Gay a five-year contract worth over $82 million. He created a franchise record for points in a single season with 1,632 points, scoring a career-high 20.1 points per game in his second season in the league.īy the 2010-2011 season, he had established himself as one of the best small forwards in the league, recording career-high scores several times this season. He averaged 10.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, and played an impactful 27 minutes per game. 8 overall in the 2006 NBA Draft by the Rockets but was traded to the Grizzlies just a few days later.
Gay enjoyed a successful career with the Grizzlies in the regular season.