Duncan Boosts the Revitalized Spurs It is not true that Tim Duncan only has two facial expressions, but you could forgive anyone who arrives at that conclusion after watching him play basketball. Duncan does not twist up his face in anger after a hard dunk or pound his chest after blocking a shot to his teammate. You will not see him offering reassuring smiles or laughing dismissively when a call does not go his way. Duncan, an almost certain future hall of famer, has two looks: a plaintive, wide-eyed stare that he gives officials when he feels wronged, and a focused, deadpan gaze that hardly changes whether his team is up 9 points in overtime or trailing by 18 in the first half. Duncan and the Spurs found themselves in both scenarios during their 104-93 Game 3 win Saturday against the host Memphis Grizzlies. It was a dramatic comeback victory in which Duncan again dominated the overtime period. Days after being named the oldest all-N.B.A. first-team player, Duncan, 37, still had enough in the tank to bulldoze the younger Grizzlies for 24 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks. The Spurs now hold a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference finals, an advantage no team has overcome in the N.B.A. playoffs. But before Duncan's overtime performance became the headline, the Spurs got off to what Coach Gregg Popovich called "one of the worst starts I've ever seen." With the Memphis crowd roaring, the Grizzlies forced eight first-quarter turnovers and led 29-13 at the end of the first quarter. That lead disappeared over the course of the second quarter as Tony Parker and Duncan teamed to once again dismantle the Grizzlies" outstanding defense. After his early turnover troubles, Parker was superlative, torturing the Grizzlies defenders with his bursts to the basket and accurate jump shot. No matter how the Grizzlies chose to guard him, he made the right read, slipped through the cracks and continued to propel his team's offense. Even when the Spurs were winning titles and Parker was named the most valuable player of the finals, he was never this explosive. His improved consistency from the perimeter perfectly complements his canny manipulation of the Spurs" offense. Not only does Parker know every angle and read within their intricate sets, he still has the physical gifts to blow past all-N.B.A. defenders. While Parker, 31, is in his prime, the Spurs are an odd mix of too young or too old. Yet they have clearly improved in the last two seasons and are a game away from sweeping the same core of Grizzlies players who upset them in the first round two seasons ago. Though the Grizzlies won a franchise-record 56 regular-season games, it is their opponent that has grown the most since they last met in the playoffs. "We have been old for probably eight years," said the 35 year-old guard Manu Ginobili. I remember in 2007, our last championship, they were saying we are old. Since that disastrous Memphis series, Popovich and General Manager R.C. Buford have been developing their younger, more athletic players as their core stars age. Playing in San Antonio is an immersion course in intelligent basketball. When Kawhi Leonard first arrived as a 20-year-old first-round pick, he was immediately lectured on the value of the corner 3-pointer, one of the most efficient shots in the game and one the Spurs" offense strives to create. Two seasons with essentially the same roster has afforded Popovich time to shape his players" instincts, and Buford has supplied him with a trio of athletic youngsters to bolster the defense. Leonard, Danny Green and center Tiago Splitter have flipped the 2011 series on its head. Suddenly, it is the Spurs who are too quick and aggressive for the Grizzlies in the paint. Through three games, the Grizzlies are shooting a measly 42 percent at the rim. Splitter, a 7-footer from Brazil, has been vital to San Antonio's defense of Zach Randolph, the Grizzlies" leading scorer. Banging on the low block with Randolph is one of the toughest tasks in the league, but Splitter accepted the challenge and has used his size advantage and quick feet to frustrate him. Duncan and Splitter form an enormous front-line tandem, but their duplicate skill sets often meant the Spurs struggled to score when they played together. In true Spurs fashion, the two big men have tweaked their games and developed a system in which they can not only coexist but thrive. "They've read each other position-wise and how to work with each other," Popovich said of Duncan and Splitter's improved chemistry. Timmy's going to look to shoot more jump shots than in the previous part of his career and Tiago's a great roller so they're going to work together in that way. The Spurs provided a seminar on offensive execution in overtime, and Duncan and Splitter were the keynote speakers. After sinking an 18-footer and beating Marc Gasol off the dribble, Duncan fed Splitter for two baskets inside, essentially sealing the game. Two seasons ago, the Spurs" collapse against the bigger, tougher Grizzlies seemed like the final chapter in their storied run of dominance. Now up by 3-0, Duncan stands on the doorstep of his fifth trip to the N.B.A. finals, somehow once again the best center in basketball. It is no coincidence that the last year he received all-N.B.A. honors is also the last time the Spurs won a title.