That was a game. The Grizzlies avoided what appeared to be a soul-crushing loss and emerged victorious in overtime. Kevin Lipe has the story.
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Month: April 2014
- Larry Kuzniewski
- Zach Randolph broke through last night, putting up 25 points.
Well, that was a much different outcome than the last one. In what was certain to be yet another Instant Classic playoff game between these two teams, the Grizzlies stole one in Oklahoma City last night, swinging home court advantage in the series back to Memphis and heading home for Thursday’s Game 3 with the series tied 1-1. Thanks to a (relatively rare) Kendrick Perkins putback at the buzzer of regulation, they even needed extra time to do it.
First things first, though: Dave Joerger started Tayshaun Prince again in Game 2, but I can’t beat him up for it too much, because his clever use of lineups was a big reason the Grizzlies came up winners last night. Led by Beno Udrih, who stepped up from “Nick Calathes’ backup” to “Oh hey this guy has two championship rings” last night with 14 points on 8 shots in 14 minutes of play, the Griz bench—a key to the team’s success for much of the season, but a non-factor in Game 1—came up big, with Joerger essentially using a 9-man rotation of the Usual Suspects as starters, Tony Allen, Mike Miller, Udrih, and Ed Davis. (Kosta Koufos came in at the very end of OT when Marc Gasol fouled out, but didn’t play enough to be a factor in the game’s outcome).
What got the Grizzlies out ahead, and what gave them a big enough lead that Kevin Durant’s 4th-quarter ridiculousness only tied the game instead of winning it for the Thunder, was the use of a super-small-ball lineup featuring Mike Miller as the power forward. The small lineup of guards running all over the place stretched the OKC defense in such a way that the floor finally opened up for the Grizzlies’ offense in a way it hadn’t yet in the series.
I’m not sure what it is about these two teams that makes almost every game a close one, but it makes for great playoff basketball. The Clippers may be the Grizzlies’ rivals in a WWE sense—they’re the heel at the Grindhouse, filling the whole room with bad vibes and getting chippy enough for Z-Bo to start choke-slamming folks—but the Griz/Thunder matchups (this is their third playoff series against each other in four years, remember) make for better basketball. The matchup of styles, coupled with Tony Allen’s unmatched ability to actually defend Kevin Durant (to the extent possible) brings out the best in both teams, but last night it brought out more “best” in the Grizzlies than it did in the Thunder, and thankfully we’ve now got a real series on our hands, coming back to Memphis for what promise to be two raucous home playoff games, neither of which can possibly be an elimination game!
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Lessons from Game 2
- The small lineup worked, and until the Thunder figure out how to defend it, Dave Joerger should keep using it. It wasn’t just that there were shooters on the floor—although that certainly helped, especially since Courtney Lee broke out of his interminable slump and actually was a shooter—the lineup also caused the Thunder D to break down on the baseline, opening up cutting and driving lanes that hadn’t been there all night. Mike Miller may not be the most optimal small-ball 4, but he sure worked as one last night.
- Another thing that worked last night was the deliberation with which the Grizzlies played the game, especially on offense and in transition. Especially early on (late in the game the Griz started to trade buckets with OKC as the pace increased, which is what allowed the Thunder to force overtime), every Griz offensive possession was slow, methodical, and mostly ugly, with no one shooting until 5 seconds remained on the shot clock. Beyond that, the Grizzlies made a concentrated effort to keep the Thunder from getting out in transition, where they really hurt the Griz in Game 1. Everything got dragged down into the mud, and the Grizzlies were able to assert their will for long stretches of the game, which worked in their favor.
- Tony Allen’s defense on Kevin Durant is a thing of terrible beauty. Allen guards the much taller Durant better than anyone else in the league (not named LeBron James, anyway) and his relentless fight to stay close enough to KD to make him uncomfortable is probably the most fun thing happening in this series so far. He’s always defended him well—even though it took Lionel Hollins longer than anyone would’ve liked to admit as much last season—but this season he’s going at KD like it’s the last time he’ll ever be on a basketball court. I’m sure the Thunder are going to spend a lot of time between now and Game 3 game-planning ways to scrape Allen off Durant, and the more effort they have to expend on that rather than ways to actually beat the Grizzlies, the better.
- Kendrick Perkins actually played pretty well for OKC last night. In the long run, this is probably the best possible thing to happen to the Grizzlies last night (other than the win, obviously) because it’ll give Scott Brooks more confidence in Perkins than he already has, causing him to play Perkins even more. Perkins is essentially good at one thing: post defense, and against Marc Gasol he’s not even very good at that. His size and physicality have been giving Zach Randolph problems so far, but that’s only one matchup. The more Kendrick Perkins is on the floor, the better the Grizzlies’ chances of winning, period—so the fact that Perkins played well last night is actually a win for the Griz.
Man of the Match
Beno Udrih has been ecstatic about being on this Grizzlies roster since he set foot in the locker room, becoming a fan favorite on Twitter even though he seemed destined to ride the pine behind Nick Calathes waiting to step in the moment he was needed, just happy to be on a winning team with a good locker room (read: not the Knicks). When Calathes’ suspension was announced, less than 24 hours before Game 1, the worry became that no matter how good Udrih is, he simply hadn’t played enough minutes to learn the offense well enough to step in at backup point and fill Calathes’ shoes.
But last night, he got hot, and while the Griz still miss Calathes’ length and his court vision, Udrih proved that he’s still got what it takes to contribute on a playoff team, dropping 14 points in 14 minutes and contributing to a big Griz run fueled by the bench.
More of that, please. Bring on Game 3. Maybe Beno will tweet from some other BBQ place on “Elvis Presley Avenue” in the interim.
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Art Houses
Eileen Townsend reviews work at three Memphis house galleries.
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Hate Crimes Workshop
Tennessee Equality Project’s (TEP) monthly meeting for April will feature representatives from the FBI in a presentation about hate crimes.
The FBI representatives will talk about federal hate crimes law, outline the process for reporting a hate crime, share contacts for the local FBI office, and answer any questions from the audience. Sexual orientation and gender identity were added to federal hate crimes law in 2009 with the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
Also at the meeting, candidates running for local office will have a chance to introduce themselves.
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John Shaw’s R&B Round-Up
Wednesday night is starting to become more of a live music night in Memphis, with several venues beginning to book first-rate soul and blues bands. A couple of weeks ago, Memphis Sounds on Third Street downtown in the Econo Lodge began sponsoring Grown Folks Wednesdays, featuring veteran Memphis soul singer Rodney “King” Ellis and his excellent musicians, the Fifth Element Band. This past Wednesday, I got an extra surprise by the opening artist Jolynn Diggs, who I hadn’t heard of before. She is a gifted singer, with a powerful voice, and made a perfect female counterpart to Ellis on the couple of songs they shared. Grown Folks Wednesdays at Memphis Sounds start at 7:30 PM.
Jolynn Diggs with the 5th Element Band-Live at Memphis Sounds from Memphidelity on Vimeo.
John Shaw’s R&B Round-Up
If you buy your Beale Street Music Festival tickets now, you’ll get a 3-day pass for $85. Go lock-in your good times at the right price. You have until midnight. Otherwise the same pass will run you $115.
Just think: You’ll have more money for beer.
Get your savings here.
This extra helping of the Guess Where I’m Eating contest is in honor of the Southern Hot Wings Festival, happening Saturday, April 26th, at Mississippi River Park.
The first person to correctly ID where I’m eating wins a pair of passes to the festival and entry to the VIP tent, which features beverages and food from Fino’s.
The next two people to guess correctly win a pair of passes to the festival.
Here’s a hint: I actually took the wings to-go because it’s way too dark inside to take a picture.
To enter, submit your answer to me via email at ellis@memphisflyer.com.
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Guess Where Susan is Eating This Week
Susan appears to be going old-school with her menu choice this week. Guess where she was and win semi-fabulous prizes.
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Phil Cannon
Frank Murtaugh sings the praises of Phil Cannon — and says it’s okay to hate the Thunder.
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Phil Cannon’s Fight
Phil Cannon’s Fight
Like countless other Memphians, I was rocked by the news last week that Phil Cannon is battling lung cancer. The longtime director of the FedEx St. Jude Classic made it clear in a press release that he intends to take on this fight “with grace, calm, courage, dignity, and a big dose of humor.” Anyone who has known Phil as long as five minutes would expect nothing less.
Phil Cannon
I distinctly remember Phil taking me on my first tour of the TPC Southwind course 20 years ago. I was relatively new to Memphis and working on my first feature for Memphis magazine. But Phil treated me like a reporter with the New York Times, escorting me via golf cart from one fairway to another, explaining the nuances of the course (since redesigned) and how important the tournament has become to this community.
Today, we need to remember how important Phil Cannon has become to this community. In giving most of his life — 47 years and counting — to the longest-running big-league sporting event Memphis can claim, Cannon has made friends far and wide with his passion, first, for Memphis and also for the FedEx St. Jude Classic. The millions of dollars the tournament has raised for St. Jude have Phil’s thumbprint. The corporate connections made over a week of PGA golf were each, in part, handshakes with Phil. And all the smiles. Those you see on the faces of golf fans, the army of volunteers who make the tournament happen, even the golfers themselves. Each of those smiles serves as a salute to Phil Cannon.
Phil’s a pure gentleman. And he’s tough as leather. He’ll win this battle.
• It’s okay to hate the Oklahoma City Thunder. Really, let the hate flow, Grizzly fans.
We’re raised to believe hatred is the most shallow of human emotions, poison to the one doing the hating. “Hater” has become a modern tag for those who choose views — usually to an extreme — that don’t snuggle comfortably with our own. In watching your favorite NBA team face the same opponent for the third time in four postseasons, though, you can toss these views on intolerance to the wind. Picture a Kendrick Perkins scowl, a Nick Collison flop, or, yes, a Kevin Durant jumper from the scorer’s table … and hate the Thunder.
To begin with, I loathe this team’s name. Starting with the Miami Heat in the late Eighties, NBA (and NHL) expansion brought us teams named for weather conditions or, even worse, natural disasters. The Lightning. The Hurricanes. The Avalanche. And, of course, the Thunder. First of all, the name is a grammatical land mine. “The Thunder is a team with bland uniforms.” Or “The Thunder are a team with an ugly logo.” When a young Oklahoma City basketball fan aspires to play for his favorite team, what does he tell his parents? I want to be a Thunderclap?
Oklahoma City, I’ve heard, is a wonderful town. My feelings toward its NBA outfit are exclusive to the team. I actually sympathize for a community that harbors the Houston Astros’ Triple-A affiliate. As redundant as that sentence reads, the RedHawks at least have a nickname worth wearing on a T-shirt. (Alas, the RedHawks also beat Memphis last Saturday night.)
It’s okay to hate the Thunder, Memphis. Channel the emotion wisely, and save some steam for Thursday night when the Grindhouse will (again) host the Grizzlies’ Sooner State nemesis. There’s nothing like some healthy loathing to make your heart pound a little extra for the one you love.