The Lead:
A Mike Conley three-pointer at just under the two-minute mark averted a possible collapse and the Grizzlies held on to extend their current winning streak to four following their opening night loss to the Clippers.
- LARRY KUZNIEWSKI
- The Grizzlies overcame the immense defense of Rockets center Omer Asik to extend their winning streak.
I asked in my game preview whether Rockets center Omer Asik could singlehandedly corral the Grizzlies post game and the answer, tonight, was mostly yes. The huge and very disciplined Rockets’ defender altered everything around the basket in an opening quarter that saw the Grizzlies shoot 8-25, and two days after dominating the Milwaukee Bucks, the Grizzlies’ three-man post rotation combined for a limp 27 points on 10-34 shooting. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Asik bottle up the Grizzlies’ post game in this building, but in the past it’s been off the bench and alongside another great frontcourt defender in former Bulls teammate Taj Gibson. This time, playing a career-high 40 minutes, Asik essentially did it on his own, and with the Grizzlies shooting 6-19 from three-point range, offense was a struggle for most of the night.
But if the Grizzlies’ post players couldn’t duplicate their Wednesday night feats, the team’s bench could as the Grizzlies got yet another strong boost from their reserves.
The Grizzlies started the fourth quarter with a one-point lead and a lineup that featured the four rotation bench players (Jerryd Bayless, Wayne Ellington, Quincy Pondexter, and Marreese Speights) alongside Zach Randolph, and that group was finally able to amp up the team’s energy and get into a groove, rattling off a 16-4 run in the middle of the quarter to build an ultimately insurmountable 12-point lead. Randolph, feeding off his own offensive rebounding, scored the first five points in this stretch, and then everyone else got into the act: Ellington hit a three and then followed that with a fastbreak layup off a Pondexter steal and Bayless feed. Bayless set up Speights for a long jumper and then capped with run with a fastbreak layup off a Pondexter steal and feed.
“I have a comfort zone with [the bench] so I’m not trying to feel around and change the rotation,” Hollins said. “The rotation has pretty much been the same since we started the season. Our bench has been absolutely magnificent in every game but the first game. I keep saying, in order to do anything special, we have to have our guys come off the bench and do their jobs.”
