The Grizzlies’ playoff match-up will be determined tonight and will be followed — either tomorrow afternoon or Friday morning — by a lengthy series breakdown on this site. But, for now, let’s put a close to our regular season coverage with this, a clip-laden countdown of the season’s 10 best moments:
10. Marc Gasol From Deep
I wanted to use the play from late in the March 27th win over the Spurs, where Gasol hit a hook shot to put the team up four in the final minute then stormed down the sideline, hulking up and screaming. But I couldn’t find a good clip of that. Instead, for a Gasol moment, I’ll go with this end-of-half buzzer-beater during an April 1st win at New Orleans. This was the rare three-pointer that was a power play, Gasol using his strength to push his way through a Hornets defender and bury the — admittedly lucky — shot. Bonus points for O.J. Mayo running over to the prostrate Gasol and pounding him on the chest.
9. Rudy Ties it Up at Phoenix:
A season turning point. The Grizzlies came into the game 8-14, what would turn out to be a season-worst six games under .500. Their previous trip to Phoenix had been one of the most bruising and unlikely losses in franchise history. And they lost a five-point lead with under four minutes to go, eventually finding themselves down three with two seconds to play, inbounding the ball on the sideline. Rudy’s clutch corner three sent the game to overtime, where the Grizzlies outscored the Suns 12-6 to win it. This was the moment of ascent for the 2010-2011 Grizzlies.
