When a timeout was called with 14.6 seconds left in overtime and his team up 101-93, Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins grabbed a towel — not, unfortunately, a “growl towel” — and wiped his face. A few seconds later he was raising his fists in victory as streamers fell, music played, and 18,119 Memphians (minus a few handfuls of Thunder fans) looked around with dumbfounded joy. The Grizzlies had won — 101-93 — in overtime.
Hollins earned the perspiration and the celebration. In a game where his team looked physically overmatched for most of three quarters and trailed by 16 late in the third quarter, Hollins found a way, keeping the team alive and finally turning the game around with a series of astute decisions:
Going Big: Late in the first quarter, with the Grizzlies down five, Hollins threw a curveball at the Thunder by going big, pairing little-used reserve center Hamed Haddadi with, first, Marc Gasol, and then Zach Randolph. It worked, as the Grizzlies went on a 16-9 run with Haddadi getting 5 points, 2 offensive rebounds, and a block — and also, as tends to happen when Haddadi plays well, energizing fans and teammates. What Hollins said: “I felt like they were hurting us on the boards, in the previous two games actually. And I kept saying that I needed to have a bigger guy on the court. I kept thinking about it, all last night and all day today, and I told one of the assistants, I think I’m going to go big when I sub.”
Halftime Lineup Change: With the Thunder packing the paint and O.J. Mayo playing well early (8 first-half points off the bench), Hollins did something he rarely does — changed his starting lineup at the break, inserting Mayo for Sam Young. The Grizzlies played the Thunder a little better than even for the first five minutes of the third, until Russell Westbrook lead a 9-0 Thunder run (scoring the first seven and assisting on the eight and ninth) to build what would be the Thunder’s largest lead, 68-52 with five minutes left in the quarter.
