- LARRY KUZNIEWSKI
- Can the Grizzlies regroup after the worst loss in franchise history?
“They call themselves grit and grind. We kind of took that role in the 4th quarter,” Clippers point guard Chris Paul said a few minutes after his team completed a 28-3 closing run to register one of the greatest fourth-quarter swings in NBA playoff history and leave a capacity FedExForum crowd in stunned silence.
In what was every bit as much of a collapse as a comeback, the Grizzlies probably deserved that shot.
Through three quarters everything was going right in the first home playoff opener in franchise history. As is so often the case when the Grizzlies’ offense is at its best, Marc Gasol and Mike Conley — with four assists each — were directing a balanced attack as the Grizzlies sprinted out to a 34-16 run at the end of the first quarter.
When a 20-point Grizzlies lead eroded to 11 late in the second quarter — mostly with Gasol and Conley on the bench — the team responded with an 8-0 run to end the first half, capped by a buzzer-beating Gasol dunk off a Conley feed.
When the Clippers opened the third quarter on a 5-0 mini-run to get the Grizzlies lead under 15, the Grizzlies went on a five-minute 18-6 run to rebuild a commanding lead. It was during this stretch that Conley hit four consecutive threes and the Clippers’ defense seemed beyond repair.
But the third time was in no way a charm.
