- LARRY KUZNIEWSKI
- Marc Gasol drew a crowd but still lead the Grizzlies to an 87-81 win and a 2-1 series lead over the Thunder Saturday night.
From the arena concourse to the locker room to the dais of the post-game press conference, the mood was more one of relief than exultation for the Grizzlies and their fans after escaping with an 87-81 win at FedExForum Saturday night to take a 2-1 series lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Grizzlies won this tight game for much the same reason they had lost Game 1 in Oklahoma City; free throws. The Grizzlies converted 23 of 28 attempts at the line (82%), including a perfect 6-6 from Marc Gasol and Mike Conley in the game’s final two minutes, while Thunder star Kevin Durant — a career 88% foul shooter — suffered a devastating empty trip with under a minute to play. Those Grizzlies free throws were the only points scored in the game’s final two minutes, which began with the teams tied 81-81.
In addition to Durant’s missed free throws, the Thunder also watched Derek Fisher, so strong in Oklahoma City, miss an open three off a turnover on the subsequent possession.
With Lionel Hollins astutely managing offense/defense substitutions down the stretch to mitigate potential mismatches against the Thunder’s small-ball lineup and with Conley and Gasol coming up clutch from the charity stripe, the Grizzlies’ late game execution pulled them through what had been a shaky performance for much of the game.
“I feel like every game we have gotten better and today we were not better than the last game,” Gasol said afterward.
