The Lead: With half a second left in the game that was tied 108-108, Carmelo Anthony did to the Grizzlies what Zach Randolph did to the Mavericks last weekend and Rudy Gay did to the Heat and the Raptors earlier this season: Delivered a gut-punch loss with a baseline jumper.
The Grizzlies did well to even get the game to that point, after trailing by as much as 17 in the second half and holding a lead (27-26) for a total of 18 seconds during the entire game.
For most of the night, the Knicks delivered an overwhelming offensive barrage, raining jumpers like an entire team of Lamar Mundanes. Through three quarters — after which they held a 96-82 lead — the Knicks were shooting better than 60% from the floor and nearly as well (12-21, 57%) from three-point range. An astounding 74 of those 96 points had come from the perimeter.
That the Grizzlies were still maintaining something of a pulse through all this was do mostly to active play from the starting backcourt of Tony Allen and Mike Conley, who had combined for 38 points on 13-18 shooting and 6 steals. There was a connection between the steals and points, of course — Allen had steals and breakaway layups on consecutive positions midway through the second quarter to tie the game for the last time until the final seconds. Forcing turnovers and scoring in transition was about the only thing the Grizzlies were doing right through three quarters: 22 points off 11 Knicks turnovers and 26 fastbreak points in all.
