- LARRY KUZNIEWSKI
- Marc Gasol scored 19 of the Grizzlies’ 72 points, but the Clippers’ bench made the decisive plays in Game 7.
A good season came to a bad end for the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum today. In the first homecourt Game 7 in franchise history, the Grizzlies took a precarious one-point lead into the final quarter but were out-worked and out-executed by the Los Angeles Clippers, as has been the case for so much of this series.
Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins declined to respond to a question about fourth-quarter performance in his post-game press conference, calling the issue “far-fetched,” but in a seven-game series where the teams seemed to be so evenly matched, the issue is unavoidable. The Grizzlies out-scored the Clippers 640-635 on the series, but the Clippers won the fourth quarters and overtimes 183-146.
The Grizzlies have often been able to build leads early in this series, but not today in an ugly first quarter that saw teams shoot a combined 13 for 47 and the Clippers take a 16-13 lead through the first 12 minutes. The Grizzlies responded to a 10-point Clipper lead midway through the second by closing the half on a 15-6 run that featured the kind of energy and intensity that eluded the Grizzlies for most of the game. But when the Clippers built another lead with an 11-2 run in the early minutes of the final quarter, the Grizzlies couldn’t respond, as the Clippers’ bench led a 27-16 fourth quarter.
And that was another series-long trend that became more prominent in this game. The Clippers entered this post-season with the reputation as a pretty, high-flying team. But, in the playoffs, hard-nosed, defensive players like Eric Bledsoe, Kenyon Martin, and especially Reggie Evans emerged into bigger roles, especially in the fourth quarters, transforming the character of their team.
