At one in the morning, half an hour after his team had lost a thrilling, draining, triple-overtime playoff game to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Tony Allen sat alone in his locker, feet in ice, hands clasped behind his head, staring ruefully into the distance of a solemn, exhausted locker room.
Moments earlier, Allen had been surrounded by reporters, one of whom tried to give him a chance to champion his team’s fight, it’s “grit grind.” But Allen, the only Grizzlies’ regular with a championship ring in his possession, wouldn’t bite. Nearly smirking, he responded, “There ain’t no moral victories. We’re upset. Now we gotta go get one in Oklahoma City. Like I said, [this game] was a great showcase for fans, but we needed it more than they did.”
In this month of firsts for the long-suffering Memphis Grizzlies franchise and their mix of old and new fans, this was another one. If every game has been, almost comically, “the most important game in franchise history,” it will be hard to displace this as the most epic.
The beginning was a lifetime ago, a 14-4 opening Grizzlies run in which Allen created — in one way or another — every single point. It swelled to an 18-point Grizzlies lead by early in the second quarter, and as long as these two teams were playing conventional lineups and normal rotations, the Grizzlies remained in control. But, soon, a mix of desperation and foul trouble forced the Thunder into smaller lineups that soon began to turn the game, forcing the Grizzlies to match.
By the late second quarter foul trouble was rampant for both teams — six players entered halftime with three fouls — and the lineup juggling it forced knocked the Grizzlies out of rhythm.
With less than two minutes left in regulation, the Grizzlies were down seven points. But after Saturday night’s Game 3 comeback, that “Believe Memphis” slogan is no longer much doubted in FedExForum. And sure enough, there came a 7-0 closing Grizzlies run that culminated in Marc Gasol blocking Russell Westbrook in the lane and Mike Conley hovering around before launching a high-arching three-point shot that found net with 3.5 seconds left.
Overtime.
