Larry Kuzniewski
Last night the Grizzlies took down the Orlando Magic 103–94 in a game that felt like a blowout but wasn’t, one of the Grizzlies’ many patented “Hey isn’t this a bad team let’s just get a double-digit lead and hang on to it” performances against lesser opponents this season. After a back-and-forth first quarter—the Magic aren’t a good team this year, but they are young and improving, with Victor Oladipo, Nikola Vucevic, and Elfrid Payton all rapidly learning the ropes—and a masterful performance by Zach Randolph to open the game, the Griz went on a bench-led run in the 2nd quarter that put them up by double digits and never looked back.
With Tony Allen out with an ankle injury suffered against the 76ers on Saturday, Jordan Adams was called up from the Iowa Energy, where he’s been on a bit of a hot streak lately, but he never actually saw the floor. Instead, the Grizzlies milked their 20 point lead down into a 10 point one without having to try very hard—just ask Zach Randolph, who found himself with 24, 8 and 6 in the third and instead of hunting for assists to get his triple double he started taking as many 3-pointers as he felt like, and made what might have been the worst fast break lob pass attempt I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Z-Bo continued his streak of double-double games (he’s got 9 in a row now, every game since returning from his knee injury) and put on a show against a Magic team that just had no way to stop him and Marc Gasol at the same time.
Larry Kuzniewski
The best news for the Grizzlies: nobody played more than 35 minutes, and a lot of the 4th quarter minutes weren’t exactly all-out. The Grizzlies take on the Mavericks in Dallas tonight on the SEGABABA, which is almost always a schedule loss, and they may be without Allen again as well as Mike Conley, who sprained his wrist after catching it in a jersey coming off a screen last night. If the Griz can manage to knock off Dallas on the road without Conley and Allen, one would suspect that the lack of huge minutes against the Magic would be a big part of the equation.
Game Notes Haiku
[jump]
Larry Kuzniewski
1. Z-Bo shoots a three
It clanks, and when you ask him:
“I practice that shot.”
2. Beno from mid-range
Burning surface of the sun—
Nuclear hot hand.
3. Seven years older
Than Magic’s oldest starter:
Happy birthday Vince.
Larry Kuzniewski
4. He has been released
to dunk what Beno throws him
Jonny Basketball.
5. You can move the boy
Barcelona to Memphis
But he’ll still do this:
La Masia product Marc Gasol RT AminESPN: LOL! Marc Gasol trying to head the ball into the basket, soccer style https://t.co/swAEH9RYJe
— netw3rk (@netw3rk) January 27, 2015
