- LARRY KUZNIEWSKI
- His double-double streak ended, but Zach Randolph still came up strong.
The Lead: With Mike Conley a late scratch due to “flu-like symptoms,” the Grizzlies got a taste of life without their starting point guard, and it was not good. With Conley out and the quick, pesky defense of Cleveland’s Anderson Varejao keeping Marc Gasol from operating as comfortably out of the high post as he has for most of this season, the Grizzlies offense struggled all night, to the tune of a season-low 84 points against what has been, statistically, the second-worst defense in the NBA.
For most of the game, the Grizzlies’ out-of-sorts O wasn’t much worse than their curiously flat-footed D, allowing a Cavs team playing without their own starting point guard — emerging star Kyrie Irving — to shoot 48% and take a 69-62 lead into the fourth quarter. It was the first time this season the Grizzlies had trailed after three quarters.
But the Grizzlies clamped down defensively in fourth quarter, finally bringing full grit-and-grind intensity to an otherwise sleepy Monday-night game against a low-profile opponent.
The Grizzles began the fourth with six consecutive stops and ended the game with a series of big defensive plays in the last three minutes: A forced shot-clock violation while clinging to a two-point lead. Marc Gasol picking up a charge to stop a Cleveland fastbreak. And two Tony Allen steals in the final 1:18, the second off Varejao along the sideline. The second came with the shot-clock off and Cleveland down four, forcing a foul and essentially sealing the game. Allen swaggered along the sideline, slapping hands with the front-row fans.
