- LARRY KUZNIEWSKI
- Mike Conley made game-sealing plays in the final minute. Lionel Hollins looked relaxed sans tie.
The Lead: The Grizzlies started what Rudy Gay called “Revenge Week” — four straight games against Western Conference playoff contenders the team had not beaten so far this season — with a commanding win, controlling the game from buzzer to buzzer despite under-performing in what are usually areas of strength and making some late miscues that made the game closer than it needed to be at the end.
Most importantly, it was a win that brought the Grizzlies to within a half-game of the currently fourth-seeded Clippers. Given the scheduling disparities the rest of the way, the Grizzlies should now be the favorite to get to #4 and host a playoff series for the first time in franchise history. And if the Lakers stumble, the third seed could well be in play.
In this one, the team’s recently sharp three-point shooting fell off (4-13 overall), they got outscored in the paint (46-40), and, worst of all, they were +9 on turnovers.
Rudy Gay and Zach Randolph combined for half of the team’s 20 turnovers, but the worst one came in the final minute, when O.J. Mayo sprinted past two Clippers defenders attempting to foul him and instead lost the ball out of bounds. This came immediately after an “over-exuberant” (per Lionel Hollins) Quincy Pondexter foul on Chris Paul that sent the Clippers star to the line.
The result of these maddening dual errors gave the Clippers, down by double digits two minutes earlier, the ball, down 90-85 with 26 seconds left. But Mike Conley leapt over two taller defenders to rebound a Randy Foye miss then made both free-throws the push the lead back to 7, subsequently stealing the ball in the backcourt after the Clippers in-bounded to seal the game.
Despite a more compelling than necessary final couple of minutes (“I knew that they weren’t going anywhere,” Hollins said. “Chris Paul is one heck of a competitor and he just kept willing them back into the game.”), the Grizzlies impressed with the combination of sharp defense and balanced offense that has the team looking increasingly playoff-ready.
Though Paul (21 points, 6 assists) and Blake Griffin (19 points, 6 rebounds) were both effective, the Clippers were never able to get their hi-octane “Lob City” game going, with the Grizzlies generally denying them home-run plays and holding the Clippers to 25 or fewer points in all four quarters.
“That was our theme going in,” Hollins said. “We didn’t want them to run free and get a lot of lobs. We wanted to be physical and aggressive with them, and I think we accomplished that.”
On the offensive end, the Grizzlies continued to look like a more high-powered version of the old Hubie Brown 10-man rotation teams. Eleven players saw the floor, with 10 scoring and six players players hitting double digits. Marc Gasol led the way with a modest 18. No-one had more than 12 field-goal attempts.
The Grizzlies have now won eight of their past 10 games, with six of those wins coming against potential playoff teams.
“We’re definitely getting in playoff mode,” Zach Randolph said afterward. “It’s coming.”
