- Courtesy of Beyond the Arc Jersey correspondent @BasketballValue
- A young Griz fan, representing in New Jersey
So maybe those two-toned Tams throwbacks aren’t cursed after all. Despite getting demoralizing play from the bench — O.J. Mayo missing, Jeremy Pargo offering spastic leadership at the point, the whole unit shooting 4-19 — the green-and-yellow-clad Grizzlies scored a come-from-behind victory in New Jersey, seizing the game with a 7-0 run over the course of a minute down the stretch that began with an unlikely corner three from Tony Allen and continued with a sequence that exactly mirrored the decisive sequence in Tuesday night’s home win over Houston. Against, Houston it was a Mike Conley jumper followed by a Rudy Gay steal and assist for an O.J. Mayo layup. Against the Nets, the same jumper-steal/assist-layup sequence went Gay-Conley-Allen.
All of the Grizzlies’ starters played well, lead by Marreese Speights, who did his best Zach Randolph impression en route to a career high 18 rebounds and season high 20 points on efficient 10-13 shooting, many of these rumbling, spinning hooks in the lane against a Nets defense still lacking starting center Brook Lopez. Allen, whose helter-skelter offensive yielded 5 turnovers, was far more treat than trick, matching season highs with 21 points (on 8-15 shooting) and 5 steals. Conley had one of his best all-around games, with 16 points, 10 assists, and 4 steals. Gay, who had moved up to 11th in the NBA in scoring average after Tuesday’s win, was one off his season high with a team best 25 points — his fourth straight game scoring 20 or more. Marc Gasol was relatively quiet by comparison, with a solid 12-7-3, with each of his three assists setting up a dunk.
Despite boasting an elite player in point guard Deron Williams, the Nets are not a good team. But when it’s the second night of a back-to-back on the road against a rested home team (the Nets hadn’t played since Saturday) and you get nothing from your bench? That’s a good win.
The win moved the Grizzlies at least temporarily into the eighth and final playoff slot in the West, pending a late game from the Portland Trailblazers. The Grizzlies return home Friday to host a Denver Nuggets team that lost badly in Dallas tonight.
