- LARRY KUZNIEWSKI
- Thunder forward Nick Collison has guarded Zach Randolph well in this series, but Z-Bo handled him tonight.
In the first playoff elimination game in Memphis since 2006, the city threw everything it had at the Oklahoma City Thunder: The right Reverend Al Green — his appearance uncertain until very near the tip-off — fluttered and weaved his way through the national anthem. Local hoops legend Penny Hardaway and Congressman Steve Cohen — who, earlier in the week, had displayed a gold “Believe Memphis” “growl towel” on the House floor — flanked opposite corners of the court. A pre-game video interspersed shots of an overflowing Mississippi River with defiant man-on-the-street testimonials. A giant head of President Barack Obama, adorned with a Griz headband, floated in section 116, appended with a sign noting — in reference to the President’s Monday visit to Booker T. Washington High School and in Tony Allen-speak — “He Wit Us!” And, during the first timeout of the third quarter, Jerry Lawler turned Friday night at FedExForum into Monday night at the Mid-South Coliseum by “chairing” a guy in an Oklahoma City Thunder t-shirt.
The civic cup was running over, but, for nearly 24 minutes, the basketball team at the center of this happy madness was not totally cooperating.
The Grizzlies opened tonight’s game with a great burst of energy, forcing 8 turnovers in the first quarter. But, as in so many games in this series, energy wasn’t matched by execution. The team managed to score only seven points off those turnovers, and nothing in transition. The offense — helped, in great part, by a lineup change that exchanged O.J. Mayo for Sam Young — was generating good shots, but they weren’t going down: Short Marc Gasol jumpers, open Mike Conley mid-range shots, O.J. Mayo runners, all rarely finding the net.
Through 12 minutes, despite an enormous +9 possession advantage (including 5-0 on the offensive boards) and only four minutes from Thunder star Kevin Durant due to two early fouls, the Grizzlies only lead by two, 23-21.
Anyone who had been watching this series closely — from a Grizzlies perspective anyway — couldn’t feel good about this start. Too many opportunities wasted by poor shooting — 36%. We’d seen this play before.
