Tag: basketball

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Sports Tiger Blue

Title Trail?

Kendric Davis and Penny Hardaway (photo by Larry Kuzniewski)

The Memphis Tigers are competing in their tenth season as members of the American Athletic Conference. They have yet to win a league championship, neither a regular-season title nor the postseason tournament. (The Tigers have twice lost in the tournament final.) What kind of chances do the 2022-23 Tigers have for ending this drought, for earning the program’s first conference crown since they were Conference USA champs in 2013? With mighty Houston setting the pace, Memphis can’t afford more than four losses among their 18 league games. Even three defeats might be too many to top the Cougars, so Sunday’s loss at Tulane didn’t help. But there are three factors that, if blended properly, could result in a first-place finish for Memphis.

• Senior motivation. No fewer than ten Tiger seniors are competing for playing time, for coach Penny Hardaway’s trust as he distributes a total of 200 player minutes each game. Half of these players are fifth-year seniors, now midway through their final college rodeo. For this group of Tigers … this is it. There’s no building for a 2024 run. There’s no more time for development, for learning where they best fit, for establishing rapport with teammates. There’s something to be said for desperation when it comes to chasing a championship.

Hardaway has been starting a pair of point guards: Alex Lomax and Kendric Davis (both fifth-year seniors). It’s intentional, and as much for the leadership intangible as the skill sets Lomax and Davis bring. Memphis is 11-4 and has four SEC notches on its belt, but has yet to crack the Top 25. Lomax and Davis see this, as do each of their senior brethren. The search for national attention — “respect” is the word used in front of cameras — remains a motivator for Hardaway’s leaders. “Add DeAndre [Williams],” says Hardaway, “and that’s three guys who understand time, possession, the moment. They work through adversity. They’re connected, so that makes it even better.”

• Solid jaw. The Tigers have yet to lose consecutive games. Halfway through the season, Memphis has shown it can take a punch. The Tulane loss may reveal more than any other blow the Tigers absorb this winter. Not only do they need to avoid a second loss in a row (Saturday against East Carolina), but they need to build a winning streak if they hope to threaten Houston atop the AAC. The comeback victory over USF last week to open conference play may be the calling card Hardaway utilizes in the weeks ahead as his team hopes to climb in both the standings and the national conversation. “Early in a game, you know you can come back,” says Hardaway. “But late in the game? Can you stay calm enough under the pressure? The best players, they stay firm and calm in chaos. They don’t panic.”

• That guy. Championship teams have “that guy,” the player everyone in the arena knows will have the ball at winning time. Kendric Davis is that player for these Memphis Tigers. Atop the AAC in both scoring (20.4 points per game) and assists (6.1), Davis is well on his way to a second straight league Player of the Year award. With the Tigers down ten with ten minutes to play against USF, Davis took over. He drained a three-pointer, stole the ball in the USF backcourt and converted a layup, then fed a lob to Williams for a thunderous dunk. He was playing in a zone the other nine players couldn’t reach and it was enough for the Tigers to escape an ugly home loss. “He’s a closer,” says Hardaway. “That’s the blessing of having him on your team. You know he has that type of run in him. He puts the work in. He was getting down during the [USF] game, and I told him, ‘You’re a killer. Don’t forget that. It’s what you do.’ He was looking for his moment and it came.”

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Beyond the Arc Sports

Grizzlies Rout Pelicans 116-101 in New Year’s Eve Throwdown

Jaren Jackson Jr. goes up for a dunk. (Credit: Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)

Happy New Year. The Memphis Grizzlies are one game back from the top of the Western Conference, and to close out the year they just beat the team ahead of them in the standings, Southwest Division rival the New Orleans Pelicans.  

The matchup between these two teams is spicy, with two of the most exciting players in the league – Ja Morant and Zion Williamson –battling it out.  

Let’s get into it.  

Three-point shooting woes continue to plague the Grizzlies, and in Saturday night’s matchup, they shot a season-low 17.2 percent from distance. But Memphis made up for the lack of outside shooting by dominating down low, outscoring New Orleans 74-44 from the paint.  

Big man Steven Adams grabbed a season-high 21 rebounds while helping to hold Jonas Valanciunas to 6 points and 6 rebounds. The two centers were traded for each other in 2021, with Memphis sending Valanciunas to New Orleans in exchange for Adams.  

There were some technical difficulties midway through the second quarter when all the game clocks in FedEx Forum lost power, causing a stoppage in play for several minutes. Play resumed with the officials using stopwatches until the clock situation was resolved.  

The break in play derailed the Grizzlies’ momentum for the rest of the period and helped the Pelicans to cut a 21-point lead to just three at the half. New Orleans briefly managed a two-point lead during the third quarter, but the Grizzlies did not allow them to keep it for long, dominating the fourth quarter 33-22. Memphis now leads the season series against the Pelicans 2-1.  

By the Numbers:  

Ja Morant led all scorers with 32 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 steals.  

Jaren Jackson Jr finished with 17 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, and 6 blocks.  

Desmond Bane contributed 18 points and 7 rebounds. Bane is still struggling with three-point shooting since his return to play, and was 1 of 6 from beyond the arc.  

Steven Adams had a great night with 10 points, 21 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.  

Dillon Brooks had a quiet night offensively, finishing with just 7 points. What he lacked in offense he more than made up for in defense, with his main defensive assignment being Zion Willamson. It was exactly what the Grizzlies needed from him.  

Who Got Next? 

The gang is back at it tonight with another home game, facing off against the Sacramento Kings to start off the new year. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. CST.  

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From My Seat Sports

MSEC: Game Changer

(Credit: Frank Murtaugh)

“If I could put exercise in a pill and sell it, I’d be the richest doctor in the world.”

— Dr. Jeff Warren, Memphis City Council

To paraphrase Neil Armstrong, the Mid-South recreation community took a giant leap Saturday when the Memphis Sports & Events Center (MSEC) opened its doors in the heart of Liberty Park. Where Memphians once rode the Zippin Pippin during a visit to Libertyland, they’ll now dribble basketballs, spike volleyballs, and compete in futsal tournaments. Drive by the facility and you can virtually hear the squeak of sneakers.

“Sports tourism and Memphis youth, that’s what this is about,” said Mayor Jim Strickland at a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by dozens of supporters and officials, but also, significantly, dozens of young volleyball and basketball players. “My kids played youth sports, and rarely could we play in Memphis. We didn’t have a facility. Hundreds of thousands of people will come to Memphis every year because of this facility, spending money, creating jobs. It will be a national destination. All Memphis kids will be welcome here. Nothing builds quality young people like team sports.”

At 227,000 square feet, the MSEC has a footprint the size of four football fields. Each of two wings features eight basketball courts that can convert into as many as 32 volleyball courts. The north wing includes stadium seating to accommodate 3,500 spectators, along with four VIP suites, and boxes for media and recruiters. It’s the kind of space — enormous but buzzing with activity — that makes you wish you were 13 years old … or the parent of a 13-year-old.

Remarkably, the MSEC was completed in 18 months, the heavy lifting under the guidance of Turner Construction. It cost $60 million and was paid for under a Tourism Development Zone (TDZ) classification, with $10 million contributed directly by the state of Tennessee. Designed by local architecture firm brg3s, the complex is shaped also for cheer and competitive dance tournaments, with a scarcity of vertical beams to allow the necessary air space for such events. (If you’ve seen cheer tournaments, you know such space is a premium.)

The MSEC immediately becomes the centerpiece of Liberty Park. (You’ll show your age if you call this area “the Fairgrounds.”) Along with Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium (now home to both the Memphis Tigers and USFL’s Memphis Showboats), the Kroc Center, and the Children’s Museum of Memphis, the facility breathes new life into an area that has seen activity decline since the closures of Libertyland and the Mid-South Coliseum. And there’s more to come, Strickland highlighting an 18-acre private development that will include a hotel.

“We were missing opportunities in the emerging and growing youth-sports market,” said Kevin Kane, president of Memphis Tourism. “For indoor sports, we used various facilities throughout the community. But we’re [transitioning] to huge youth sports, thanks to this facility. It’s a game changer. Everybody will benefit. Memphis is the big winner today, the tax base, and from an economic development standpoint.”

The MSEC is not only for kids. Adult leagues for basketball and futsal will begin play in January. (Futsal is a form of indoor soccer played on a “field” the size of a basketball court.) There are multipurpose rooms that can host birthday parties, anniversary celebrations, and other such fun. And two dining areas. You could spend all day at the MSEC and leave wanting a little more.

Fittingly, local sports-media legend Jarvis Greer greeted the crowd for Saturday’s grand opening. To no one’s surprise, he seemed like the most excited man in the place. And Jarvis gets it. Youth sports matter, as much for what comes after youth as during our playing days. If exercise is good for the body, mind, and soul, Memphis just got considerably healthier. And without a pill.

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Penny Hardaway, Wellengood Partners to Open New Restaurant Downtown

(Credit: Westin Memphis Beale Street)

Go ahead and add “restaurateur” to Penny Hardaway’s CV. The former NBA star and current Memphis Tigers basketball coach is set to open a new restaurant just a quick jaunt from the FedEx Forum.

In partnership with Wellengood Partners and Gourmet Services, Inc., Hardaway will introduce Penny’s Nitty Gritty, a “unique, upscale restaurant with a touch of added Southern flair” at The Westin Memphis Beale Street. Gourmet Services corporate executive chef Elizabeth A. Rodgers is curating the menu; diners can expect specialty items like collard green fondue, a Penny Loaf, and some other of Hardaway’s favorite dishes.

“I wanted a concept that would serve the best food to my family, friends, and visitors to Memphis. I wanted people who come to the restaurant to have a first-class experience,” said Hardaway. “When I tasted food from the menu, I was blown away, and I know others will be too.”

“Penny Hardaway is a Memphis basketball icon,” said Glenn Malone, CEO of Wellengood Partners. “With the University of Memphis Tigers’ home court at the FedEx Forum across the street from The Westin, Penny’s Nitty Gritty is the best place to get something to eat before or after a game, or other events taking place Downtown.”

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From My Seat Sports Sports Feature

Transfer Nation

Penny Hardaway (U of M Athletics / Joe Murphy)

Let’s be glad there’s no such thing as an NIT championship parade. How awkward would that have been? Before Penny Hardaway’s Memphis Tigers could deliver their 2021 trophy to the Laurie-Walton Family Basketball Center, nearly half of Hardaway’s nine-man rotation announced their intentions to leave the program. Sophomores Boogie Ellis, D.J. Jeffries, and Damion Baugh will transfer and freshman Moussa Cisse is dipping his toes into the NBA draft waters, though not hiring an agent just yet. Even one of Hardaway’s two four-star recruits for next season — Jordan Nesbitt — departed for Saint Louis University after enrolling at the U of M for the spring semester. Exhale. And deep breaths. The 2020-21 Tiger season is over . . . and so is that team, with an exclamation point.

Such is life in college basketball today. Forget the players; teams themselves are one-and-done. All of them. Something we’ve come to know as the transfer portal has created all-but-unfettered free agency in the sport, with more than 1,000 players “entering the portal” this offseason. And yes, two of those players — swingmen Davion Warren and Earl Timberlake — are already headed to Memphis. So if you’re doing the math, Memphis has subtracted five players (should Cisse actually enter the NBA draft) and added two for year four of the Coach Penny era.

There’s no need for grinding teeth or screaming into the Twitterverse over the roster volatility. The NCAA has, for generations, exploited talented athletes for financial gain, most glaringly the “March Madness” telethon each spring that crowns basketball’s champion. If we’ve reached the point where players can at least choose — without penalty — their program(s) of choice after actually experiencing life as a cash cow, it’s a better, more honest world. Makes the job of a coach and his recruiting staff a fiery gauntlet, but hey, that’s why they’re paid the big bucks.

• Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game would have been a nice look in Atlanta this summer. Scheduled to be played six months after the great Hank Aaron’s passing, the Midsummer Classic would have made for an uplifting salute to an American legend and a warm welcome-back as vaccinations allow more and more fans to actually enter stadiums. And considering Georgia voters changed the legislative branch of our government by sending two Democrats to the U.S. Senate, the showcase sporting event might have been seen as a “thank you” from an under-represented segment of our population. Aaron would have appreciated that.

Alas, the All-Star Game will not be going down to Georgia. With those new Senators still decorating their offices, the Peach State’s legislature enacted bills that serve as restrictions on voting. (Don’t you dare provide a voter a bottle of water!) So MLB yanked the All-Star Game and will stage the event in Denver. The decision was made quickly by commissioner Rob Manfred, but surely with loud whispers in his ears from corporate sponsors not thrilled about pouring millions of dollars into a state so bold-faced in its anti-democratic legislation.

Get used to this. The most powerful force in the United States of America is money. No man or woman, no voice or column, no march or protest will get things done in this country like the mighty dollar. It’s the one variable that can swing, yes, legislation. Piss off the “liberal media,” that’s fine. Only so many ears (and wallets) CNN (an Atlanta company!) can reach. But find yourself on the wrong side of the table from Coca-Cola (an Atlanta company!) or Budweiser, with millions of baseball fans in the mix? Those campaign donations will drop like a batter with a fastball to the chin.

No one wants politics mixed with their sports entertainment. But sports entertainment breathes the oxygen of American business. The mix has already been made. Major League Baseball simply used its All-Star Game as the most recent — sorry for this — hammer for change.

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From My Seat Sports

Hoop Lockdown and Big Dates

CREDIT: Joe Murphy / Memphis Athletics

Football is a sport designed with lengthy delays, typically six days off for every game day. Basketball is very different, a sport built around rhythm and flow. Ask a hot shooter when he’d like to have a day off and he’ll say when the season’s over. When the Memphis Tigers next take the floor (Wednesday night?), they will have gone almost three weeks (at least) without playing a game that counts. With a 12-6 record (and only three losses in American Athletic Conference competition), Memphis is, by the numbers, in contention to win a league championship and earn an NCAA tournament berth. But what kind of Memphis team will we see after such a lengthy interruption by Covid-19?
Joe Murphy / Memphis Athletics

Alex Lomax

The Tigers won six of their last seven games before the current lockdown, thanks largely to collective shooting improvement. Over one five-game stretch, Memphis shot 49 percent from three-point range and moved to the top of the AAC in the category. Will Landers Nolley, Lester Quinones, and friends be on target when the season resumes?

Alex Lomax was playing the best basketball of his three-year college career before the lockdown. The pride of East High did his best Antonio Anderson impression in the Tigers’ last game, a win over East Carolina: 10 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds, 5 steals. Will Lomax be a difference-maker when the Tigers return to play?

The AAC tournament is scheduled for March 11th-14th in Fort Worth. That’s less than three weeks. With four games remaining on the Tiger schedule, how many of the four games postponed this month (so far) can be played? Among those games: two against Houston and one against Wichita State, the teams Memphis must leap to win the conference title. (One of the Houston games and the Shockers contest are among the postponements.) And if the Tigers only complete a partial schedule, what will that mean for seeding at the AAC tourney? What will it mean for at-large consideration for the NCAA tournament? We’re still living in a pandemic. There are more questions than answers, naturally.

• A distinct ray of sunshine during last week’s historic deep freeze was the Memphis Redbirds’ 2021 schedule release. Even the idea of a baseball game at AutoZone Park — Opening Day April 6th! — feels like a shortening not only of winter, but the pandemic (which cost the Redbirds their entire 2020 season). The Pacific Coast League is a thing of the past. Memphis will now compete in the Triple-A Southeast Division. Instead of traveling as far as Tacoma, Reno, and Albuquerque to play, the Redbirds will compete with teams from Louisville, Jacksonville, and Gwinnett (the Atlanta Braves’ Triple-A affiliate), cities we can call regional rivals, at least with a wink.

Those into pop culture will welcome visits to AutoZone Park by the Durham Bulls (for whom Crash Davis starred) and Toledo Mud Hens (adored by Corporal Klinger from MASH). There was a time when Memphis-Louisville was Ali-Frazier in college basketball. Now, the Redbirds will play several games against the city the franchise called home before moving to Memphis in 1998. And hey, Bats and Redbirds are natural enemies, aren’t they?

• The Memphis Tigers last played Mississippi State on the gridiron in 2011. Justin Fuente’s name was not on the minds of Tiger fans ten years ago, much less Mike Norvell’s. It’s been two legitimate “eras” since the Bullies came to town. The drought ends September 18th. The Tigers will likely carry a 16-game home winning streak into the showdown with SEC competition. (Memphis opens its season two weeks earlier by hosting Nicholls State.) Let’s hope, here in February — still winter, still pandemic conditions — that the Tigers and Bulldogs clash in a packed Liberty Bowl. In many ways, that would be a larger victory than anything Memphis fans might see on the scoreboard. 

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News News Blog

Lawmakers Want Tigers, Vols Match-Up Each Year

Two Memphis lawmakers want to ensure the University of Memphis Tigers and the University of Tennessee Volunteers play each other each year.

State Sen. Brian Kelsey (R-Memphis) and Rep. Antonio Parkinson (D-Memphis) filed a resolution Wednesday that would ensure that the two schools’ football teams and men’s basketball teams would meet at least once per year during regular-season play.

“While Coach Hardaway welcomes playing the University of Tennessee in basketball, Coach Calipari strongly opposed the idea, and future coaches could do the same,” said Sen. Kelsey. “These are major Tennessee teams. While coaches may come and go, there is no reason these teams should not face each other every year or that such contests be omitted from their schedules.”

The Tigers and Vols met on the court in December. But the football teams haven’t played since 2010. The bill would ensure the basketball teams would play “during future regular seasons. The legislation would be effective for the football teams beginning in the 2025-2026 seasons to provide for advanced scheduling.
[pullquote-1] “I had a brief informal conversation with UT President Randy Boyd about this matter,” Parkinson said. “I think he gets the importance of this rivalry for our state, and the economic impact it will provide.”

Kelsey said, “The fan base remains strong in Tennessee and wants to see this match-up every season. Tennessee fans deserve to see the two oldest programs in the state battle it out every year.”

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Sports Tiger Blue

Pennyspeak

I’m growing rather fluent in Pennyspeak. If you’ve been listening to Memphis Tiger basketball coach Penny Hardaway since he took over the program 15 months ago, you’re likely speaking the language, too. It’s a refreshing alternative to “coachspeak,” the more typical say-one-thing-but-mean-another form of phrasing we hear every winter from coaches too timid to intimidate or too skittish to scare.

Having secured the top-ranked recruiting class in the nation after his first season as a college coach, Hardaway met with a group of media types last month to discuss the extraordinary group of talent on its way to Memphis. You may have heard what he said, but let’s go a little further: What did Hardaway want us to hear?


“What we’ve been able to do this summer is amazing. It’s a blessing. I wanted this so badly. To do this in such a short period of time . . . I thank God for the opportunity.”

Hardaway is grateful, indeed, to be making a difference, you might say, in his hometown, and at his alma mater. He also knows he’s very good at this recruiting game. God didn’t convince the country’s top recruit (James Wiseman) to stay home and play for the Tigers, and He didn’t persuade another five-star recruit (Precious Achiuwa) to play a supporting role to Wiseman. That was the man in the fancy suit and custom sneakers.


“They’re saying they’re gonna sacrifice — for one another — so they can all achieve the bigger goal.”

This is going to be micro-analyzed until Opening Night in November, and rightfully so: With only one basketball and 200 player-minutes per game, can seven freshmen stars co-exist? Don’t discount the role social media plays in the gathering of a modern college basketball team, the connectedness that can be achieved — at least in the minds of young men — before a team first assembles on a court. Wiseman, Achiuwa, Lester Quinones, and Boogie Ellis were sharing thoughts and views in a group chat long before the commitment letters were signed. Before they agreed to become teammates and play for Hardaway, they had to agree on the idea of being teammates, sharing a uniform, and yes, sacrificing some minutes on the floor for the greater good, the bigger goal. And do you wonder if these players recognized the fan support, the desire in Memphis to see this super-class become reality? Well, they did.

“This is Memphis. We don’t bluff. We want all the smoke. We want everything to be about Memphis. That’s what this city wants. We want to win a national championship.”

Forget incremental program-building under Hardaway. The Tigers haven’t won so much as a conference championship since the 2012-13 season. It’s now been five years without an NCAA tournament appearance for the Tiger program. But Hardaway is about now. He’d be a great spokesman for the mindfulness movement, the notion that scars of the past or possibilities of the future only interfere with being the best you can be right now. Make the next breath you take your most important. Make your next decision one of impact. And shy away from nothing. Those who lower the bar of expectations tend to stumble over that lowered bar.

“I’m different. We’re different. We’re an NBA staff . . . in college.”

There’s an arrogance to this, no question. The fact is, Hardaway is not coaching an NBA team. His assistants aren’t sharpening the skills of NBA players. But to win in the world of college basketball on the scale Hardaway wants to win, you better sell your program as a connector to The League. We may soon see the end of the “one-and-done” absurdity, a new era in which high school superstars can leap straight to the NBA if they choose (and are chosen). But there are only 60 selections made each year in the NBA draft. Do the math on that, with 347 Division I college teams and thousands of high school programs. It’s still hard to reach the NBA. Elite college coaches must establish themselves as conduits.

“It’s been like daydreaming, just thinking about the matchups you can put on the floor.”

Get used to the words positionless basketball. They may as well have been copyrighted by the Golden State Warriors. Ellis will be the Tigers’ point guard next season, unless the ball is in the hands of Quinones, or Tyler Harris, or Alex Lomax. Malcolm Dandridge may look like a power forward in warm-ups, but what do we call him when he’s the largest Tiger on the floor, when “small ball” becomes the mode of attack? And call James Wiseman a “center” if you want to sound like it’s 1995. Hardaway has so many options in distributing those 200 player-minutes on game night. Expect his rotation — to say nothing of his starting five — to be as fluid as the body of water rolling south just a few blocks west of his team’s arena. Rivers were made for daydreaming, right?

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Sports Tiger Blue

Memphis Tigers’ NIT History

1957 — Beat Utah, Manhattan, and St. Bonaventure to advance to the championship game at Madison Square Garden, where the 16th-ranked Tigers fell against 19th-ranked Bradley, 84-83.

1960 — Lost to Providence

1961 — Lost to Holy Cross

1963 — Beat Fordham and lost to Canisius

1967 — Lost to Providence

1972 — Lost to Oral Roberts

1974 — Beat Seton Hall and lost to Utah

1975 — Lost to Oral Roberts

1977 — Lost to Alabama

1990 — Lost to Tennessee (in Memphis)

1991 — Beat UAB and lost to Arkansas State

1997 — Lost to UNLV (Larry Finch’s final game as head coach)

1998 — Beat Ball State and lost to Fresno State

2001 — Beat Utah, UTEP, and New Mexico to advance to semifinals at Madison Square Garden. Lost to Tulsa (and beat Detroit in 3rd-place game).

2002 — Beat UNC-Greensboro, BYU, and Tennessee Tech to advance to semifinals at Madison Square Garden. Beat Temple and South Carolina to win championship.

2005 — Beat Northeastern, Virginia Tech, and Vanderbilt to advance to semifinals at Madison Square Garden. Lost to St. Joseph’s.

2010 — Beat St. John’s and lost to Ole Miss (in Oxford).

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Beyond the Arc Sports

Grizzlies Cough Up 17-Point Lead, Lose to Raptors 122-114

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

The Memphis Grizzlies entered Tuesday night’s homestand on a two-game losing streak, and faced the top team in the East in the Toronto Raptors. After a brief stint at the top of the West, Memphis has hit a rough patch, having trouble closing out close games and giving up sizeable leads.
Larry Kuzniewski

The Grizzlies had an abysmal start to the game. Jaren Jackson picked up two fouls in the first minute of play, and took an early seat on the bench. Meanwhile, the Raptors jumped out to an 8-0 lead.

The Grizzlies defense eventually settled in, slowing down the game and allowing the Grizzlies to battle back to take the lead with 4:13 remaining in the first period.

Both teams got it going later in the first quarter, with the Grizzlies finishing with a 1-point lead over the Raptors at 32-31.

The Grizzlies’s defense on Kawhi Leonard was particularly strong to start the game, holding him to 4 points on 2-5 shooting, and no assists. Overall, team defense played a big part,.I n his pregame availability J.B. Bickerstaff talked about how the Grizzlies would throw a lot of bodies at Leonard. Kyle Anderson’s effect cannot be diminished, however, as he played fantastic individual defense on Leonard.

The Grizzlies continued their surprisingly high level of scoring in the second quarter, finishing with 39 points. Mike Conley also had a nice block on Kyle Lowry at the buzzer that left the home crowd on their feet heading into halftime.

Marc Gasol led all players in the first half with 15 points, dished three assists, and played with a great rhythm on both ends of the floor (shooting 6-9 and registering 2 steals). Garrett Temple also had an impact with 12 points and two made threes.

Overall team defense was stout in the first half, accumulating tons of deflections, 7 steals, and making it difficult for Toronto to get into their offensive sets.

The Grizzlies went into halftime with a 71-59 cushion over the Raptors, and extended the lead to 17 early in the third. On the first possession out of the half, Conley and Gasol executed a brilliant two-man game that was essentially a give-and-go vortex with both players swirling around one another’s screens and cuts, resulting in both defenders following Conley’s drive into the paint before he kicked the rock back to Gasol for an open three-point make.

But the Raptors battled back to cut the Grizzlies lead to one point, as Memphis’ defense fell flat for most of the period. At one point the Raptors were shooting 11-14 in the quarter, and the Grizzlies didn’t seem to get any stops, until they strung several together to end the period. The Raptors finished the third quarter shooting 11-21 from deep, and trailing the Grizzlies 97-93.

The stellar defense on Leonard fell apart in the second half. He finished the third quarter with 9 points and shot 7 free throws after scoring just 5 in the first half. He finished the game with 17 points, 5 assists, 2 steals, and one turnover.

Jaren Jackson picked up another couple of fouls in under a one-minute span early in the fourth quarter, and things continued to go downhill from there. Memphis has been giving up a lot of three-point looks from the corner this season. The Grizzlies have been relatively lucky, with teams not converting on those open looks at as high of a rate as they should, but they got bit in this game, as Toronto buried corner three after corner three down the stretch to put the game out of reach. The Raptors hit 7 threes in the final quarter.

Conley also missed consecutive free throws in the fourth quarter. He’s done that several times this season, and I can’t tell if it’s fatigue late in games or if it’s a mental thing.

In his postgame press conference, Bickerstaff said the Grizzlies got rushed as the Raptors dialed up the defensive intensity, forcing Memphis to play at a pace too fast for its comfort. He also characterized the open three-point looks granted to Toronto in the corner as non-structural, saying “there were some errors we made to create those situations. We’re not trying to give up corner threes by any means.” Still, this has been a problem pretty much all season, and tonight was the first time the Grizzlies paid for it. It probably won’t be the last.

Marc Gasol rolled his ankle late in the game, finishing with a noticeable limp. Fortunately, his injury appears to be a day-to-day thing.

In the locker room after the game, JaMychal Green (13 points, 7 rebounds) said: “We just got to bounce back. Ain’t no excuse. We just got to come in, play hard, and when it gets down to crunch time, lock up.”

The Grizzlies will have two days of rest before they travel to Brooklyn on Friday to play the Nets.