Raptors – Memphis Flyer

Tony Allen, kidnapping fools in the third.

LARRY KUZNIEWSKI
Tony Allen, kidnapping fools in the third.

The Lead: For awhile, this one seemed like a repeat of Monday’s game against Cleveland, with the Grizzlies playing down a level against weaker competition for a long stretch to start the game. But it seemed worse in a way, with Mike Conley back at the helm and the Raptors — playing on the second night of a back-to-back — showing a little less fight than the Cavs had.

But, this time, the Grizzlies didn’t wait until the fourth quarter to amp up their team defense and put the game away. After a 48-47 first half, the Grizzlies overwhelmed the Raptors with a 33-14 third quarter in which it took the Raptors more than eight minutes to notch their second made field goal of the period. This 22-6 Grizzlies run included four steals and two blocks from Grizzlies perimeter players, and was spurred by Tony Allen, who has been rounding into better all-around form after a rough start offensively. But this was the first time this season that Allen seemed to be in full “Ante Up” form. One steal from Kyle Lowry became a breakaway bucket. Then Allen kidnapped DeMar DeRozan, taking the ball away on an attempted jumper and finishing on the other end with a rare one-hand dunk that capped the 22-6 run and effectively ended the game.

Man of the Match: If Allen’s eruption was the most memorable aspect of the game, Zach Randolph was again the team’s best all-around player. On the day that I wrote about Marc Gasol’s passing exploits, with was Randolph tonight who was dropping dimes, doubling his previous season high with 6 assists. Randolph added 17 points on 7-10 shooting and 13 rebounds. With floor-stretching Raptor power forward Andrea Bargnani banged-up and not active, the entire frontcourt was a mismatch in the Grizzlies favor in this one, with the Grizzlies’ big-man rotation combining for 54 points and 30 rebounds while their Toronto counterparts mustered only 16 points and 14 rebounds. Marreese Speights, struggling with his shot for most of the season, contributed 18 and 12 of that, on 7-11 shooting. Speights needed one of those, and Lionel Hollins attributed his improved play to a strong practice the day before.

Back in the day …

The Toronto Raptors come into FedExForum tonight to complete the second half of a back-to-back set after losing 117-101 in Houston last night. It was Toronto’s fifth loss in a row, sinking them to 3-12 overall, tied for the second worst record in the league.

This has to be one of the most disappointing teams in the league this season (at least to me), and it’s hard to blame the loss of Kyle Lowry for six games, as the team has been even worse when he has been in the lineup.

But issues abound elsewhere. Ostensible top scoring option Andrea Bargnani is a seven-footer and former top overall draft pick shooting 40% from the floor. Swingman DeMar DeRozan is still generally the same low-efficiency scorer he was before his big contract extension. Rookie center Jonas Valanciunas is a very promising prospect but is still pretty raw. But the biggest issue is a team defense that has slipped from 12th to 22nd despite ostensible upgrades at point guard and center.

Three quicks thoughts in advance of tonight’s game, with a mid-week column hopefully following later this afternoon.

1. The Return of Kyle Lowry: Former Griz guard Lowry, in his first season was Toronto, got off to a gangbusters start to the season before a bone bruise in his foot knocked him out for a couple of weeks. Upon return, he’s still be dynamic, but hasn’t been shooting well (36% post-injury). But Lowry has had some pretty good games in FedExForum since the team jettisoned him in favor of dedicating the job to Mike Conley (a decision I supported then and now, even if I didn’t much like the return for Lowry). Conley should be back after missing Monday’s game with the flu, so these two will go at it again.