Tag: Road Recap

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Beyond the Arc Sports

Road Recap: Wizards 107, Grizzlies 94

CREDIT: LARRY KUZNIEWSKI

The Griz missed Marc Gasol mightily last night in D.C.

Marc Gasol’s Defensive Player of the Year campaign continued last night with another strong demonstration of his all-around value on that end of the floor.

With Gasol as its hub, the Grizzlies have had the second-best defense in the NBA this season. But, on Saturday night against the Celtics, with Gasol sitting out his first game with an aggravated abdominal tear, the Grizzlies gave up 106 points on 51% shooting to the Boston Celtics, a team with a 22nd-ranked offense playing without three rotation players (Rajon Rondo, Kevin Garnett, and Courtney Lee).

Last night in Washington, the Grizzlies gave up 107 points on 50% shooting to a 28th-ranked offensive team playing without four — count ’em! — four of its top six scorers (Bradley Beal, Nene, Martell Webster, Trevor Ariza).

But the other two did enough. John Wall went supernova, scoring 47 points on 13-22 shooting (including 19-24 from the line) in probably the most dynamic performance from an opposing player this season. He scored on Mike Conley, on Tony Allen, on Jerryd Bayless. But, as good as Wall was, the X-factor for the Wizards may have been center Emeka Okafor, who scored 21 points on 9-15 shooting in Gasol’s absence. Twice in the final two minutes the Grizzlies cut the Wizards lead to four and both times it was Okafor who answered, first by overpowering Ed Davis on the left block to draw a foul and then by hitting an open free-throw line jumper.

It was a listless loss, the team’s fourth in a row on the road, and it kept the Grizzlies from capitalizing on a rare loss by the Denver Nuggets, whose winning streak was snapped in New Orleans. (The Nuggets were also playing without their best player, Ty Lawson.)

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Beyond the Arc Sports

Weekend Road Recap — Florida Split

CREDIT: LARRY KUZNIEWSKI

Marc Gasol had a massive weekend.

The Grizzlies failed to set a new franchise record for consecutive wins this weekend, their eight-game win streak coming to an end Friday night in Miami against the defending champion Heat. But the Grizzlies’ 1-1 Florida road trip was probably as encouraging as anything in the streak.

The Heat were winners of 12 in a row coming into Friday’s game, but the Grizzlies played them tight — neither team led by more than seven points — in their building, despite Zach Randolph turning an ankle on the opening play and being less than full strength the remainder of the game. It was a one-point game with 24 seconds to play when Lebron James hit a straightaway three to put the Heat up four and force the Grizzlies to foul. James’ free throws extended the final scoring margin. Up until that point, James had scored only 10 points on 3-13 shooting, Tayshaun Prince and the Grizzlies’ stellar team defense perhaps more effective against James than any team has been this season.

On the other end, the Grizzlies were able to rebound from their troubling recent offensive slide — it was their first game over 100 points per 100 possessions since before the All-Star break, per NBA.com — despite not generating many points off turnovers. The Heat’s lack of quality size had something to do with that, as Marc Gasol had one of his best all-around games of the season, going for 24-9-4 on 8-13 shooting. One wonders if the outcome might have been a little different if Gasol and Mike Conley had made it back into the game a little earlier in the fourth. (They each checked in at the 5:01 mark.) But it’s easy to second-guess and Gasol and Conley did play 36 and 34 minutes on the game.

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Beyond the Arc Sports

Road Recap: Grizzlies 105, Pistons 91 — The Real Return of Quincy Pondexter

CREDIT: LARRY KUZNIEWSKI

Quincy Pondexter made a promising return last night in Detroit.

  • LARRY KUZNIEWSKI
  • Quincy Pondexter made a promising return last night in Detroit.

After a sleepy first quarter in the which the Grizzlies turned the ball over seven times and allowed 30 points to the Detroit Pistons, the team revved up its defensive intensity significantly, overwhelming the Pistons in the heart of the game with a 62-30 run in the second and third quarters.

Fourteen steals and seven blocks helping foster 24 fastbreak points was vintage Grizzlies basketball. Twenty-nine assists on 45 made field goals and balanced shooting (10 players with between five and 11 field-goal attempts) is new-look Grizzlies basketball. Put opportunistic defense and sharp, share-the-ball offense together and you get a blowout road win. (Extended garbage time made the final score look more reasonable.)

The best takeaways from the win, though, were the performances of Quincy Pondexter and Ed Davis. Pondexter got a few minutes in the penultimate game before the break, but didn’t look good. With a little more rehab/recovery time, Pondexter came back last night in true game shape. He knocked down a corner three, notched three steals, and was probably as effective on both ends as any Grizzlies player on the way to 10 points on 4-6 shooting in 22 minutes. Pondexter is both a better corner-three threat and a more physical, aggressive defender than either Tayshaun Prince or Austin Daye. His return will be very helpful for the Grizzlies and if he plays well, I think he could become a frequent fixture in closing lineups.

As for Davis, he got his longest run since joining the team — something abetted by the blowout — and was very productive, with 14 points on 6-7 shooting, four rebounds, and four blocks in 21 minutes. Davis showed his stronger-than-he-looks physicality with the blocks and power dunks and hit two of three on short jumpers that are more effective than fluid. He brings a different dimension to the team’s frontcourt rotation and hopefully this performance can help ease him into a larger role.

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Beyond the Arc Sports

Road Recap: Hawks 103, Grizzlies 92 — Mixed Messages Amid Malaise

CREDIT: LARRY KUZNIEWSKI

Tony Wroten got back in the game last night against Atlanta.

The Grizzlies lost their second straight game and fell to fifth in the conference standings behind the idle Denver Nuggets, but this one was a little less troubling than the home loss to Phoenix on Tuesday night, so let’s start on the bright side. A few encouraging takeaways:

Zach Randolph had 20 points and 7 rebounds on 10-18 shooting, completing a 20-10 back-to-back set that eased concerns about this ability to produce at an All-Star level.

Jerryd Bayless went 15-4-5 on 6-9 shooting off the bench. This is his eighth straight game in double-digits, giving more confidence that he can be counted on as a legitimate sixth man and can make up some of the scoring lost with the Rudy Gay deal.

Tony Wroten and Ed Davis — the team’s two most athletic and high-upside young players, both of whom Lionel Hollins seems reluctant to give consistent rotation minutes — got in the game and both produced in their limited time. Davis took — and made — only one shot in his nine minutes, but also snatched 6 rebounds and had a block. Wroten, as has typically been the case, came into the game and made plays. He hit a three (!). He moved off the ball for a lay-up. He dropped three dimes and added a block of his own in nine minutes. Davis and Wroten were the only players to garner multiple minutes and have a positive plus/minus.

But that was outweighed by the bad:

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Beyond the Arc Sports

Road Recap: Thunder 106, Grizzlies 89 — Three Issues of Ongoing Concern

CREDIT: LARRY KUZNIEWSKI

Zach Randolph has been calling for the ball. Now hes likely to get it.

  • LARRY KUZNIEWSKI
  • Zach Randolph has been calling for the ball. Now he’s likely to get it.

Last night in Oklahoma City was the absolute worst way for the Grizzlies to begin life post-Rudy Gay: On the road, against arguably the best team in the NBA, which was, itself, coming off three days rest and into a nationally televised revenge game against a team that had beaten them in their building earlier in the season. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies were still wrapping their collective heads around a disruptive trade and were playing with only nine active bodies, three of which were first- or second-year players who have relatively minimal NBA game experience.

Needless to say, it didn’t go well for the Griz. The Thunder went an entire quarter without having a possession end with a missed shot, on the way to building a 25-point lead. A bout of temporary insanity from Russell Westbrook and the Grizzlies’ pride conspired to make it a game again in the second half, if briefly, with the Grizzlies coming back to within 10 points. But then Kevin Durant did Kevin Durant things.

With all those first-graph factors in mind and considering that the Grizzlies were playing without four potential rotation players in trade acquisitions Tayshaun Prince, Ed Davis, and Austin Daye and the still-recovering Quincy Pondexter, you can pretty well ignore this loss.

But there were a couple of problems — and one pre-game grenade — that underscore some big issues going forward in terms of whether this team can maintain it’s stature post-trade:

Can Z-Bo Still Carry the Offensive Load?
Zach Randolph reacted to the Rudy Gay trade, in part, by suggesting it might allow him to become a bigger part of the offense, making this at least the third time in the past few weeks — including his Bulls post-game TV interview and his All-Star reaction — in which he’s done a variation on “give me the ball more.”

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Beyond the Arc Sports

Road Recap: Spurs 103, Grizzlies 82 — A Trend It Is?

CREDIT: LARRY KUZNIEWSKI

Lionel Hollins and the Grizzlies have some things to figure out.

  • LARRY KUZNIEWSKI
  • Lionel Hollins and the Grizzlies have some things to figure out.

Before last night’s game in San Antonio, I suggested the team’s performance — win or lose — would determine whether the previous big losses were a trend or a blip. Well, blip gave way to trend as the game went on, an early close contest turning to a laugher with a demoralizing second-half collapse.

What’s wrong? Here’s a short answer nobody likes: I don’t know.

Unfortunately, renewed chaos and worry on the Griz front coincides with a moment where I don’t have time for any kind of deep dive. Instead, for now, a few quick reactions to different potential answers to that opening question

Trend be damned, it’s still a blip: I tend toward the “calm down” approach most of the time, but I’m skeptical about the “blip” notion. But I’ll entertain it. The Dallas loss wasn’t surprising given the scheduling aspects. The Clippers game was played without Rudy Gay and with some odd lineups — some forced, some, as with the early, disastrous insertion of Josh Selby, not. And the Spurs, well, the Spurs are really damned good. Even with all this, the Grizzlies are still fourth in the Western Conference. Certainly, a home game Friday against Sacramento could be a good way to get healthy again. But a big loss in that situation would end all doubt.

Trade rumors have ruined the chemistry: This sounds good but feels like nonsense to me. The Rudy Gay trade rumors have been out there for a while now. They were out there when the team started January going 5-1 with a perfect West Coast trip, a road win in Boston, and a home win over the Spurs. Trade rumors were a lot hotter with O.J. Mayo in the past and the team didn’t go in the tank. Trades rumors are common all over the league every season. It’s an easy excuse, but in the absence of some actual evidence, I have a hard time saying that’s the reason for anything.

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Beyond the Arc Sports

Road Recap, Trade Chatter, Griz-Spurs Ticket Giveaway

CREDIT: LARRY KUZNIEWSKI

Rudy Gay

Road Recap: Grizzlies 94, Warriors 87: The Grizzlies completed a sweep of their three-game West Coast road in Oakland last night in what might be one of their better wins this season. Against a Warriors team that looks increasingly legitimate, the Grizzlies used good offense in the first half to build a lead and then overcame a rough third quarter for a major “grit-and-grind” effort down the stretch, scoring off turnovers and offensive rebounds hold on for the win. Lots of players made big plays late, with Jerryd Bayless’ break-starting block and Rudy Gay’s long corner jumper in the final two minutes standing out.

The win gave the Grizzlies a game-and-a-half lead over the Warriors for the fourth seed in the West and, more importantly, secured a tiebreaker over the Warriors on the season, making it a de facto 2.5 game lead.

The sweep was also impressive, even if previous opponents Sacramento and Phoenix aren’t very good. That hasn’t really mattered much for the Grizzlies. Over the past three-plus seasons, in which the Grizzlies have an overall winning record, they’d gone 15-29 on West Coast road trips (three games or more) only notching a winning records (2-1 each time) twice.

Rudy Trade Chatter: Trade chatter about Rudy Gay continues. I’ve got a column in this week’s paper on the subject, which you can read here. One thing I probably haven’t underscored enough in the two pieces I’ve written recently: I’m not campaigning for the team to trade Gay. I believe it’s become inevitable, though, with the only questions being when (this season or this summer) and for what, so I’ve moved on to those two questions. And while I’ve made the case that I think it’s possible to deal Gay this season and maintain the overall quality of the team — depending on the deal, obviously — I would also be perfectly happy to see the team stand pat and work on their roster/payroll issues this summer.

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Beyond the Arc Sports

Road Recap: Grizzlies 93, Celtics 83

CREDIT: LARRY KUZNIEWSKI

Mike Conley broke out of his December slump in a big way against the Celtics.

  • LARRY KUZNIEWSKI
  • Mike Conley broke out of his December slump in a big way against the Celtics.

If ever there was a game that backed up my now oft-stated assertion that as Mike Conley goes, so go the Griz, it was last night in Boston, where the Grizzlies got a double-digit road win despite Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol combining for 11 points on 4-15 shooting.

But Conley combined a season-high 23 points (on 8-15 shooting) with nine assists and only one turnover, all while playing 44 minutes due to a first-quarter Jerryd Bayless ankle sprain. The team also got good games from Rudy Gay (19-6-5, though Paul Pierce lit him up early on), Tony Allen (15-5, on 6-8 shooting), and reserve bigs Marreese Speights and Darrell Arthur (a combined 20-9 on 8-13 shooting).

Mitigating the good vibes: The Celtics are really struggling right now. They’ed gone 2-7 in their previous nine games, with six of those seven losses in double figures. And, offensively, though the Grizzlies’ performance looks good at a glance, there were again problems down the stretch. After scoring 25 points in each of the first three quarters, the Grizzlies managed only 18 in the fourth, with much of that padded by late free-throws. The Grizzlies had more shot-clock violations (2) than made field goals (1) in the game’s final nine minutes. They seemed to be playing tight and too conservatively; running down the clock and getting tough, contested, often forced shots as a result.