GRIZZLIES IMPLODE IN THE FOURTH AND LOSE 98-88
by bystander on Nov 29, 2009 3:31 PM PST
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There are many parallels between our teams. We each have crafty point guards in Davis and Tinsley. Future superstar 2-guards in EJ and OJ. Athletic SF’s in Thornton and Gay. Talented centers in Kaman and Gasol. Both of these teams both have loads of talent and neither seem to know how to put together a win. Both the Clips and the Grizz had question marks re: the team chemistry.
In the third meeting of the season, our recently 4-1 Clips run into a recently 5-2 Grizz team. Could we pull it off?
WTF: Rudy Gay has had the Clippers’ number in the first two games, scoring 33 and 21, respectively. One would assume that the players and coaching staff had made a note of this and made the necessary preparations. I guess I assumed incorrectly, as he scores the Grizzlies first 8 points to open the game.
EJ vs OJ. OJ Mayo finished 2nd in voting for ROY behind Derrick Rose, but EJ has outplayed him in most of the meetings between the two teams. Eric finished with 29 points—energizing the Clippers in the 4th while OJ finished with 8 points on 2-10 shooting.
Kaman vs Gasol. The better comparison is Gasol vs Camby. Kaman was lucky to come out in the favorable end in comparison to Thabeet. Thabeet had 3 points after the first half with Kaman with nothing to show but 2 points and 3 fouls.
Superstar for the Grizz: Tie—Tinsley and Gasol. At least the Clippers forced other players than Gay to do the damage.
Superstars for the Clips: Camby. 14 points on 7-8 shooting. 14 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 1 steal against only 1 personal foul and 1 turn-over.
Thornton vs Gay: I know I’m not the only one who wanted to see a rejuvenated Al Thornton going up against the Clipper-killer named Rudy Gay. Neither one asserted themselves in tonight until Thornton blew up in the fourth, outperforming Gay with a 8-15, 18-point game to Gay’s 7-14, and 15 points.
Best play of the game: Camby’s rebound of a Baron 3 point miss, and behind the back (both his and Rudy Gay’s) pass to Thornton for a 2 hand slam with 1:19 on the clock in the 3rd quarter.
THE COMEBACK:
Kaman rebound 4th Q 7:02 Kaman rebound and outlet pass to EJ, leading to a lay-up and +1, cutting the Memphis lead to 10.
4th 6:12 With the Memphis lead, Baron gets a great look at a 3-pointer, but misses. Al Thornton comes down with a rare offensive rebound. down to 10, Tinsley strips Baron. Fortunately, they didn’t make a basket. Next play: Offensive foul by the Clips.
4:04 Rudy Gay misses 2 free throws. Baron drives to the basket and cuts the lead to 8, with 3:47 remaining. I sit there wondering why he hasn’t done it all game long…
Clippers have shown improved shot selection and better defense—holding the Grizz to 17% FG.
3:31 Kaman strips Gasol, Gordon grabs the loose ball and gets a lay-up AND THE FOUL! +1, 88-83.
Next possession, Mayo milks the clock—shooting with 1 second left but misses. Camby rebounds and the ensuing possession nets 2 made Kaman free throws. 3 point Grizz lead.
2:33 Tinsley loses the ball because of a Baron and Camby double team, resulting in a 1-2 Thornton free throw. 88-86 Memphis.
2:08 Gasol ‘s shot is blocked by Camby. Gordon gets the loose ball and gets a lay-up on the other end. Game tied 88-88.
Rudy Gay’s shot gets partially blocked by Camby in the ensuing possession—Baron Davis passes to Gordon to Thornton for the easy lay-up. Clippers lead 90-88 with 1:38 remaining!
After the time out, Randolph is double-teamed by Camby and Gordon, his pass is tipped, Gordon gets the loose ball, passes to Thornton for a lay-up and a foul. +1 and the Clips lead 93-88.
17-0 RUN!!!!!
Next possession, Rudy Gay throws up an airball—Baron passes to Telfair for a 3 pointer, 96-88 Clipper lead.
After the timeout, Tinsley’s lay-up blocked by Butler. Baron again finds Telfair for a three point attempt, but Telfair shows mercy and attempts to run-off the clock. He is fouled and sent to the free throw line.
Telfair misses both of his free throws, but Thornton gets the rebound and gets a 2 point put-back. 22-0 point Clipper run and the game ends with 98-88.
Wow! Grizzlies opened the 4th with a 16 point lead and shooting better than 60%. Clips held them to 2-18 in the fourth (11%) and all the good will that the Grizz have saved up over the past 7 games went out the window...
Have we ever seen another team implode the way the Grizzlies have? Yes. We watch our chosen team do it all the time. (Like I said--our teams have so many similarities). I'm just glad to see it happen to some other team for a change…
Final thought of the Day: Is there a bigger dud at #2 than Thabeet? Perhaps Darko...we can only hope that the difference between the #1 and #2 picks this season will be as big as the #1 and #2 picks when LeBron came into the league...
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great win, great plays, great team
That’s right I said “great team”, this team can and will be great. I hope they remember this game for the rest of the season. They know they have the talent, they know they have the ability, so they know they can win any game under any situation.
They're great if they play defense
especially like they way they played in the 4th. If they’re capable of clamping down like that, why don’t they do it more often? That 2006 team was successful because it was excellent on d. These guys go through stretches where I feel like I could score on them.
best gm i have been to all year
and i have been to the denver win and the win in golden state, but it was a great atmosphere today, they need to wake up and play hard for 48 min, hopefully gordon is ok
Excellent game. And though it was for one quarter - I've never seen a Clipper team
play such incredible defense. Kudos to the team. It seems like EJ must be the heart of the team – and Camby the muscle. This just blows me away. Incredible.
Yea, this win is one of the most
exciting things that happened to me all these years following my sports heroes.
Just watched 4th quarter again
Very enjoyable. A couple of nice plays by Kaman that I had forgotten, especially the one where he knocked the ball away from Gasol. Things were definitely bouncing the Clips way, but their hustle made it all happen. They also did a fantastic job getting the ball upcourt after coming up with it, passing, lots of racing to the hoop by Gordon and Thornton.
It's gonna be TOUGH, I tell ya
to bench Camby when Griffin returns. I’m sure we all agree, Marcus is playing some outstanding and stabilizing ball right now, unlike Kaman. But how do you bench Chris, esp if this is just a brief and routine slump he’s in? So I’m a little more in favor of bringing Blake off the bench, but I hear what people are saying, that he’s a more natural 4 than Camby is. It just looks to me like a very tough call.
But what’s going to be toughest of all, I believe, is deciding who gets to FINISH games. If Blake comes back and has all the firepower he was showing preseason, then crap, I just don’t know what I’d do about the final 6 minutes. Keep Kaman out? It’s not the worst problem to have, to say the least, but I’m curious what other people think.
Camby is doing great right now. He is doing all the little things to help this team win. I see him putting Baron on check sometimes, which I think does this team a lot of good. We don’t give him enough credit, but he’s definitely one of the leaders of this team.
If Blake comes back and gives us what we expected from him, then Dunleavy will have to make a lot of tough choices down the line. Maybe he can simply go with who is doing well for that game.
by Cay.Clipper1 on Nov 29, 2009 8:58 PM PST up reply actions
Clippers Set Sail, Grizzlies Lost in Woods
that would have an attention grabbing headline for this article!!!
by whyamiaclippersfan on Nov 29, 2009 7:23 PM PST reply actions
id like to see a bigs rotation of about 33 min per
Personaly, id sit Kaman on the bench until he shows a little more consistancy during crunch time. A more urgent issue id like to see addressed is the resigning of Camby. Maybe for the MLE. He’s our Sam Cassel
Yeah, looks like Gomes lit them up
and Chauncey let them down (2-13, 3 assists, 4 TO). I just checked out his November stats on ESPN. Talk about a study of inconsistency. He had a great game the other day against the Knicks, plus 3 or 4 other strong outings in the first half of the month, but he’s also laid at least a half dozen eggs, including his game against the Clips. He’s 33 years old… I’m gonna keep an eye on him.
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