Only one game separated the 4th seeded Memphis Grizzlies and 5th seed LA Clippers in the regular season. Now, only one game is going to separate them in the playoffs, as the Memphis Grizzlies forced a game 7 by defeating the Clippers at LA 90-88.
The Grizzlies set the tone early, winning the first quarter 25-16. The Memphis seemed to want the game more, was quicker at loose balls and much better in rebounding. Zach Randolph did a good job of rebounding, finishing off with 16, some of them in crucial offensive plays.
Even with that, Coach Hollins was egging his boys to keep doing what they are doing. He demanded that they be able to shoot the ball better and minimize turnovers. He was obviously not contented that Clippers still managed to keep the game close even when they showed superiority in rebounding and hustle. One big reason the Grizzlies were not able to pull away was the 13 turnovers they made in just the 1st half.
The Clippers, obviously were not without woes. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin were not their usual selves. Griffin was not as aggressive, often times passing the ball to shooters instead of crashing the defense. He was also visibly slow in running up and down the floor, leading to easy layups by Paul Gasol and Zach Randolph. Chris Paul was outscored by Mike Conley 13-11, and Conley seemed to get his teammates more involved with 9 assists to Paul’s 7.
What kept the Clippers in the game were the superb effort by bench players Bledshoe, Evans and Martin. Bledshoe scored 14 while Evans had 10 big rebounds and K-Mart was great in the defensive end. However, this was not enough to finally close out the ever persistent Memphis Grizzlies.
Marc Gasol lead the Grizzlies with 23 points and 9 rebounds. Zach Randolph has 18 points and 16 huge boards. Rudy Gay also had 13 points and 6 rebounds. Blake Griffin scored 17 points and had 5 rebounds in their losing effort.
Game 7 will be on Sunday at Memphis, 1pm EDT.
