No Rudy Gay? That was definitely no problem. With how the Grizzlies have been playing this year, it looks like Gay doesn't even exist. This awesome play of Memphis is really something, and much of the credit needs to go to Zach Randolph.
Randolph always gets his job done in the paint, getting all the rebounds and scoring everywhere from there. Why else is he a 20-10 guy you can count on every night? Along with that, who knew this guy could shoot from long-range? He was only 8-of-43 from the regular season, but a big bucket with 41.9 seconds left from behind-the-arc helped lift the Grizz over the San Antonio Spurs, 91-88, to take a 2-1 series lead.
"One would probably think that you'd like Zach to shoot the 3 rather than continue to lay it in against you, so it was a heck of a shot and part of the playoffs is about making shots," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
Shane Battier, the veteran who made the pass, wasn't very optimistic about the shot as first, but neither was everyone else at the Forum. It was just a huge -- HUGE!! -- sign of relief.
"I think there was a collective holding of the breath at the Forum when that shot was in the air, and it went through," Battier said. "It was one of those moments where it's like: 'No, no, no, no, no, yes. Yes.'"
It's a good thing the Grizzlies decided to stay at the eighth seed. When they had potential to go as high as six, Lionel Hollins decided that Memphis is best if they decide to face the number-one seeded Spurs for the first round. And so far, this decision has been paying off as the Grizzlies opened up the series for their first victory in the playoffs, and now their first home victory. If Memphis continue to play strong like this, they will go on to be only the fourth eighth seed to knock off the first seed in the playoffs.
The Grizzlies got a lot of advantages at home, and with Game Four at Memphis, they have a good shot to lead the series 2-1.
Randolph had 25 points and five rebounds in the game, while fellow big man Marc Gasol had 17 points. Mike Conley put up 14 points and O.J. Mayo had ten. For the Spurs, Manu Ginobili led San Antonio with 23 points. Behind was Tony Parker with 16, Tim Duncan with 13, and then George Hill with eleven points.
The Spurs only lead came at the first quarter, and they never led after that. They never led by more than one point, having 12-11 lead. But after that, it was all Grizzlies' basketball taking advantage and gaining all the momentum possible.
With the Spurs coming in close, only down 88-86, the Grizzlies needed to put up a shot fast, especially with time winding down on the shot clock. Battier got the ball, passed it to Z-Bo for the huge shot. Randolph celebrated as the crowd started to cheer the nickname on. After that, it looked like the game was over with Memphis at a 91-86 advantage.
"It was 5 seconds on the shot clock," Randolph said. "I had a little space to see it, so I just shot the shot. It went in, but that's the shot I work on and I practice every day shooting so it felt good when it left my hand."
Tim Duncan did not expect Randolph to make that shot, especially this late in the game.
"I leaned back and tried to make sure that there wasn't a quick big-to-big roll, but he hit a 3 from that range. It was a great shot," Duncan said.
Coach Hollins knew that Randolph would take the shot, especially with Duncan not even coming after him to defend him.
"I'm happy we're where we are," Hollins said. "We could be in that other position in that other locker room, so it's nice to be where we are. And it's nice to get a victory at home in front of our fans in a playoff game. That's special as well because they've been wanting one and hoping for one, and we came in and got it the first opportunity."
Ginobili had a chance to shoot a three with time flying away, but Gasol prevented that with tight defense.
"I didn't care. You can do whatever to get a two. You're not going to shoot a three," Gasol said.
The crowd was great here at the Forum. O.J. Mayo loved it.
"Did you see that building?" Mayo said. "That was the difference. It was just unbelievable. Our crowd, everybody up swinging a white towel, and everybody on the same sheet of music. If you want to know the difference, it was that home court."
Looks like it might happen again at the Forum. Originally, I did not expect Memphis do this well. But after seeing this play, I have the Grizzlies winning in six games. There's my prediction. It's all thanks to Zach Randolph.
Gotta love Z-Bo!
