Grizzlies 94, Clippers 85.

It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility to call the past two seasons the best in franchise history for the Memphis Grizzlies.

Sure, they made the playoffs three straight seasons from 2004-2006, but those teams failed to win simply one playoff game, let alone a series.

In addition to their inspiring playoff run in the spring of 2011, this year’s edition of the Grizzlies franchise has opened more than a few eyes. Last night’s win (their 8th in 10 outings) continued the trend.

The Grizzlies bullied the Clippers around FedEx Forum in front of an announced crowd of 17,219 in a game that wasn’t quite as close as the final score would indicate.

Quite simply, the Grizzlies dominated the game from start to finish. Only a late rally by Chris Paul could keep “Lob City” close in the potential first-round playoff match-up.

Paul led all scorers with 21 points, but the Grizzlies got it done on their side by committee, as Marc Gasol scored 18 points, but also saw Rudy Gay post 16 and OJ Mayo and Mike Conley score 13 apiece.

Memphis’ balance was impressive, as was it’s contributions from the bench. In addition to Mayo’s scoring and at times tough defense on Paul, Zach Randolph posted a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds, outplaying the Clippers’ star in Griffin. Aside from some early testiness, it looked like Griffin wanted no part of guarding Randolph.

After the game, Randolph admitted that he wasn’t all the way back from the knee injury that forced him to miss over two months earlier this season, but he’s getting close. Any Memphis fan remembers pretty easily what a healthy, in game shape Zach Randolph did in the playoffs last year.

It was also the third straight win without perimeter defender extraordinaire and resident wild card Tony Allen, who would have likely spent a lot of time guarding the Clippers’ Paul.

It felt like a playoff atmosphere last night in Memphis, but rather than fighting to just get into the playoffs like the past two years, the Grizzlies are fighting for seeding, something that many thought would be impossible when Randolph went down after a game in Chicago on January 1 and the Grizzlies fell to 1-3 with a loss.

Since then, the Grizzlies have been on a most impressive run, going 32-20, with wins against every western conference playoff team except for the Spurs in that time. Oh, and the Grizzlies get their last shot at San Antonio on Thursday night in the Alamo City.

Maybe you didn’t know a lot about the Grizzlies until they broke through in last year’s playoffs, and maybe you thought even that was a fluke. Maybe you thought that Memphis was a one-trick pony and would fall back to Earth this year.

That all may be true, but if the Grizzlies get Tony Allen back healthy in time for the playoffs, the Grizzlies will have their ideal lineup together for the first time since late in the 2009-2010 season. If that seems unlikely, remember that Allen was playing less than 12 minutes a night until Rudy Gay got injured in January of 2011, and he assumed Gay’s minutes on the way to the second round of the western conference playoffs last year.

The Grizzlies then lost Randolph in the fourth game of the season against Chicago and never got him back until late in March. He returned to the lineup, but came off the bench after a short stint as the team’s starter at power forward.

Less than a week after that, Allen got hit late in a game in Dallas last week and has missed the past three. It’s true that not everyone is 100% this time of year, but the Grizzlies are getting contributions from everyone, every single night. It’s a big if, but if the Grizzlies ever get going with a full deck, they may be tough to stop.

Just ask Lob City.