The Memphis Grizzlies have been on quite a run since beating the Los Angeles Lakers the last Sunday in March on an ESPN national telecast. But even the most optimistic Grizzlies fan had to be afraid of the possibility of a letdown Wednesday night against the Suns in Memphis.
The Grizzlies had just finished off a gauntlet of a three week stretch, and though their west coast road swing started off with a thud, the Grizzlies have finished in a flurry.
After about three weeks against elite competition (the Thunder, Heat, Lakers and Clippers), and playoff teams (Milwaukee, Houston, Dallas), the Grizzlies look to win their first game against the San Antonio Spurs.
But we’d be getting ahead of ourselves, like the Grizzlies almost did on Wednesday against Phoenix.
The Suns entered the game needing a win to stay in the Western Conference playoff hunt. What they got was a good look at Rudy Gay.
I’ll be the first person to say that Rudy has underachieved about half the time this year, and has been pretty good in other areas. However, he was never truly had a great all-around game until the Washington game in mid-March. Did he rush back from his injury? Was he playing tentative? Only Gay knows that for certain.
That said, he was the dominant player on the court last Saturday when Memphis beat Dallas. He posted 25 points and five rebounds and flipped the momentum in the third quarter with a block of a Jason Terry breakaway layup attempt that would have gotten the Mavs within a single point.
If the Dallas tiebreaker was his best game of the year, I’m not sure anyone would have minded. After all, scoring was at a premium, and Rudy threw 25 big ones up against the defending world champions, and one of the better defensive teams in the league.
However, the Phoenix game was equally as important. The Suns came in on a nice roll, and took every Memphis punch and counter punch, even taking the lead with about eight minutes left to to in the game.
That’s when Gay and Memphis super sub Dante Cunningham carried the Grizzlies home. Gay converted an offensive rebound for a lay-up to put the Grizzlies up four, and Cunningham had six of Memphis’ last eight points. The Suns had finally run out of gas.
The Grizzlies ended up hitting exactly half their shots, which has proven to be a significant number for the team this year. They’re 12-0 when shooting 50% or better.
The only bad news of the night came from other games in the west, as the Grizzlies missed an opportunity to make up ground on the Lakers and Clippers. Both won big road games in San Antonio and Oklahoma City, respectively.
The Grizzlies’ next game is Thursday night against the Spurs as Memphis will try to win for the first time against San Antonio all season. If the previous two games are any indication, they’ll be up to the challenge.