O.J. Comes Alive: Grizzlies 103, Jazz: 98.
Since joining the Memphis Grizzlies on draft night in 2008, O.J. Mayo has worn many different hats. He was regarded by many as the third best prospect in that specific draft, at worst.
He was so highly regarded, in fact, that the Grizzlies traded future all-star Kevin Love to Minnesota for his rights, and took back two bad contracts. A small price to pay for what the Grizzlies’ front office regarded as a future franchise cornerstone.
in his first season, Mayo lived up to the hype, finishing second in the rookie of the year voting to eventual MVP Derrick Rose. In his second season, Memphis improved and just barely missed the playoffs, with Mayo taking another step forward.
The past year and a half have not been as smooth as his first two years in Beale Street Blue, though. Trade rumors, a PED suspension and a bizarre fight on a road trip affected his third season in Memphis. O.J. also agreed to come off the bench for the Grizzlies, in an attempt to help what was the worst bench in the NBA in 2009-2010.
Mayo’s season turned for the better in the playoffs, however. He got used to coming off the bench and hit big shot after big shot against San Antonio and Oklahoma City.
However, as soon as the lockout ended up, the old familiar trade rumors started again, as he was linked to many different teams, most notably the New Jersey Nets.
The Grizzlies elected to keep Mayo in the face of his upcoming free agency, and despite the very real chance that he could leave Memphis after the year and the Grizzlies would receive nothing in return. The team didn’t care, they felt their best chance at winning a championship was with Mayo on the team.
Saturday’s game against the Utah Jazz wasn’t his best game statistically, as he “only” posted 20 points on 5-11 shooting, but he put 17 of those 20 up in the 4th quarter.
Included in those 17 points was a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line as Mayo looked to drive to the basket over and over again. His aggressiveness also opened up the three point stripe for the Grizzlies as the normally distance-challenged squad nailed four of them in the 4th quarter alone.
The Grizzlies added yet another win against a team they hadn’t previously beaten, as the Jazz had won the first two games of the season series, along with the tiebreaker, as Memphis and Utah will only meet three times this regular season.
The Jazz’ playoff hopes took another serious hit on a night in which they could have made up some ground on Phoenix, who lost in San Antonio.
To be fair, the Jazz are probably the most improved team in the NBA as their young players have matured a little ahead of schedule. Still, the Jazz’ 10-22 record away from home will probably be enough to keep them at home for the playoffs.
In addition to Mayo’s mastery in the 4th quarter, Rudy Gay turned in yet another good performance on a night in which no Jazz player could really figure out how to guard him. He was too quick for Paul Millsap and Gordon Hayward, but too long for Alec Burks and former Grizzly DeMarre Carroll.
As I feel like I’ve mentioned once or twice on this site, the Grizzlies will go as far as the Zach Randolph and Rudy Gay can take them. Until Randolph returns to form (assuming he does) the duty will fall on Gay to raise his game and make his teammates better. It isn’t necessarily all about scoring, as opposed to putting other guys in spots to succeed.
On Saturday, he did it all. The 26 points were a game high, but he also pulled in 12 rebounds, which was his season-high. Gay went 8-16 from the field, and an outstanding 9-10 from the free throw line.
A lot of people in the Memphis media compare Gay to Kevin Durant, but that’s not fair. We’ve never seen a guy in the NBA like Kevin Durant, ever. A 6’10 athletic freak of a forward with 30 foot range? C’mon.
That said, Gay did his best Durant impression on Saturday as he made plays all night to will his team to a much needed win.
The Grizzlies needed all of his production, as well. Utah’s Al Jefferson had 20 points and 8 rebounds to lead the Jazz and shot 10-17 from the field and looked genuinely impossible to guard by anyone on the Grizzlies.
In fact, the only guy to come in and make him look even a little uncomfortable was the 7’2 reserve Hamed Hadaddi.
It wasn’t the best game the Grizzlies have ever seen or played, but after two previous losses against Utah this season, Memphis was probably pretty happy to get home with another win.
The Grizzlies record now sits at 35-24 and may have just played the best team left on their schedule as Memphis has games against the Hornets (twice), Bobcats, Trail Blazers and Cavs left on the schedule. The Grizzlies do play the Orlando Magic in their season finale, but it is exceedingly likely that they’ll be without Dwight Howard for that game and at this point, it looks like the Grizzlies will have plenty to play for that night.