Grizzlies Get To Celebrate, Beat Hornets.
Nothing has ever come easy for the Memphis Grizzlies. The only extended playoff run they’ve ever had came without their presumed best player. They had the worst winning percentage over their first six years in NBA history. In five of those seasons, the team didn’t even register a winning percentage of .300.
Until the Bobcats lose the rest of their games this year (and believe me, they’re going to) the 1998-1999 Grizzlies are the team with the worst winning percentage for an entire season in NBA history.
Not helping matters was the fact that they started off in Vancouver, having to make their own way with that hockey-crazed fan base.
The Grizzlies’ draft record, whether it be in Canada or Tennessee speaks for itself, and that statement is “HELP!” Has any franchise blown more high picks? Of course, just having a pick and getting an actual player is better than having nothing to look forward to at the draft at all. Even if that player is Hasheem Thabeet.
At the 2003 draft, the Grizzlies were facing one of the most remarkable all-or-nothings in history. Not NBA history, or even sports history. American history. This lottery should go up there with the Boston Tea Party and Paul Revere’s famous ride.
As part of the ill-fated trade for Otis Thorpe years earlier, when the franchise was still in Vancouver, the Grizzlies owed the Detroit Pistons their first-round pick, as long as it didn’t end up as the first overall pick in the draft. Basically, if the Grizzlies got the top pick, they kept it, drafted Lebron James and became contenders almost immediately.
If the pick was second or lower, they lost the pick and got nothing.
The pick ended up second.
Ugh.
That pick had actual value too. So maybe they missed out on Lebron, but the Grizzlies could have still drafted Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh or anybody else. But they got nothing.
That’s life as a Grizzlies fan until the past two years. Pretty much just constant fear all the time.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012 against the New Orleans Hornets was shaping up much the same way as the Grizzlies came out of the gates sluggish against a team that had soundly beaten the Grizzlies in Louisiana just three days prior.
The Grizzlies led by just one point at halftime and seemed to be going through the motions against a team that had found a groove and was playing good basketball at the time.
Then the third quarter happened and everyone forgot that it was ever close.
The Grizzlies outscored the Hornets 37-12 in the third quarter in a 12 minute long run that had no end in sight for Coach Monty Williams and his Hornets. The Grizzlies were much better and they were finally proving it on the court.
Rudy Gay was the main culprit behind the Grizzlies dispatching New Orleans. Gay shot a tidy 9-14 from the field and an excellent 3-5 from three point range. He also brought The Forum to it’s feet with a huge dunk in the 3rd quarter that finally broke the Hornets’ will.
Hornets’ star Eric Gordon sat the game out as did Grizzlies reserve Gilbert Arenas.
With the win, Memphis extended it’s home winning streak to eight games, dating back to a mid-March loss to the Toronto Raptors.
With a playoff spot finally clinched, the Grizzlies will now set their sights on trying to move up at least one more spot to the 4 seed and have home-court advantage for the first time in franchise history, but it’s becoming more and more likely that they stay in the 5 spot. If you’re worried about Memphis going an entire playoff run without home-court advantage, you shouldn’t. The Grizzlies made it to game 7 of the second round of the playoffs last year by winning big games on the road.
Besides, the Grizzlies have become quite experienced at working through tough times that go beyond playing in a strange city with some bandwagon Clippers fan yelling obscenities at you. The Grizzlies will be ready when the playoffs begin and if they play like they did during the recent 7 wins in 9 nights stretch, whoever they match up with may find themselves in a mismatch, whether they have home-court advantage or not.