2012 NBA Playoffs: Grizzlies And Clippers Battle For Series Control In Game 4.
In my opinion, there’s nothing better than a game 5 in an NBA playoff series when the series is tied 2-2 and the home crowd is there going crazy, waving towels and doing whatever they can to keep the visiting team from playing their best.
If there is a close second, it would be game 4, especially one in which the home team has just taken a 2-1 series lead and can almost put the visitors away, only the visitors know it and hopefully they play their best game of the series to date. The winner of game 5 generally decides the series, but game 4 provides a lot of the momentum for the winner or loser.
That’s just another reason that the NBA playoffs are so much unlike any other postseason in professional sports, the wild swings from one game to the next. Sometimes, even the same game can produce two different outcomes. We saw that in game 1 of this very series, as the Grizzlies dominated for three quarters, but eventually lost the game.
The good news for fans of these teams though is that we still have an opportunity to see both kinds of games in this series. Game 4 is tonight at Staples Center, and while it’s not technically a “must-win,” it’s pretty close. Teams have dug out of a 3-1 series deficit before, but it’s asking a lot to win three straight games against a playoff team, and one of those games on the road.
While Saturday’s game 3 loss was certainly disappointing, it wasn’t as crushing as the game 1 meltdown in which Murphy’s Law was proven in glorious, painstaking detail. Well, if you’re a Memphis fan anyway.
The Grizzlies responded to that loss with a win in front of the FedEx Forum faithful in game 2. Can they steal a playoff road win in a hostile environment? That remains to be seen. We’ve already known that the Grizzlies were going to have to win at least one road game in the first round after dropping game 1 and while the Clippers probably feel good about how they’re playing right now, it may be asking too much to win a potential close-out game back in Los Angeles.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves, because tonight’s game may very well be the best game of the series. In a series that’s been as close as this one, and has seen two different one-point losses (both won by the Clippers), that’s awful high praise, but you have to believe that both teams view tonight’s game as the pivotal game, and for good reason.
If the Grizzlies win, they’re headed home right where they want to be, tied 2-2, and having won the last game. They would have also regained the home-court advantage that they worked so hard for.
If the Clippers pull it out, they’re up 3-1 and facing three straight elimination games, needing only one win to clinch the series. They’d also have one home game left, game 6, in case they can’t get the job done in Memphis in game 5.
For the Grizzlies to win, they need to avoid the long scoring drought that has plagued them in both losses in the first round so far. Game 1 has been talked about almost non-stop, but game 3’s was almost as bad, as the Grizzlies let a late 7 point lead escape and even trailed by as many as 7 themselves late, before some shaky Clippers free throw shooting gave Memphis a chance to get a look at a game-winning jump shot.
Rudy Gay missed that shot on Saturday, which is too bad, because he played pretty well for the most part. He will need to take advantage of the fact that nobody on the Clippers can really defend him and get to the free throw line as much as he did in game 3, as he shot an astounding 15 free throws, and even hit 12 of them.
For the Clippers, the game will be about keeping it close until Chris Paul can carry them home late. That was the plan in game 1 and 3, and it worked pretty well.
In fact, with Lebron’s spotty late-game play being considered, you could make a case that Paul is the NBA’s best closer. He gets anywhere he wants to get on the court at any time, he shoots the ball very well from the floor and the free throw line. He can also tighten up on defense when he needs to.
It’s even more remarkable when you consider that Paul does all of this despite being under 6 feet and has had one major knee surgery already in his young career.
Despite Paul’s greatness, the Grizzlies have been right in every game in this series, they just have to find a way to disrupt him and steal a win on the road and hold serve the rest of the way.
My Prediction:
Grizzlies: 95
Clippers: 93
Zach Randolph returns to the Z-bo of the 2011 playoffs with 25 points and 12 rebounds. Rudy Gay chips in 18 of his own and Mike Conley comes away with 4 steals and 9 assists.
Paul is brilliant again, but Lionel Hollins makes the move to put Tony Allen on him in time in game 4 and Allen’s height throws Paul off enough to force him into tough shots and clouds Paul’s passing lanes.
The Grizzlies grit and grind act gets back on track and the Grizzlies fly back to the Bluff City for an enormous game 5 in front of another sell-out FedEx Forum crowd.