Jeff Green lead the Memphis Grizzlies in scoring for a fifth straight game and the Grizz beat the New York Knicks 91-85.
The Grizzlies have worked hard to be the winningest team with a negative point differential, and had they somehow managed to hang on to their fourth quarter double-digit lead and comfortably won without any drama, that would have ruined all that hard work. As my high school principal once asked the student body after a kid got suspended for making an ill-advised prank 9-1-1 call from the payphone(yes we had payphones, yes I am old), “Where’s the thrill in that?”
For the second consecutive night, the Knicks stormed back from a double-digit deficit, and for the second night in a row they still fell short, this time falling to the Grizzlies 91-85. The final score would have been closer had the Grizzlies not made two late free-throws following a senseless foul from Sasha Vuajic.
Jeff Green, for the fifth straight game (FIFTH IN A ROW!), came off the bench and lead the Grizzlies in scoring while also leading them to victory. His shot selection was above reproach, and he knocked down shots when his team needed it. He got out on the break and threw down electrifying dunks and slashed through the lane and finished tough baskets, and he continued to find ways to score on a night when no Grizzlies starter scored more than 10 points. Whatever issues with chemistry and lineups may have existed during previous rough patches, it seems Coach Dave Joerger and Green have figured out how to make it work.
The Grizzlies had a balanced scoring attack with eight players scoring between seven and twelve points in the contest, including Tony Allen (7), Mike Conley (8), Mario Chalmers (8), Ryan Hollins (8), Vince Carter (9), Zach Randolph (10), Marc Gasol (10), and Matt Barnes (12).
For the second time, the Grizzlies had all they could handle while facing the Knicks without Carmelo Anthony. It was a somewhat bizarre game, Jose Calderon lead all scorers with his game-high 18 points for one aberrant game note, but doubtlessly an entertaining game as well. There were a few peculiarities in this one:
We saw Tony Allen sprint out the gates to a quick seven points for the Grizzlies to begin the first quarter, then he mysteriously disappeared, presumably somewhere into the same Bermuda triangle area of the Grizzlies bench where Joerger previously banished Jamychal Green.
We watched the Memphis starting backcourt of Mike Conley and Courtney Lee misfire and brick their way to a combined 3-for-15 shooting effort, and it didn’t hurt the Grizzlies in the least.
If you saw Mario Chalmers go toe to toe with Jusuf Nurkic back when the two nearly got into a fight during a win over the Nuggets, then you already know Chalmers got the juice now, man. But you probably weren’t expecting him to get called for a flagrant 2 foul and get ejected from the game for elbowing Vujacic in a scrap for the ball.
In theory, the Grizzlies could have gotten more scoring from Conley and Gasol: they could have held Jose Calderon to fewer than 18 points, Dave Joerger could have played Allen for more minutes, Dave Joerger could have played Jamychal Green at all, and perhaps if all those things happen, then maybe the Grizzlies cruise to a solid 10 to 15 point win rather than eking out another nailbiter of a victory in the game’s final minute.
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When your team wins five in a row, and 11 of its last 13, you should enjoy it. Embrace it. If you can’t have fun with it, you won’t be able to stomach watching the Grizzlies if they ever descend back to Kwame Brown and Marc Iavaroni levels of actual ineptitude.
In the NBA, there are teams like the Warriors who win almost every game by completely dominating and outscoring their opponents wire to wire. There are teams like the Spurs who play “the right way” and are lead to dynasty-type sustained successes by wise management and superior coaching. There are even teams like this season’s Lakers and Sixers who predictably lose and haplessly sink and flounder under the currents of an NBA season.
And, to paraphrase from the analytical description of various lunch table cliques in a groundbreaking sociological documentary, then there’s the greatest people you will ever meet, the Memphis Grizzlies.
Their imperfections are too numerous and too severe to defend, but right now, the Grizzlies have a 30-20 record in a wildly inconsistent Western Conference. Rather than foolishly blowing up the team and heading to the Draft lottery, the Grizz are heading towards a sixth straight playoff berth, an unprecedented and at one time unthinkable feat for this franchise.
No one can deny you the completely reasonable and well-deserved right to be frustrated or disappointed with this team at times, but if you can’t enjoy the Grizzlies barely beating the Melo-less Knicks, you’re doing it wrong. You’re missing out on the thrilling part.