Memphis Grizzlies: Ranking NBA Playoff Runs During The Mike Conley, Marc Gasol Era

2011

The 2011 postseason run started off with an opening round series against the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs. The Grizzlies were in the playoffs for the first time since 2006 and hadn’t even won a playoff game in their franchise’s history so they didn’t have high expectations.

It was a good team effort for Memphis with their big three leading the way. Mike Conley and Marc Gasol averaged 14.3 and 14.2 points per game respectively while Zach Randolph was the leader. He was dominant in this series as he averaged 21.5 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.

They had some help from the other guys though who were all key to pulling off the upset. With guys such as Shane Battier, Tony Allen, and OJ Mayo all making plays they were able to win this series in six games.

This was an upset for the ages, but they didn’t want to be satisfied with just pulling off one upset. They next faced off against the Oklahoma City Thunder and their young stars with Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook.

The Grizzlies played very well in this series against the Thunder. All of their key players picked up their game which they needed to do if they were going to be competitive. It didn’t end how they would’ve liked, but it was still a fun series to be a part of.

Once again Zach Randolph had a phenomenal series as he averaged 22.9 points and 12.3 rebounds per game. The younger plays in Mike Conley and Marc Gasol were good in both of these series as well, but they relied on Randolph to get them buckets when they were needed.

For the first playoff appearance with this group, it was a huge success. If some better moves were made maybe this team could’ve more seriously competed for championships, but they still had a lot of success that shouldn’t be taken for granted.