Grizzlies Top 5 Moments of the Decade
Zach Randolph vs. Blake Griffin
The Grizzlies and Clippers were two teams that had their best era at the same time. The two teams were similar, yet vastly different at the same time. Both teams’ three best players were their point guard and two bigs, but the Clippers were know for being extremely athletic, while the Grizzlies were known for being ground-bound and slow. “Lob City” and “Grit and Grind” met up in the 2012 and 2013 Playoffs, which each team taking a series. During that time, a rivalry was born between Zach Randolph and Blake Griffin.
The match-up between Randolph and Griffin shows the difference in these two teams perfectly. Both players were key parts of their teams’ identity. Griffin was known for his insane athleticism and dunking ability, while Randolph was a back-to-the-basket savant. Griffin had more dunks in his rookie year than Randolph had his entire career, per Basketball Reference. Both were known for being extremely strong, and it showed as they battled for rebounds. Randolph was also known for being an intimidator, something Griffin found out quickly.
In the first game of the 2012 Playoffs, Griffin and Randolph had their first mix-up, resulting in Randolph hitting the ground. Having just recently returned from an injury, all of Memphis gasped as he lied there. In typical Z-bo fashion, Randolph did push-ups before getting up, and the crowd went crazy. Just three games later, the match-up got a little more physical, with Z-bo giving Griffin a massive chest bump that resulted in a bit of chaos. In game seven of that series, Randolph clocked Griffin with a crushing left hand blow that wasn’t whistled a foul. Gotta love playing in Memphis.
The biggest confrontations between the two come in the next season. On opening night of the 2012-13 season, Randolph cleverly slammed Griffin onto the court, yet avoided a foul (IN LA!). This was just a few months after the events of the 2012 Playoffs. Later on, in the 2013 Playoffs, the teams matched up again, with the Grizzlies getting revenge in six games. Game 6 might be the most iconic game ever played at FedexForum for a variety of reasons, all centered around Z-bo and Blake Griffin. It starts in the third, when Blake Griffin attempted to take Randolph down just as Randolph had done to him. This immediately fired Randolph up even more, and he ends up getting a chokehold on Griffin. Personal fouls were assessed to both players, and Randolph was given a technical. Later in the fourth quarter, Randolph would be ejected. The crowd roared as Z-bo skipped to the locker room, elated, knowing the game was won.