Pelicans Failed to Fly Against Grizzlies
If basketball teams could get college degrees, the Grizzlies would major in “Ugly Wins” and graduate with honors.
Tony Allen, Mike Conley, Tayshaun Prince, Marc Gasol, and Zach Randolph started for the Grizz. Prince played in lieu of Courtney Lee, who was absent as a result of the concussion he suffered in the game versus the Pacers on October 31st in adherence to the NBA’s Official Concussion Policy. Memphis’ own Tyreke Evans started for the Pels, along with Anthony Davis, Omar Asik, Eric Gordon, and Jrue Holiday.
The first quarter began with a Grizz possession. Randolph scored the first basket of the game.
Not only did Randolph aid the Grizz with 15 points and 11 rebounds, he also provided consistent defense against Pels powerhouse Davis, allowing him to make only 6 of his 12 attempted baskets (one being a slick tip-dunk in the first quarter). Davis contributed 14 points and 8 rebounds to the Pels in his 32 minutes on the court.
A pleasantly surprising vital player in this game was Prince. Despite the fact that Joerger drastically lowered his minutes, Prince came to play on Monday night and scored 14 points total; half of those came from the first quarter alone. He scored one three-pointer in the first quarter and finished his run with an impressive dunk in the fourth.
Buckets were made and people rejoiced, but the abundance of fouls was the elephant in the room for both teams, particularly in the second half. Randolph and Allen were in foul trouble for the Grizz in the end, with 4 and 5 personal fouls, respectively. The Pels had even more, as Holiday, Gordon, and Anderson had 5 fouls each. Evans escaped with 4.
Another elephant in the room was the ever-prevalent free throw issue. Though the Grizz FT% was higher than that of the Pels, it wasn’t by much. Gasol, who is typically reliable at the free-throw line, especially for a center, only made 8 of his 12 attempted free throws. Allen’s numbers were even more gut-wrenching, as he made 4 of his 8 attempted free throws.
Gasol made 8 of his 12 attempted free throws during Monday night’s game against the Pelicans.
Despite these setbacks, in the last seconds, an eternally optimistic Udrih held the basketball with a smile as the sound of the buzzer signaled the end of the game. The final score was 93-81.
Overall, Gasol was the Grizz’ leading scorer with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Evans led the Pels with 21 points and 2 rebounds. The Grizzlies led the Pelicans in both field goal and free throw percentages. The Grizz made 40.8% of attempted field goals while the Pels made 33.7% of theirs; similarly, the Grizz made 73% of their free throws while the Pels made 65.5%.
The dynamic Grizz are still undefeated. 4-0. A day of practice to prepare for the Wednesday, November 5th away game versus the Suns in Phoenix awaits the Grizz. It’s time for them to go harder.
Doesn't bluff, stays grinding.
Bluff City Born and Memphis Made
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- Notes From Grizzlies Media Day 2019 - October 2, 2019
- Memphis Grizzlies 2019 Training Camp Roster - September 30, 2019
Took Karl to the game last night! He absolutely loves the Grizz. Every time they miss a free throw though, he let’s out a very audible “oh” (think Sopranos). I heard a few too many of them last night!