Rudy g*y misses a last gasp three as Los Angeles Clippers hold on to a 87-86 win against the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 3
Chris Paul came up with 24 points and 11 dishes to help the Los Angeles Clippers defeat the Memphis Grizzlies 87-86 in Game 3 of the first round series here at the Staples Center on Saturday night.
Randy Foye also played a major role in the win. The sharpshooter not only hit 4 big time treys but also forced Rudy g*y to miss the last three ball attempt by doing some excellent work on the defensive end.
The Clippers nearly dug themselves into a hole due to their inability to knock down free throws in crunch time. They missed on five straight attempts from the charity stripe in the final 12 seconds of the game, allowing the Grizzlies
to nearly make possible a come-from-behind win on the road. The entire Clippers roster was dreadful from the line finishing with only 13 points on 30 attempts.
Foye finished the game with 16 points on a 6 for 9 shooting night. Blake Griffin was the third player for the Clippers, who scored in double digits with 17 points on a 7-of-13 shooting night.
For the Grizzlies, Rudy g*y struggled to get going early and was unable to open up his scoring account for the first 17 minutes of the ball game. He however came up big late in the fourth quarter and knocked down two important
money balls to help Memphis stay in the game. g*y eventually finished the night with 24 points on a 5 for 13 shooting night, 7 assists and three steals.
Zach Randolph, who has been given a place in the starting line up by head coach Lionel Hollins in the post season, was the second highest scorer for Memphis, signing off with 17 points and 6 boards in the game. Marc Gasol notched
up a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards while Quincy Pondexter came off the bench to contribute 11 points.
In the first quarter, there was not much to separate the two teams as the score remained close in the early goings. By the end of the opening period, there was still no kind of daylight between the two teams with the Clippers leading
23-22.
Clippers started the second period off in spectacular fashion by managing to put together a 13-1 run with the exclamation mark coming on a Mo Williams layup. However all the good work of the Clippers was off no use as they quickly
gave up the lead, courtesy of a 13-0 response by the Grizzlies which tied the scores up at 36.
The home side put an end to the Grizzlies rally by managing to put together a 8-2 run in the next several minutes. Even though the spirited Memphis side came up to tie the game once again at 46, however the Clippers scored the
last four points if the half and ended it with a buzzer beating dunk from Griffin.
The second half saw the two teams battle it out and with no side able to make a significant run, there was not much to separate them. From the game being tied at 57, Memphis were able to go on a 14-7 run to close out the third
quarter to lead 71-64.
Grizzlies were able to hold that advantage for most part of the final quarter, however the Clippers seem to be relishing this role of coming from behind in this series and deep in the frame, they started a similar surge.
From the 4:35 mark, they went on a 13-1 run to lead 86-80 in the ball game. However there was yet another twist and for the remaining part of the contest Clippers only managed to register 1 point, courtesy of an Eric Bledsoe free
throw.
On the other hand, g*y was red hot from beyond the arc in the last 13 seconds. However he failed to knock down the most important of all, game winning shot, allowing the Clippers to hold on by 1 point in this game.
Tags: