Memphis Grizzlies defeat New Orleans Hornets 103-91, Book a place in the Playoffs - NBA Recap
On Wednesday night, the Memphis Grizzlies played hosts to the New Orleans Hornets, looking to secure a playoff berth at the FedExForum, Memphis, TN.
They did that alright by defeating the streaking Hornets 103-91. This is the second year in a row that the Grizzlies have managed to qualify for the playoffs. The game had a bit of an ironic feel to it. It was only last week, that
the Grizzlies saw their 4 game winning streak nipped by the Hornets, who then went onto win the next four. Tonight, Memphis made sure of a payback.
Rudy g*y led the scoring for the Grizzlies as finished the game with 26 points. Mike Conley also played well for 20 points on the night. O.J. Mayo provided the much required spark while coming off the bench. He managed to score
15 points. Zach Randolph also played well to score 10 points in the game. Injured Marc Gasol played for 23 plus minutes and managed 6 points on a 3 for 3 shooting.
Hornets’ rookie Jerome Dyson had a career best night as he came off the bench to score 24 points. Marco Belinelli and Carl Landry both contributed 16 while Jason Smith finished the night with 12 points.
Hornets out-rebounded the Grizzlies 35-31. However, Memphis made up for their lack of control on the glass by outscoring New Orleans 56-34 in the paint. Even though, these stats look like the Grizzlies were entirely dominant, however,
that was not the case as the Memphis big men struggled to score much in the entire game.
Both teams were equal to each other in all aspects of the game in the entire first quarter. No team looked like catching a break and the scores remained close for the most part. Memphis did manage to hold a 4 point lead for some
time but by the end for the first 12 minutes they led by only 2 points, 23-21.
Hornets quickly got their noses in front in the second quarter with a 10-4 run and managed to stay ahead till the final minute of the half, when Memphis after tying the game thrice, finally managed to take the lead again on a
Conley layup, 47-45. However, on the last possession of the half, Belinelli connected from long range to give the Hornets a 1 point lead, 48-47.
Even though the Grizzlies struggled to score in the first half, they decided to put those troubles behind them. They started the third quarter on a 26-6 run. The significant factor during that run was not only their offence but
their intensity on the defensive end of the court.
Memphis forced New Orleans to commit 6 turnovers in that run and converted their defense into offense. The Grizzlies converted 11 of their 12 field attempts during that stretch and by the end of the third; they had extended their
lead to 24 points, 84-60.
Hornets, who earlier had looked like they would give their hosts a run for their money, got the life sucked out of them in the third quarter as they only scored 12 points while Memphis added 37.
In the final quarter, New Orleans were able to pick up on the slack as they outscored the Grizzlies 31-19. However, the Grizzly lead proved to be insurmountable in the end as Memphis took this one by a margin of 12 points.
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