Memphis Grizzlies edge past Cleveland Cavaliers, Still in contention to win 4th seed in the West – NBA Recap
The Memphis Grizzlies defeated the travelling Cleveland Cavaliers 109-101 on Monday night for their 5th win in a row and their 10th straight victory at the FedExForum. With the win, the Grizzlies are still
in contention of displacing the Los Angeles Clippers from the 4th spot in the Western Conference and clinching home court advantage for the 1st round of the Playoffs.
The Clippers are a half game ahead of Memphis and in order to win 4th seed the Grizzlies need to win their last game of the season against Orlando Magic, and need the Clippers to lose their last two games against New
York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks.
Marreese Speights was the leading scorer for the Grizzlies, going 6 of 9 from the field for his 17 points while grabbing 10 rebounds in the process. Tony Allen also had a great night, scoring 13 points, adding 8 rebounds and a
franchise record 8 steals.
Kyrie Irving had a game high 25 points and 4 assists for the Cavaliers, going 10 of 16 from the field.
The Cavaliers led the Grizzlies 78-77 going into the final period, but gave away the lead early in the fourth. A three point play by Dante Cunningham put the Grizzlies up 93-89 with 6:32 left in the game. Two free throws by Tristan
Thompson tied the score at 98. Marc Gasol was fouled and scored two free throws to put the Grizzlies back up 102-99.
Thompson then missed two crucial free throws after he was fouled by Memphis. This gave Memphis the opportunity to extend their lead and Mike Conley sunk a jump shot to put Memphis up 104-99 with 42 seconds left in the game. The
Cavaliers missed three field goal attempts and turned the ball over on a crucial possession to hand Memphis their 5th straight victory.
Marc Gasol had 17 points and 4 rebounds and Rudy g*y added 15 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. O.J Mayo came off the bench to score 14 points and 5 assists for Memphis.
Antawn Jamison had 17 points and 9 rebounds for Cleveland while Tristan Thompson added 12 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks.
Both teams shot at the same percentage from the field, while Cleveland shot better from the distance. They were 11 of 24 from beyond the arc while Memphis went just 5 of 13.
The Grizzlies however had a 12 point advantage over the Cavs in free throws, outnumbered them 42 -36 in rebounds and 14-8 in steals. Cleveland was outscored 32-23 in the final quarter, owing to some poor shooting late in the game.
The Cavs missed 5 free throws in the final minutes of the game, which gave Memphis the opportunity to run away with the game.
Memphis are now hoping to win against Orlando on Thursday and then will have to wait and see how the Clippers fare in their final two games. If they do not clinch the 4th seed, they will then travel to Los Angeles to
open their playoff series with a 1st round tie against the Clippers.
Tags: