When in his groove, Zach Randolph can be a real show stopper. On Wednesday night he was in the groove alright scoring a match high 21 points and 14 rebounds as the Memphis Grizzlies launched a third quarter assault to overpower
the Detroit Pistons to halt a five match home losing streak against the visitors.
The Pistons started the match emphatically, pulling away with an unanswered 7 point run within the first two minutes of play. The Grizzlies responded immediately though and they brought parity in the proceeding as the first quarter
generally hung in the balance with the lead changing hands 10 times. Rodney Stuckey led the Pistons in the first half scoring 13 of the 17 points in the first quarter.
The teams entered the second quarter with the Grizzlies in front 24-21 but the Pistons fought back hard to outscore the Grizzlies 29-23 in the period. Charlie Villanueva scored 11 points in the quarter for the Pistons on 5 for
6 shooting as Detroit led Memphis 50-47 at half time.
Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince managed a combined shooting of 1 for 9 from the field in the second quarter and the plague spread to the rest of the team in the second half.
Detroit continued their third quarter woes in the season. They displayed an array of sloppy defense, miscued shots and turnovers to accompany their paltry shooting rate of 5 for 16 in the quarter.
The Grizzlies outscored the Pistons 33-18 in this period and reeled off a 10-0 spurt at the start of the fourth to bust open a 22 point lead and a Marc Gasol jump shot made it 103-78, their biggest advantage of the match, with
2:44 left on the clock.
With the result more or less decided the Grizzlies cruised to a comfortable 21 point win at the buzzer.
The Grizzlies had an excellent all round game shooting 45 for 86 at an impressive 52.6 % and outscored their opponents 68-34. Memphis also forced 13 turnovers further cementing their position as the league leaders.
Rudy g*y scored 17 points while Marc Gasol and Darrell Arthur chipped in with 14 points apiece as six Memphis players featured in the double figures to make it two for two for the Grizzlies.
For the Pistons, Rodney Stuckey nailed 17 points but he was neutralized after the first quarter while Richard Hamilton finished with 12 and Charlie Villanueva finished with 11 points as Detroit struggled with a poor shooting rate
of 40.0 %.
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