Memphis Grizzlies overcome Orlando Magic 100-97 – (Part 3)
The injury to Brandon Bass though appeared to shake the Orlando Magic into action.
Staring at a 12-point deficit, Orlando started the final quarter with a little more purpose. Dwight Howard and Gilbert Arenas keyed a 12-0 quarter opening spurt, which saw them pull within striking distance at 86-88 during the first four half minutes of
play. The Memphis Grizzlies kept living on the edge throughout the frame, before a vociferous 9-4 spurt down the stretch finally quashed their lead.
Just when the Magic were trying to creep back into the game, the Grizzlies came prepared with a counter punch. Marc Gasol nipped the visitor’s surge as he delivered a slam to hand the lead back to the Grizzlies. Ryan Anderson then missed a go-ahead triple
pointer in Orlando’s next possession. Fortunately for Orlando though, Conley missed his first on-field shot in the ensuing Memphis attempt, which gave the Magic a possession and a chance to get on level terms.
Howard though made a critical error at that point as he succumbed under pressure to commit his fifth personal foul of the night. His mistake did not prove to be too costly and the Magic were again allowed to get off the hook as Randolph missed a regulation
jumper.
With 39.8 seconds left on the clock, Sam Young committed a crucial foul that gave Arenas a chance to tie the match from the charity stripe. He fumbled one but netted the other as the Magic again pulled one back. The match lingered with the same score line
until the final ten seconds when Turkoglu finally had the chance to put the Magic in front.
He however, chose to shoot from long-range and missed the target. The Magic's woes were further compounded, when Ryan Anderson's offensive rebound was stolen by Conley, who also earned an opposition foul with 5.5 seconds left. Conley's steal on Anderson's
rebound was crucial because it gave the ball back to the Grizzlies with a one-point lead, instead of giving the Magic another possession.
An excited Conley said after the game, "I knew I couldn't jump to get the rebound, so I waited for him to bring it down, and right when he brought it down to my lap, I just reached and grabbed and tried to rip out as fast as I could."
Howard was then called for a technical foul as Conley prepared to shoot his free throw. Randolph made the ensuing technical foul, forcing the Magic to go downtown for a tie. Jason Richardson tried desperately to beat the buzzer, but his attempt was not even
close as the Grizzlies edged past the Magic.
Despite the offensive flaws by the Magic down the stretch, their ace centre was more worried about his team’s loose defence. Dwight Howard said, “The only way it’s going to change for us is if we decide that we’re going to do it defensively. If we don’t
do it, we’ll win a game here and there and remain one of the top five teams in the East, but that’s not the goal.’’
For the Grizzlies though, things appear to be finally falling into place after a difficult start. Their coach Lionel Hollins had a lot of reasons to be happy about. On the night, he not only witnessed the offensive growth of Mike Conley and Marc Gasol -
which comes as a relief to the over burdened Randolph - but he also reached a personal milestone of achieving the most win for the Grizzlies.
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