Zach Randolph just loves to let it rip against the Phoenix Suns.
Randolph is fast proving to be Phoenix’s nemesis. The 6ft 9” burly forward, who had already smashed 35 points and a whooping 34 rebounds across the board in the previous two encounters between the two franchises this season was on fire again for the Grizzlies
as he scored a season high 34 points and 17 rebounds.
The match which saw the Memphis Grizzlies sitting pretty at a 14-point lead, nine minutes before the regulation time turned on its head as the Phoenix Suns launched a fourth quarter assault to take a three point lead in the final three seconds. It took a
last second three pointer to save the game for the Grizzlies and take matters to overtime.
The Randolph Magic continued in the overtime as he netted a key basket, making a turnaround bank shot to give Memphis a 98-96 lead with 2:30 left and the Grizzlies never looked back from there to seal the match at 104-98.
In a battle of nerves, the Grizzlies just had enough firepower and belief to cross the line. Coming off the back of two exhilarating performances against the Dallas Mavericks and the Denver Nuggets the Grizzlies had all the momentum in the match.
The Grizzlies offence spearheaded by the maverick Randolph completely out ran their opposition, pushing the Suns out of their quarters with an excellent conversion rate. While, at the other end they ensured that the Suns do not have any uncontested shots
as they started to stamp their authority on the match.
Leading at 35-33, six minutes into the second quarter the Grizzlies reeled off an 18-8 spurt to head towards the locker room with a 53-41 barrier.
The Grizzlies continued to up their game tempo going into the third quarter and Darrell Arthur turnaround jump shot propelled Memphis to 70-55, their biggest advantage of the match. Memphis continued its momentum going into the last twelve minutes and they
were set for a comfortable win.
The Phoenix reserves had other ideas though.
The Suns with mostly the bench player on the court launched a frantic run in the last nine minutes which completely caught the Grizzlies in their strides. Phoenix outscored the Grizzlies 23-6 in that period and nearly had it won after Hedo Turkoglu stepped
back behind the 3-point line and buried a high-arching 25-footer to give the Suns a 91-88 lead with 6.2 seconds left.
After a flurry of fouls, Channing Frye had a chance to put the game away for the Suns, but he could only manage one of two free throws making it 92-89 with 3.3 seconds left on the clock.
With 2.8 seconds left, the Grizzlies desperately made one final push as they set a screen for Rudy g*y, who raced out from under the basket to the left corner and got away his big shot right into the heart of the spirited Suns to take the match into overtime.
The Grizzlies did not give the Suns even a sniff from there on as they pulled a remarkable 104-98 win.
Randolph made 15 off 19 shots from the field and had 17 rebounds while Rudy g*y finished with 22 points including an all important 3-pointer in the dying seconds. Mike Conley had 11 points and a career-high 14 assists as Darrell Arthur roped in 12 points
and 10 boards.
For the Suns, six players featured in the double figures but they struggled with their shooting rate as they failed to pin the Grizzlies down the stretch.
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