O.J.Mayo pounds19 off the bench as Memphis Grizzlies upend Golden State Warriors 98-94: NBA Recap
On Tuesday night at the FedExForum, Memphis, TN, Memphis Grizzlies played hosts to the Golden State Warriors and led by their reserve point guard O.J.Mayo, who scored 19 points including 4 out of 6 from the long range, the Grizzlies snatched a narrow come-from-behind win over the Warriors, 98-94.
Guard Mike Conley, who was coming back after missing the previous two games, contributed well with 18 points. Marc Gasol and Gilbert Arenas chipped in with 12 and 10 points respectively.
David Lee led the Warriors with 22 points while Nate Robinson lent him a helping hand with 18 points coming off the bench.
Both teams were almost equal to each other in every department of the game. Both grabbed 41 rebounds, scored above 40 points in the paint and also had the same amount of turnovers (13) on the night. Grizzlies shot 46.2% from the field while the Warriors shot 46.3%. It was hard to keep the two separate as they went neck to neck to with each other for the entire night.
The first half of the game could not have been more closely contested as the scores were all tied up at 50 each at the half way mark. Lee had 14 points for the Warriors while Conley had 12 for the Grizzlies till that point.
The game started opening up in the third quarter as the Grizzlies, who were troubled by poor shooting in the third period, gave the visitors a marginal advantage. Warriors capitalized on their host’s lack of accuracy to open up a 9 point advantage at the end of the third period, 79-70.
Troubled by the free flow of baskets the Warriors were having, Memphis Coach Lionel Hollins decided to change things up by sending out a stronger defensive unit which could protect the paint better.
The savvy move by the Grizzles coach enabled them to hold the Warriors without a single bucket for almost 4 minutes of the final period. Grizzlies were a completely different team after that. Helped by their defence, Memphis embarked on a late 13-0 run to recapture the lead at the score of 87-86.
With a little over six minutes remaining, Lee nailed a jumper to give the Warriors a one point lead, but that proved to be the last time, the visitors managed to do so.
A Mayo jumper set the course for an 11-4 Memphis run that pushed the lead to 98-92 and iced the game.
The key to winning the game was the Grizzlies long range shooting which without a doubt is not one of Memphis`s strongest traits. But, on the night it turned out to be. The Grizzlies shot 53% from behind the arc connecting 9 times out of 17 attempts. Warrior managed just 7-for-18.
This win also helped the Grizzlies in sweeping the season series over the Warriors for the first time in franchise history, also giving the visitors their sixth consecutive loss.
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