Stephen Jackson stars as the Bobcats ease past the cold-shooting Grizzlies 96-82
With 8:50 to go in the match, Charlotte Bobcats’ guard Matt Carroll attempted a shot from long-range. He drained it, but with the Grizzlies defence ball-watching, Boris Diaw rushed down the lane and tipped the ball in.
The play essentially epitomised the kind of listless performance the Memphis Grizzlies displayed on Monday night at the Time Warner Cable Arena in North Carolina. On a chilly night in Charlotte, the Memphis offence completely froze, missing 33 of their first
42 shots as the short-handed Bobcats rolled over them with a 96-82 win.
Stephen Jackson led the Charlotte charge with 27 points, six rebounds and four steals as the resurgent Bobcats thundered to their third win on the trot. D.J. Augustin followed with 18 points and a match-high nine assists, while Matt Carroll sprung off the
bench to notch up a season-best 12 points for Charlotte, who moved to 5-2 since Paul Silas became the coach after Larry Brown was fired.
For Memphis, Zach Randolph spearheaded the offence again with 15 points and 15 rebounds. He was the lone man fighting though, as the Grizzlies shooting froze in front of the same team they thrashed by 33 points last month. Rudy g*y was held to 13 points
on 5-of-16 shooting; Mike Conley's 13 points came on 6-of-17 shooting while O.J. Mayo missed seven of eight shots for the Grizzlies. Memphis only managed 2-of-10 from downtown and slumped to just 12-for-22 from the free throw line.
The Bobcats, on other hand scorched the floor with a conversion rate of 51.4 percent and the Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins was not impressed. He said, “We came out and we were cold and they started making some buckets. Everybody that shot the ball for them
made buckets. Guys that hadn't shot in two years made buckets."
The match started with a Marc Gasol tip shot, which put the Grizzlies ahead. Two free throws followed from the visitors, as Memphis extended their advantage to 4-2. The score-line though, marked the only time Memphis got into the lead, as Jackson and Augustin
combined to pull off a 7-point unanswered run for the Bobcats to spark them into the lead; one they never surrendered.
What followed was the worst shooting performance by the Grizzlies all season long, as starters Rudy g*y, Mike Conley and Tony Allen combined for a 0-of-15 start from the field. Randolph was the only bright spot for the Grizzlies, finishing the half with
13 points to keep the visitors at 31-44.
The Grizzlies offence started to play with more hustle in the second half, but so did the Charlotte defence. The home team was never threatened as they breezed to a 96-82 win.
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