Zach Randolph, O.J. Mayo lead the Memphis Grizzlies to 106–89 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves committed 26 turnovers to allow the Memphis Grizzlies to ease past them 106–89 at the FedExForum in Memphis on Saturday night. The Timberwolves’ turnovers were converted into 33 points by the Grizzlies, who were led by Zach Randolph’s
22 points and eight rebounds. O.J. Mayo went 3-of-4 from behind the arc to add 20 points off the bench.
Tony Allen set the tone for the Grizzlies as he scored six points on consecutive possessions early in the first quarter. The Timberwolves were missing big-men Kevin Love and Darko Milicic but still tried to match Memphis in the early exchanges.
Michael Beasley added seven points in the first quarter to keep the score somewhat respectable for the Wolves; he finished with 20 points in the game.
Beasley later told reporters, "I was just playing, honestly. We were down two starters. That's about 20 rebounds. I tried to do what I had to do and tried to give our team a chance."
Minnesota trailed 29-20 at the end of the first period.
Memphis’ offence just wasn’t executing as planned, but they still managed to extend their lead with some impressive shooting, as Zach Randolph and Shane Battier added seven points apiece in the second period. The Grizzlies took a 56-44 advantage into the
half time break.
Memphis outscored the Timberwolves in the painted area. They dominated the key with a 56-36 advantage. The Grizzlies committed 18 turnovers of their own, but countered that statistic by shooting 51 percent from the floor.
The Timberwolves missed their big-men on the court, as they were outrebounded by a 44–34 margin.
The Grizzles had a really poor third quarter, only managing to score 17 points, while they also got careless with the ball and turned it over seven times during the 12-minute stretch. The Timberwolves rallied and tried to mount a comeback. They got to within
nine points on Luke Ridnour’s three-pointer with 41.5 seconds left in the third.
Zach Randolph suggested that the team was probably exhausted because of their back-to-back schedule. The Grizzlies also played the New Orleans Hornets the previous night.
Randolph said, “We were a little out of sync. We were a little tired. Not really tired, but a little fatigued. It was one of those games where we came out a little slow and had to build up to it. We came out and played to our competition, but we stepped
it up at the end."
The Wolves were pathetic from beyond the three-point stripe in the first half; missing 10 of their 11 attempts. They improved their form in the second half to nail 5-of-8 attempts.
Memphis finished the game off strongly by scoring 33-points in the final quarter. O.J. Mayo poured in nine points and Leon Powe chipped in with seven in the quarter to secure the Grizzlies fourth-straight win.
Tony Allen managed 12 points while Leon Powe added 11 for the Grizzlies. Marc Gasol scored 10 points and pulled in nine rebounds.
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