Comeback effort falls short as Grizzlies lose to Thunder, 102-94

[La Bomba]

After digging a 17-point hole early and clawing back to lead after three quarters, the Griz fell flat in the final frame before an announced crowd of 13,048.

 

“Once we got the lead, I don’t know what happened,” forward Zach Randolph said after a 20-rebound, 19-point performance. “But they didn’t stop playing and kept pushing.”

 

The Grizzlies lacked energy and execution in the fourth quarter.

 

There was no ball movement and the Griz stood around watching teammates go one-on-one on offense.

 

Defensively, the Griz spent most of the final period a step behind the Thunder.

 

Marc Gasol just grabbed Nenad Krstic after he got beat off the dribble during a sequence with slightly more than five minutes left. Krstic stayed with the play, tossed up a shot that fell good as an official whistled Gasol for a foul. Krstic completed the 3-point play that gave Oklahoma City an 83-73 lead.

 

Memphis, which led 70-66 at the start of the period, was being buried by Oklahoma City’s 17-3 run at that point. The Thunder capped the offensive barrage by scoring nine unanswered points until Mike Conley scored on a floater.

 

Memphis closed the gap to six points but that was when less than a minute remained in the game. The Griz finished as poorly as they began the night.

 

Hollins lamented that the Grizzlies’ effort in a victory over Cleveland on Tuesday night didn’t carry over into the start of this game.

 

“We played hard the other night but we didn’t do the same in the first half,” Hollins said. “We tried to turn it around and we had about seven or eight minutes of really aggressive basketball. But when the fourth quarter started, we couldn’t seem to generated that energy.”

 

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/dec/11/comeback-effort-falls-short-grizzlies-lose-thunder/