MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Mike Conley stripped All-Star Damian Lillard and pumped a couple of fists. A sellout crowd pumped a lot of fists Wednesday as the Grizzlies beat Portland, 97-82, a second straight dominating win in this Western Conference first-round series.
A newly-animated Conley and his unheralded team entering the postseason, have taken out two games of anger on the Blazers, losers of six straight.
1. Grizz bigs were MIA, but Blazers missed the chance
Zach Randolph spent the second half grappling the legal limit with LaMarcus Aldridge, part of a stifling Memphis defense that had Aldridge and the Blazers so flustered, Aldridge cocked the ball back after a third-quarter shot clock violation and had to stop himself from pulling the trigger.
Randolph had just bullied Aldridge into the paint for a pair on Memphis' way to backing the Blazers back to Portland in a 2-0 hole. The Blazers were still without Arron Afflalo (shoulder), out a fifth straight game.
It was pent-up anger for Randolph, who didn't score his first points until the third quarter. At the half, Memphis had a 50-39 lead, despite its dominant bigs producing only seven points on 2-for-15 shooting. The seven belonged to Marc Gasol.
But after Randolph was 0 for 6 in the first half, he scored eight on eight shots in the third quarter and finished with a typical double-double (10/10). Gasol had 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists, two points by shoving Robin Lopez off with his left hand and scoring with his right. But in a game the Grizzlies bigs didn't dominate, Portland missed a chance to take over when it had the chance.
That was because ...
"On a night where Jeff Green and Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph didn't probably have one of their better shooting games, we got it in other places," Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger said.
2. Grizzlies guards, including their non all-star point guard, were good again
Backup point guard Beno Udrih was the story of Game 1 and he was well en route to the same fate in Game 2. Udrih scored eight first-half points in his second straight energetic rise off the bench. His fast-break layup gave Memphis a 31-25 lead, but he came down gimpy and went to the locker room. Questionable, he re-entered and finished with 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting.
And for the second game back from resting a sprained foot, starter Conley again got the best of Lillard. Conley got his 18 on 6-of-11, Lillard on 5-of-16. Lillard had one assist, Conley six. Conley buzzed past Nicolas Batum and around Lopez for a right-handed scoop for a 15-point fourth-quarter dagger.
But the brightest guard of the night was Courtney Lee, who was an efficient 8-of-11 for 18 points.
"It makes us a lot more difficult to guard," Joerger said. "He passed up one in front of our bench in the first half and we kind of just said, 'Hey, this is what you're here for, baby.' He didn't pass up another shot the rest of the night."
Lillard, for the series, is now 10 for 37 and 1 for 11 from deep. Conley is 12 of 22 overall, 2 for 5 from 3-point range, where the Grizzlies made an uncharacteristic 8 of 16 in Game 2.
3. Don't be that fast to write off Vinsanity
Vince Carter will forever be YouTube lore. Possibly the greatest dunker in the history of the game, the first-year Grizzly missed a dunk in Game 1.
It was a Twitter funeral.
But the reason the Grizzlies signed the 38-year-old was for this moment and Wednesday, he may have started his engine.
Carter hit 3-of-5 3-pointers for nine points. One of them came with a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, but for a guy who has hit only 5 of 24 from that range in April and has struggled much of the year to find a rhythm, it was a welcomed sight for not only the 22nd straight playoff sellout, but for the old man himself.
"It's a great feeling. I knew at some point, it was going to go in," Carter said. "And there again, just like everybody else, they really get at me for not shooting."
It could be a false rev up and time will tell. But for one night at least, the childhood hero of the bulk of the Grizzlies locker room, did what the Grizzlies paid him to do at the moment they want him to do it.
4-for-6 -- Blazers power forward LaMarcus Aldridge made 4-of-6 shots in the first quarter. In the final three quarters, he hit 3 of 14.
29 -- The Grizzlies had a playoff franchise record 29 second-chance points.
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