Court Vision: Lee's tip-in caps largest comeback in Grizzlies history
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Going inside the Grizzlies' 111-110 comeback win against Sacramento. Courtney Lee's tip-in at the buzzer Thursday at FedExForum sent Memphis to 8-1 with an 18th consecutive home win.
The Grizzlies' next giveaway should be brown paper bags -- for fans to breathe into during the fourth quarter.
Trailing by a point with .3 seconds to play, time only for a tip or quick catch-and-shoot, guard Courtney Lee provided it. On an inbound pass from Vince Carter to the left of the net, Lee -- somehow wide open -- caught it, reversed it and after a long review, won it.
Twice down by 26 points and trailing 103-86 with 7:22 to play, the comeback became the largest in franchise history. But it was almost a forgotten effort. If only Ryan Hollins hadn't trimmed his fingernails, it would have been a tip in Sacramento's favor.
The 7-foot-center came within millimeters of getting a nail on the inbound pass, so while fans watched and were correctly confident the bucket beat the clock, officials watched the replay to see if Hollins tipped it. If he had, the clock would have started, and Lee wouldn't have had time for his tip.
Turned out, Hollins' length may have led to his team's loss.
"They put a very tall man in front of me," Carter said. "I couldn't throw it to the right side of the rim, where initially I saw him open. So I figured just try to keep it in the air and he just went up and made the play on the other side."
Memphis coach Dave Joerger admitted after the game he stole the play from Alvin Gentry, who used it to tie -- beat Memphis in double OT -- nearly four years ago to the day. Courtesy Grant Hill's inbounds to Jason Richardson, Joerger was subbing as head coach for Lionel Hollins.
It was also redemption for Lee, who missed a similar shot with the game on the line in the 2010 NBA Finals.
Memphis may be the ugliest 8-1 team in NBA history. For three quarters, all Grizzlies fans needed were barf bags. It started from the get-go. Some will point at the starting switch-up, replacing Lee with Tayshaun Prince. That has indeed proved to be an offensive horror show but wasn't the problem on Thursday.
Memphis started 0 for 8 from the field -- from bigs Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph and forward Tony Allen -- and couldn't have stopped the Bellevue Baptist Church kids who played at halftime.
"To come back, outscore them 65-48, it showed what we can be when we're good and it shows what we can be when we're not so good," Joerger said.
The comeback came two days after nearly blowing a 17-point lead against the Lakers. The Grizzlies only loss came as Lee missed a last-second shot in Milwaukee.
Allen missed a couple of layups in the first quarter and Gasol and Randolph were a combined 1 for 7 in the quarter.
Randolph, who has six double-doubles, finished with 17 points and eight rebounds, but at the half he had zero points, zero rebounds.
Gasol finished with 20 points and seven boards, but was 5 for 13 shooting. For the last two games, the center is 16 for 45.
The bigger concern is on the glass, where the Kings won the battle 44-30, 13-8 on the offensive glass. Memphis' second-half surge with Gasol and Randolph going 9 for 16 for 28 points and 11 rebounds, plus the Kings hitting only 2 of 10 on second-chance opportunities, helped.
Vince Carter once leaped a large Frenchman in the Olympics. At a spry 37 years of age, Vinsanity is very much alive, just more so with the jumper.
Carter, who looked in his prime during last season's playoffs with Dallas, came to Memphis after Mike Miller rejoined LeBron in Cleveland. It's paying off.
Carter played 17 minutes off the bench and scored 11 of Memphis' 50 bench points. The biggest came courtesy of the three 3-pointers he shot and made in the fourth quarter.
The Grizzles trailed by 18 when the quarter started. One make cut the lead to 14, another to eight and finally, after Carter stole the ball with 4:33 left, his 3-pointer got Memphis within 104-100 on the other end.
"Once you see it go in, you feel comfortable. They just felt comfortable," Carter said. "Being in there late, being involved, spread the floor, which ended up they had to leave somebody open. So, why not the old guy?"
50: That's the combined leads the Kings have blown in consecutive games 26 in Memphis and 24 Tuesday in Dallas. A 5-1 start has been reduced to 5-4 and Thursday it overshadowed a 25-point night for former Grizzly Rudy Gay and a 22-point, 12-rebound night for DeMarcus Cousins.
50.6: The Grizzlies wound up shooting better than 50 percent from the field, that after a first quarter that saw them make 6 of 22, or 27.3 percent.
