Last-Second Loss in New Orleans May Haunt Grizzlies Down the Road
By Pete Pranica
January 21, 2010
Although there is still a half-season of NBA basketball to be played, you couldn't help but wonder if the Memphis Grizzlies will end up rueing their lost night in New Orleans.
Up by as many as 10 at the midway point of the fourth quarter, the Grizzlies couldn't hold the lead and dropped a heartbreaking 113-11 decision to the New Orleans Hornets, courtesy of former Grizz James Posey's bucket with 1.1 remaining.
Chris Paul did the bulk of the damage in the deciding quarter, posting 12 points and four assists as the Hornets won their eighth in nine home outings. Paul, who recorded a very pedestrian 3 of 5 shooting for seven points in the first half didn't sit a single second of the second half and simply refused to let his team lose.
Two crucial turnovers in the fourth didn't help the Grizzlies. Then again, their lack of defense in the paint put them in a 13-point hole to begin with. New Orleans, largely a perimeter team that loves to shoot the three, found offensive gold in the paint with 68 close-range points, almost double their season average.
The Grizzlies may end up rueing their ninth consecutive loss on the Hornets' home floor because it not only dropped them into a tie in the Western Conference standings at 22-19, they also lost a game in the standings to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Friday night's visitor to FedExForum.
The Thunder edged by Minnesota on Wednesday night and will bring a three-game winning streak into FedExForum.
Oklahoma City beat the Grizzlies in Memphis back on December 11th by a 102-94 count. The Thunder built a 14-point halftime advantage that was wiped out in the third quarter as Zach Randolph re-wrote several pages of the Memphis record book with 13 rebounds in the third quarter alone. But after the Grizzlies took a four-point lead into the fourth, Oklahoma City laid a 10-0 run on Memphis as part of a 36-point barrage.
Oklahoma City is a sturdy 16-2 when they get to 100 points and with Kevin Durant leading the way with 29 points per game, the Grizzlies'
