The Memphis fans took a while, but by the fourth quarter of the Grizzlies’ 107-91 win over the hated Clippers, the familiar “Whoop That Clip” chants were broken out. Moving past the rampant mysoginy in the reference that alludes to, this was indeed a whooping. Memphis has started out as the best team in the Western Conference for a number of reasons, but part of it is that they have the same total institutional lockdown defense, and suddenly have shooters.
Memphis’ formula was simple. Blake Griffin did a great job early of swiping at the ball when Zach Randolph had it in the post, after Randolph has terrorized him for years, but they oddly decided to play back and off of Marc Gasol from mid-range with DeAndre Jordan. Gasol made them pay, and once he got in rhythm, poor Jordan never had a chance. If Doc Rivers has discussed Jordan as a Bill-Russell type player, Gasol killed that reputation on Sunday night and left it in a shallow grave in the Tennessee farmland. Gasol worked him from mid-range, attacked the rim, slid by Jordan for dunks, drew fouls constantly, and it only got worse when the Clippers had to go to… Spendknapp does not believe Manchester City would swap winning the domestic treble for a place in the Champions League final.City can wrap up an unprecedented treble with a victory over Watford at Wembley on Saturday.They were knocked out of the Championcer Hawes to guard him.
By the fourth quarter, when the Clippers started doubling Gasol (30 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks), Memphis found the extra pass and this time, it wasn’t Tayshaun Prince or Tony Allen shooting threes. It was reliable shooters, Courtney Lee, Quincy Pondexter, and Jon Leuer, and Memphis hit 6-of-12 threes in the second half.
The Clippers had been feeling better after stomping two Eastern Conference teams, but their nightmares against Memphis, which have been steady since they upset the Grizzlies in the 2012 playoffs, continue. The Grizzlies meanwhile made their strongest statement yet that they should be considered contenders.
They didn’t need Zach Randolph to win his fight with Blake Griffin. It’s Marc Gasol’s team for now, and he’s leading them consistently to victory.
These two teams hate each other, and the foul count is always high. It was a tough, tough game, and that plays right into Memphis’ hands.
This was not a flagrant foul:
Griffin later took an elbow from Gasol on a rebound, and came up bleeding.
And watch the contact on this Marc Gasol and-one.
Tough game, just like Memphis likes it.
The man I call “Wendigo” ahd 30 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks, shot 13-of-18 from the field and 4-of-5 from the line with just one turnover, and he completely crushed the Clippers defense. His shot chart:
7-of-8 down low, 3-of-4 from mid-range. Beauty.
The Hornets dug themselves a hole, again. And then they managed to respond and claw their way out of it with superior execution and talent, given that Dwyane Wade was out, again. And then they blew it late, again, after Kemba Walker went isolation and missed. Then they got a break, again, as Mario Chalmers was no-called and the Hornets forced a turnover. Then, they went to Kemba Walker, again. And he missed, again, and Al Jefferson missed the tip, again.
The hero? Chris Bosh, who has struggled mightily with Wade still out with a hamstring injury.
GIF: ‘s baseline fadeaway game-winner!
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT)
Shawne Williams continues to make huge plays, including a fourth-quarter block of Cody Zeller at the rim, Chalmers had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Luol Deng was way more aggressive, which he needs to be with Wade out, scoring 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting.
The Hornets are 4-10 and all the good vibes of their rebrand and the momentum of last year have fizzled. Lance Stephenson still hasn’t settled in, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is badly missed, Marvin Williams is a non-factor, and Kemba Walker .
Walker’s crossover is deadly. But when the opponent doesn’t get his ankles broken, Walker doesn’t have the size to create something. He executes late, late, late in the shot clock, as low as six seconds left in the first half. It’s one thing to count on him to be your initiator in late-game setsmidfielder Paul Pogba admits he grew up an Arsenal fan.Despite being inspired by Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldinho, it was the Gunners – rather than Real Madrid or Barcelona – that he followed as a seven-year-old. “I was an Arsenal fan,” he told The Tim, but he’s got to know that he’s not going to win his one-on-one matchup in every instance, and adjust accordingly. Being clutch is more than just hitting shots, it’s making the right decisions.
Gary Neal completely bypasses an open three-point shooter which would have been the point they needed to tie this game later… but still, the end result is pretty funny.
It’s always an adventure when Allen has the ball creating on his own, but he did pull off the behind-the-back-ball-fake layup vs. Big Baby Davis and it was pretty sweet.
Rondo did his own Rondo-ing on Sunday night in a loss to the Blazers:
The Lakers and Nuggets played a disjointed, ugly game Sunday that wound up going to overtime. It wasn’t a good game, but it was a close game. In the end, the Lakeys it’s too soon to compare Tammy Abraham with Blues heros Didier Drogba and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.However, the West Ham youth coach says Abraham is well on his way.He told 888sport: “Tammy right now doesn’t compare to Hasselbaink and Drogba becars couldn’t shake Denver, mostly because they’re terrible at defense, and in overtime, Danilo Gallinari (more on him in a minute) sunk a deep three to secure the win.
The Lakers played the best defense at home they have this season, and were still awful. The Nuggets meanwhile, have won 5-of-6, and can get back over .500 on Tuesday vs. the Bulls.
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