Grizzlies Goodness

Last night I was seconds away from flipping off the Grizzlies/Thunder game as Memphis trailed by 10 late in the 4th quarter. Seconds away from a good night's sleep. Seconds away from functioning on more than coffee and adrenaline right now.

3 overtimes later, I'm a little tired this morning and a lot bummed out that Memphis couldn't figure out how to get over the hump last night. The Grizzlies opened up an 18-point lead in the first half, but then it was all OKC as they stormed back and seemed poised to even the series.

Then Memphis just refused to go away. They had blown a huge lead, but then rallied in the final moments to get within 3-points. Mike Conley, who I thought was a liability going into the playoffs, buried a three over Kendrick Perkins to send the game to its first overtime.

Then Greivis Vasquez did it at the end of the first overtime with a miracle shot.

Back-and-forth until 1:30 am when the Thunder finally put the game away.

A couple of weeks back I predicted the Grizzlies would give the Spurs a tough time. I didn't pick them to win the series and certainly wouldn't have thought they could beat the Thunder in a series. Against both teams, however, the Grizzlies look like the better team on the floor. They don't run a million isolations. They run through their bigs and get open looks on the perimeter when teams double-down. They get transition baskets. They get to the foul line.

I was a Grizzlies fan when I lived in Memphis, but didn't keep up with the team much once I left. Well, they are my team now. They are infinitely likeable - they share the ball, they run 10 different guys onto the floor, they have guys with big hearts (Battier, Tony Allen, Conley) and big games (Z-Bo, Mayo, Gasol). And they are playing without their best player, Rudy Gay.

(Side note - which Gasol would you rather have right now, Pau or Marc? It isn't even close.)

The Grizzlies don't know any better right now than to think they can win it all. They blow a big lead - so what? They are down seven with two minutes left in OT - so what? Their coach screws up and send OJ Mayo in to foul when he had five fouls - so what? They compete, play to their strengths and, most dangerous right now, believe.

With the flooding in Memphis right now, there even seems to be some destiny with these guys. They are the right team at the right time playing the right way.