Memphis Sounds End the Year on a Good Note: Sounds vs. Heat Recap
Tuesday night the Memphis Grizzlies turned back the hands of time once again at Fed Ex Forum and donned their retro red and white Memphis Sounds uniforms in the final match-up of the season against the Miami Heat. These teams first saw each other just a few weeks ago in Miami, where the Grizzlies faced a tough loss after going scoreless in the last few minutes of the game. The Memphis Sounds seemed determined to right that wrong, and they did with a 99-90 overtime victory over the Heat. This was the 34th game of an 82 game season, and 17th of 41 home games. Hopefully, this final game of 2015 will set the tone of better things to come for the remainder of the 2015-16 season.
Top Ten High Notes from the Memphis Sounds vs. Miami Heat Game:
- Marc Gasol set the tone
Aggressive Marc showed up to the game Tuesday night, and as usual, he didn’t disappoint. Gasol led all Sounds players with 23 points (8/18 shooting) with 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 blocked shots in over 44 minutes of play. Zach Randolph said it best, “Marc playing like that is big. He’s our catalyst. How he goes is how we go.”
- Tony Allen did Tony Allen things
Tony Allen reminded those who had forgotten just why he’s known as Mr. First Team All Defense. The Grindfather was in full grind mode against Dwayne Wade. Wade still had a pretty decent night scoring 19 points shooting 50%, but those 9 shots he made in just over 37 minutes did not come easy. “TA did a good job of taking him out of his comfort zone; making him shoot tough shots. That’s what TA does”, said Jeff Green postgame when asked about Tony Allen’s defense against D. Wade. Allen played just over 36 minutes off the bench and contributed 6 points (3/8 shooting), 7 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block.
- Zach Randolph can STILL ball
Due to the unexpected 2 game suspension of Matt Barnes, Zach Randolph returned to the starting lineup. Randolph had the highest shooting percentage of all Sounds players connecting on 70% of his shots (7/10 shooting) in just over 33 minutes of play. He contributed 17 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists.
- Mean Green was a slamming machine
Postgame it was discovered that Jeff Green is battling with a bad cough, but you would never know it by the way he played. As usual, Green aggressively made his way to the basket to create highlight reel fun for the fans. In almost 38 minutes of play, Green contributed 16 points (8/17 shooting) with 7 rebounds and 4 assists.
- Conley looked like a leader
Conley is finally starting to consistently exhibit the type of all-star caliber leadership that this team desperately needs from its floor general night in and night out. In just over 38 minutes, Conley contributed 16 points (5/12 shooting) with 3 rebounds and 5 assists.
- Courtney Lee and Mario Chalmers assisted in the backcourt
Courtney Lee and Mario Chalmers played just under 27 and 23 minutes respectively. Neither of them turned the ball over. Collectively, they contributed 21 points on 7/16 shooting (Lee with 9 points on 3/5 and Chalmers with 12 points on 4/11). Chalmers had 5 rebounds; Lee had 4. Chalmers had 4 assists; Lee had 1. Chalmers also had 1 steal.
- They CAN shoot free throws
Though the season has started off rocky, Memphis was able to hang its hat on the fact that they could shoot free throws. They were the leading free throw shooting team until recent games where it seemed as if someone had given their free throw shooting abilities walking papers. Tuesday they were almost perfect from the free throw line. They went 19/20. Courtney Lee missed a free throw in overtime.
- They won a 3rd quarter
This shouldn’t be something to turn flips over. However, it is. Memphis has suffered terribly in 3rd quarters this season. It felt good to see them not only stay the course in the 3rd quarter, but to come out ahead.
- Rebounding was not a dirty word
Though the Sounds and the Heat tied in defensive rebounds with 30 each, the Sounds outworked the Heat on offensive boards. The Sounds were able to gather 16 offensive rebounds in comparison to 8 by the Heat.
- Defense won the game
Offensively, the Heat was better than the Sounds. The Heat ended the first half shooting at 57% compared to 47% by the Sounds. Both teams ended the game shooting at 44%. The Sounds stayed committed to good defense even when their offense wasn’t the best. The Sounds made their last shot in regulation with 6:33 left in the game on a turnaround hook shot from Zach Randolph to bring the score to 81-72 with the Sounds leading. Randolph would get free throws after a loose ball foul from Dwayne Wade with 5:58 left in the game to take the score to 83-74, and the Sounds didn’t score another point in regulation after that time. This dry spell was eerily familiar to the dry spell that Memphis saw against the Heat just a few weeks ago. The difference is that this time the home team fought through it and forced the game into overtime. In overtime, it was like a magic reset button was pushed, and the Sounds closed out the game like the Grizzlies of old used to, relying on their defense to make way for their offense.
This was a fine way for the home team to end the year. This was the last home game of 2015. This was the last game of 2015. The Grizzlies won’t play again until Saturday against the Utah Jazz. The next home game won’t be until next Friday January 8 against the Denver Nuggets. This game is the beginning of the season’s longest home stand of the season. Hopefully, this game sets the tone for the remaining 48 regular season games (including 24 home games). After a rough start, the home team is 18-16 and holding on to 6th place in the Western Conference, and 3rd place in the Southwest Division. Here’s to a prosperous new year of basketball for Grizz Nation in 2016!
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Seems as if inserting Zach back in the starting lineup possibly restored the identity and chemistry of this team.
Marc Gasol just plays better with Zach Randolph on the court to me. I get the need to be mindful of changes in the league & where it makes sense I can see bringing ZBo off the bench because he’s going to do work regardless. The chemistry of those two is undeniable though, and it was good to see them all working together last night.