The Grizzlies' 96-84 win over the Pacers came at a time of need for Memphis. They committed to an in-season transformation into a small-ball team that has been anything but seamless. Since deciding to bring Zach Randolph and Tony Allen off the bench Memphis had lost three games and won just one. They needed this one to validate their decision.
2015 NBA scores: The new-look Grizzlies are finding their groove
The Grizzlies still don’t look comfortable playing small but they are slowly figuring out how to make it work to their advantage.
Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports
Curiously, the team facing them knows their plight too well. The Pacers were the Eastern conference doppelganger of the Grizzlies, a slow, big, defensively oriented squad that grinds out enough points to be relevant. In the offseason Indiana transitioned into a fast-paced small-ball squad and after some initial hiccups, they have found their stride. They are playing faster and relying more on the three-point shot but also have remained an elite defensive team.
Yet it was exactly their new style — the one the Grizzlies are trying to co-opt, unsuccessfully so far — that betrayed them. They couldn’t create turnovers so they couldn’t run. The Pacers took 28 shots from beyond the arc and only connected on five of them.
Indiana's interior defense couldn't control Marc Gasol (19 points, six assists) or Mike Conley (20 points, eight assists) while the Grizzlies defense did a great job of making things hard for the Pacers. Memphis held them to 39 percent shooting from the floor and caused 17 turnovers. It was exactly the type of performance the old Grizzlies routinely delivered to hide their offensive flaws, which they have still not left completely in the past.
Despite the lineup change, the Grizzlies are still not comfortable taking three-pointers and are bad at making the ones they do attempt, as their 5-for-19 night against Indiana can attest to. They also refuse to run. Despite getting nine steals, they had only nine fastbreak points. It doesn’t seem they are fully embracing their new style yet but at least they do take advantage of the added spacing having shooters affords them in the half court.
That was the dagger that sealed the game, and it was made possible by having the paint unclogged. Conley simply would not have had that room to drive with Randolph and Allen on the court.
Memphis has no choice but to go deeper into a transformation that will hopefully make them the Western conference version of the Pacers. They don’t have to completely alter what made them good in the first place but they have to remain firm in their commitment to change. It will take time — like it has for Indiana — but the reward is certainly worth the patience. If they can make it work, the Grizzlies will escape irrelevancy.
3 other things we learned
The Wizards refuse to go away quietly
Otto Porter missed the Wizards' game against the Hornets. He joined Nene, Bradley Beal, Alan Anderson and Drew Gooden in the injury list, forcing coach Randy Wittman to go with two starting wings — Garrett Temple and Kelly Oubre Jr. — who couldn't crack the rotation when everyone was healthy. Yet Washington fought and beat one of the most surprising teams in the East 109-101.
John Wall was phenomenal, finishing with 27 points and 12 assists, but everyone stepped up. Temple had 21 points on just nine shots, Oubre played a tidy game and veterans Marcin Gortat and Jared Dudley performed well on both ends. The Wizards are now 11-14 for the season and just three games away from the eighth seed. If they can continue to survive injuries, they could make the playoffs in this transitional year.
Bobby Portis needs more playing time
The exhausted Bulls traveled to New York to face the Knicks in the second game of a back-to-back after playing four overtimes the night before in Detroit. Pau Gasol got the night off, which opened up some playing time for rookie Bobby Portis. He responded by scoring 20 points and pulling down 11 rebounds in just 23 minutes.
It’s just the fifth game he’s played this season, but he looked good in preseason and he clearly has skills. He inexplicably fell in the draft all the way down to the Bulls, one of the teams with the most quality big man depth in the league. Now he’s getting scrap minutes despite clearly being an intriguing talent.
The Bulls have no rush to develop Portis but trying to squeeze him into the rotation to figure out exactly how good he is could help them both now and in the future.
The Clippers can't make a push up the standings
After starting the season 6-7, the Clippers went 10-3 and looked ready to challenge for one of the top records in the West. Back-to-back losses against the Spurs and Rockets have put a stop to that momentum. Now the Clippers are 2.5 games back from Oklahoma City and seven from the second-place Spurs.
Saturday’s loss to the Rockets hurts, because Los Angeles simply failed to bring the required effort to beat a flawed but talented Houston team. They lost the first quarter 38-17 and could never complete the comeback. Through intentional fouling they stopped the Rockets’ offense but got nothing from their bench. They cut the lead to six in the second half but Houston rallied and won easily.
It’s losses like this one that are keeping the Clippers from breaking through to the tier of true contenders in the West.
Play of the night
Kevin Durant did mean things to Julius Randle.
Durant is listed as 6’9” but he’s clearly 6’10” or 6’11”. It’s unfair he has those handles.
3 fun things
Kristaps Porzingis can pass, too. And to celebrate the Knicks’ win, he posed for the cover of the hottest mixtape of 2015.
Final scores
Wizards 109, Hornets 101 (Bullets Forever recap | At the Hive recap)
Knicks 107, Bulls 91 (Posting and Toasting recap | Blog a Bull recap)
Rockets 107, Clippers 97 (The Dream Shake recap | Clips Nation recap)
Grizzlies 96, Pacers 84 (Grizzly Bear Blues recap | Indy Cornrows recap)
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