By Michael Wallace
Grind City Media
MEMPHIS – This is the sort of affirmation Grizzlies’ coach David Fizdale needed.
Throughout an injury-slash-rehab-riddled stretch the past two months, Memphis’ first-year coach would privately assure even the most skeptic critics that whenever the Grizzlies got healthy, they would be a legitimate headache for the rest of the league.
“Trust me,” Fizdale maintained, even when injuries and absences left Memphis with only nine available players earlier this season. “We’re going to be a serious problem. Just let us mess around and get right.”
All things considered, the Grizzlies are about as right as they’ve been all season. As they continue to recover and regroup, they’re also reminding many of the potential this team has when the primary rotation is intact and engaged. Friday’s 115-109 victory over the Houston Rockets at FedExForum was the latest example of what the Grizzlies’ upside looks like when they all get together and get rolling.
The picture reveals Mike Conley performing on an All-Star level, as was the case when he scored a team-high 24 points and delivered a dagger to answer seemingly every attempt at a rally by the Rockets. It reveals the versatility of an All-NBA caliber center in Marc Gasol, who remained engaged enough on a night when his shot wasn’t falling to facilitate the offense and knock down crucial, late free throws. It reveals a defense that performed to its league-best rating by containing the Rockets’ firepower and forcing MVP candidate James Harden into nine turnovers to offset his 16 points and 17 assists.
But most importantly, Friday’s effort highlighted just how the pieces are supposed to fit when Memphis’ role players finally get to perform in, well, their intended roles. That’s when the Grizzlies’ veteran-laden second unit of Vince Carter, Zach Randolph and James Ennis can make the difference in a game such as Friday’s, when they combined for 43 of the season-high 55 points the bench contributed.
Add it all together, and it equates to yet another win over a team ahead of Memphis (20-12) in the standings. The Grizzlies now have wins over four of the top five teams in the league, with the exception being a Spurs squad they have yet to face. The Rockets were added to a list that includes the Warriors, Clippers and Cavaliers, although Cleveland was without LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving.
“It’s a good statement win,” Conley said. “We know we’re capable of playing like this and beating anyone in the league. We’ve got the right process going. We’re doing the right things in the locker room and practice. We know that if we continue to keep our heads on straight, we can reach all of our goals.”
Gasol insists the Grizzlies don’t have to convince themselves what they’re capable of accomplishing. Still, seeing the how the pieces fit when the roster comes together presents and encouraging view. Majority of the season, Memphis had to overcome shortcomings by grinding through defensive slugfests. This time, they experienced a breakthrough with dominant offense.
A team that, as Fizdale puts it, “lives in the 30s” with its shooting percentages had a nice vacation of sorts by shooting 50.6 percent from the field, knocking down 13 of 25 three-pointers and scoring 38 points in the fourth quarter to hold off the Rockets.
“We know it,” Gasol said of his team’s potential when whole. “We’ve seen it.”
Fizdale has been saying as much from the start of the season.
Now, the Grizzlies must show it on a consistent basis.
“There’s not a team that I fear, and there’s not a team that these guys fear,” Fizdale said. “Our goal is the same as those other (top) teams. We’re trying to win a title. I’ve been saying it all year. And I know people think I’m nuts, but I don’t care. I know what I see and I know what it looks like.”
TURNING POINT
The Grizzlies’ bench provided the most powerful punch when they sparked a 21-8 run to open the fourth quarter to establish a 15-point lead. Ennis, Randolph, Carter, Andrew Harrison and Jarell Martin executed with energy and passion on both ends of the court. Carter started the run with a pair of three-pointers and Randolph continued it when he banked in a jumper from the top of the key to beat the shot clock. Martin capped the surge with a put-back dunk to make it 98-83.
HIGHLIGHT REEL
The Rockets are on pace to become the most prolific three-point shooting team in NBA history. But on this night, everyone in the building was knocking down daggers. Even Tony Allen, who drilled a corner trey on a beautiful skip pass from Gasol, who escaped two defenders. The shot put Memphis ahead 54-44 with 1:13 left in the first half. Allen was one of six Grizzlies to hit at least one three in the game.
WHO SHINED
Vince Carter. Yes, it was only a matter of time before Conley got back into a scoring rhythm, and the Grizzlies’ catalyst led the team with 24 points in his best game since returning from the back injury. But it’s easy to forget that Carter was injured in the same Nov. 28 loss to Charlotte when Conley went down. Carter, too, had his best game since he returned to the lineup, with 14 points on 4-for-8 shooting from three-point range against Houston. It was the first time Carter, the league’s oldest active player at 39, scored in double figures since he had 10 points in a Nov. 21 win against the Hornets. It was Carter’s hot touch that ignited the Grizzlies on the biggest run, which provided enough cushion to hold on down the stretch. It’s not as often these days Carter delivers both a vicious dunk and multiple three-point bombs in the same game.
UPSIDE/DOWNSIDE
Chandler Parsons is back and played for the second time in three nights. But he’s rusty and is struggling with his shot. That’s to be expected, considering the Grizzlies’ top incoming free agent had missed a month with a bruised left knee and was already working through the recovery kinks from right knee surgery entering the season. Parsons is now 3-for12 from the field through his first two games back. He’s been limited to 15 minutes of playing time in both. But he’s in good spirits and understands this is a tedious process. He provided the laugh of the game when he stumbled to the basket on a breakaway and decided to lay it in weakly instead of going for the dunk. Parsons then mimicked Carter’s raised fist and handlebars routine, to which Carter responded with a Dikembe Mutombo finger wag denial.
ROTATION DEVELOPMENT
The Grizzlies took another methodical step in their quest for continuity against the Rockets when Conley, Allen, Parsons, Gasol and JaMychal Green opened together as starters for only the third time this season. That unit entered Friday having clocked just 23 total minutes of playing time since Fizdale announced after training camp that those five would be locked in as starters this season. Since then, Green has been the lone projected starter to play in every game. So in essence, Memphis will head into the new year trying to fast track nearly two months of lost chemistry.
GAME RECAP
WHAT’S NEXT
The Grizzlies will face the Magic at 6:00 p.m. CT at the Amway Center in Orlando. Tune into FOX Sports Southeast, presented by Pinnacle Financial Partners, or listen along at 92.9 FM ESPN. And catch the Grizzlies Live! Pregame Show at 5:30pm.
The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Memphis Grizzlies. All opinions expressed by Michael Wallace are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Memphis Grizzlies or its Basketball Operations staff, owners, parent companies, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Memphis Grizzlies and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.