It's the end of regular season in the National Basketball Association. It's been a pretty cool journey for the Grizzlies.
The strong start to the season. The Rudy Gay trade. The Speights-Ellington trade. The 14-wins-in-15-games streak. The ups and downs of March. Team records for most wins and most home wins in one season. First time the team gained 20+ road wins in one season. Hollins getting his career coaching record above .500. This is a memorable season in Memphis.
This is a classic situation of how this season will look really nice once the season is over. In the meantime, there are still games to be played. Wednesday night, Memphis hosts the Jazz.
Utah needs this game to get the 8th slot, and they need the Lakers to lose at Houston. The Rockets are the 7th seed, one game ahead of the Lakers, and Houston leads the series 2 wins to 1 over the Lakers. If the Lakers win, the tie with Houston goes to L.A. They have an overall better record in conference than Houston.
Conceivably, Los Angeles could win, Memphis could win, and then a) the Lakers would be the 7th seed and a playoff date with San Antonio. Houston would then be the 8th seed, taking on Oklahoma City in the first round. Utah would be out of love.
My guesses: L.A. is gonna play hard. Houston is gonna play hard. Utah is gonna play hard. Normal rotations, stars getting lots of touches, maximum effort to the last minute. Except maybe for Memphis. What if Coach Hollins decides to play Memphis' bench for half the game or more? Is Memphis' bench enough to be a Utah team down to its last chance for this season?
I hate to admit this, but I could see Memphis resting starters a lot. So, the result is gonna be Utah 100, Memphis 92. Utah's gonna do all they can to take care of business. Unfortunately for the Jazz, the Lakers are gonna win as well.
Let's close the book on the regular season Wednesday night. Brace for impact - here come the playoffs.
After the Game: Memphis 86, Utah 70. Hoo boy, I missed. And, it feels good. Memphis led 40-38 at the half, but won the 3rd quarter 25-13. Hollins played Randolph, Prince and Conley 30+ minutes each. Guess he took it seriously.
For the Grizzlies, it was 34 field goals, 22 assists, 11 turnovers and 7 steals. Randolph had 25 and 19 rebs. Conley had 14 and 5 assists. Arthur came off the bench to add 11 points. Prince and Bayless combined to shoot 2/12 FG/A, however.
Utah made 25 field goals, and added 15 assists, 12 turnovers and 6 steals. Shooting 32% hurt their cause. Jefferson had 22 and 16 rebs, but shot 8/19 FG/A. The rest of the team shot 17/59 FG/A. Tough way to go out, with a playoff berth at stake.
With the Clippers' victory at Sacramento, Memphis opens the playoffs at Los Angeles Saturday night. The Grizzlies and Clippers finished with identical 56-26 records, but the Clippers' 3-1 advantage in head-to-head meetings breaks the tie.
Now, it gets even more serious. I love playoff basketball, because most of the indifferent play from regular season also-rans is banished to the sideline.
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