Grizzlies-Lakers Preview

By JEFF MEZYDLO
Posted Mar 24 2012 8:20PM

A trip west has not been kind to the reeling Memphis Grizzlies.

After being blown out in Los Angeles in their last contest, the Grizzlies hope for a better effort at Staples Center on Sunday night when they try to avoid being swept on their four-game trek by snapping a three-game skid against the Lakers.

Memphis (25-21) was competitive despite falling 119-110 at Sacramento and 97-93 at Portland to open the road stretch, but the Grizzlies were outscored 33-17 in the first quarter and never recovered during Saturday's 101-85 loss to the Clippers.

The Grizzlies have lost six of eight since an 11-2 stretch and are starting to slip in the Western Conference standings.

"It's very disturbing because we don't have a rhythm," coach Lionel Hollins said. "We have to do a better job with our bench play and with our starters."

Facing a Lakers team that has won two in a row and seven of nine likely will not make it easy for Memphis to salvage something positive on the trip. Without stars Zach Randolph and Rudy Gay, the Grizzlies lost 116-111 at home in double overtime to Los Angeles on March 13.

The shorthanded Grizzlies blew a nine-point lead after three quarters in that contest.

"We played a great game, and we should have won the game," Hollins said. "We had a few mental lapses at key times. As I'm always telling those guys, it's the small things that win or lose games."

Memphis has dropped three straight to the Lakers, each by nine or fewer points. However, having Gay and Randolph healthy again should give the club some confidence as they look to avoid matching a season high with their fourth consecutive defeat.

Limited to nine games this season because of a knee injury, Randolph has averaged 21.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in his last six road contests against the Lakers.

Gay is averaging a team-high 18.8 points, but he's been held to 21 total over the last two games. He scored 19 in a 90-82 loss to the Lakers at Staples Center on Jan. 8.

Los Angeles All-Star Andrew Bynum had 37 points and 16 rebounds versus Memphis last week, while Kobe Bryant added 34. Bryant scored 26 and dished out nine assists during Los Angeles' January home win over the Grizzlies.

Bynum had 28 points and recently acquired guard Ramon Sessions added 20 with 11 assists Friday as the Lakers improved to 20-3 at home with a 103-96 win over Portland. Los Angeles recorded a season-high 33 assists and outrebounded the Trail Blazers 53-29.

"We just have to continue to do what we do," Bryant told the Lakers' official website.

While Bryant, Bynum and Pau Gasol make up the Lakers' core, contributions from role players like Sessions will be needed if the club wants to make it out of the West. Acquired last week from Cleveland for Jason Kapono and Luke Walton, Sessions is averaging 13.6 points and 7.0 assists in five games with the Lakers.

"Ramon's a big part of it," Bryant said of the fifth-year guard. "With the talent level he has, it's a pretty easy transition for him."

Sessions had 20 points and 11 assists last season in his most recent game against the Grizzlies while with the Cavaliers.

Gay, Mayo help Grizzlies beat Lakers 102-96

Posted Mar 26 2012 2:54AM

LOS ANGELES (AP) After losing the first three games on their West Coast trip, getting a win in the finale should let the Memphis Grizzlies rest easier on the flight home.

Rudy Gay scored 18 points and Mayo had 12 of his 16 in the fourth quarter, helping Memphis avoid a winless trip by beating the Los Angeles Lakers 102-96 on Sunday night.

The Grizzlies righted the ship after dropping six of eight games coming in, slowly sliding down the West's playoff standings in the process.

"It's much easier to sleep at night," Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley said of the win. "And I think guys haven't been sleeping well the last week. It's good to get a win."

Conley had 13 points and eight assists and Tony Allen scored 12 for the Grizzlies, who squandered a 14-point third-quarter lead before pulling away in the fourth.

"We got off to a really good start," Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said. "Our starters came out and played with a lot of heart and passion. We played with a renewed energy and renewed spirit that we haven't played with in a while."

Andrew Bynum scored 30 points on 11-of-16 shooting to lead the Lakers. Kobe Bryant finished with 18 points after a slow start and Ramon Sessions also had 18 in his second start with Los Angeles. Pau Gasol had 16 points on just 4-of-15 shooting while adding 14 rebounds.

"We can't ignore what's going to make us a great team, and what's going to make us a great team is playing defensively and solid at that end of the floor," Gasol said. "Offensively, whether we play better or not, we just have to be more consistent on the defensive end of the floor."

Mayo accounted for all the points during a 7-0 run in the fourth, which saw the Grizzlies' lead swell to 89-76 and prevent the Lakers from winning a second time while overcoming a double-digit deficit against them this month.

Memphis bounced back from a 101-85 loss to the Clippers in the same building Saturday.

"We were pretty fed up with the way we've been playing the last 10 games," Mayo said. "We haven't been playing our best basketball and we feel like we're a much better team than we have been putting out there. It's a step out of the mud. It's time to get rolling."

The Grizzlies took their largest lead at 65-51 early in the third. The Lakers then came alive on the offensive end, scoring the next 15 points and grabbing a 66-65 lead on Sessions' 3-pointer.

But the lead was short-lived as Memphis answered with an 8-0 run. Matt Barnes was whistled for a technical when he whipped the ball at Marc Gasol. Mayo requested to take the free throw, hoping to get into a rhythm.

The ploy worked. He made the freebie, Hamed Haddadi made a short hook to make it 73-66, and Mayo caught fire minutes later.

"After that, once I saw one go in the basket, it was a good feeling to let loose a little bit," Mayo said.

The Lakers had crept back in when Bynum made one of two from the line to cut it to 78-74. Randolph hustled for an offensive rebound and putback and Mayo drove the length of the floor for a layup.

A jumper by Bryant momentarily provided a stopgap, until Mayo converted a pair of layups around a 3-pointer from the wing to give the Grizzlies an 89-76 lead.

"Tonight was one of those games were the energy wasn't really there," Sessions said. "We turned it on in the second half to cut the lead down, but they went on another run and it was a little too late at the end."

As the Lakers attempted to make a final push, Bryant sat on the bench for nearly four minutes, a rare occurrence for one of the NBA's most dangerous closers. Bryant didn't appear to agree with the move in the locker room after the game but said he supports Mike Brown's decision.

"If you guys are looking for a story, I'm not going to give it to you," Bryant said. "I can't sit here and criticize his decisions. As the leader of this ball club, that's something I can't afford to do.

"I've had his back the whole season. I can't start doing something crazy now. That would make no sense."

Bryant wasn't involved in the offense early as the Lakers missed their first seven shots. He attempted just one shot in the opening nine minutes, missing a jumper, before hitting a 3-pointer from the wing for his first points.

Bryant later had a layup for his only other basket of the half, shooting 2 of 7. Pau Gasol also struggled, missing his first four shots in going 2 of 10 at the break.

NOTES: The Lakers rallied from a 17-point second-half deficit in beating the Grizzlies 116-111 in double overtime March 13. ... The Grizzlies avoide losing four straight on the road for the first time since a six-game slide Nov. 15-Dec. 6, 2010. ... Zach Randolph was playing his sixth game since returning from the injury. He had 10 points and 12 rebounds off the bench against the Lakers after starting the three previous games. . Marreese Speights and Haddadi also scored 10 each as seven Grizzlies were in double figures.

Notebook: Lakers 102, Grizzlies 96

Posted Monday March 26, 2012 2:19AM

By Dan Arritt, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: The Grizzlies replaced power forward Zach Randolph in the starting lineup with Marreese Speights and that seemed to give the bench an extra lift in the second half Sunday night. The Memphis reserves, led by Randolph, O.J. Mayo and Hamed Haddadi, led the Grizzlies back from a one-point deficit late in the third quarter and on to 102-96 victory at Staples Center.

QUOTABLE: "The bench played really well and gave us some valuable minutes. We played with a renewed spirit and renewed energy that we hadn't played with in a while."
-- Memphis head coach Lionel Hollins.

THE STAT: Behind 16 points from Mayo, 10 for Randolph and a season-high 10 for Haddadi, the Memphis bench accounted for 41 points, compared to nine for the Lakers. It was the second straight game the Lakers were heavily out-numbered by the opponent's reserves. They were outscored, 34-13, in a 103-96 victory Friday night against the visiting Trail Blazers.

TURNING POINT: The Lakers' bench delivered one of their three field goals when Steve Blake sank a 3-pointer a minute into the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 75-73. Haddadi came back with a left-handed lay up and, two minutes later, Randolph collected an offensive rebound and put it back to stretch the lead to 80-74 with 9:14 left in the game. Haddadi then blocked a shot by Lakers center Andrew Bynum, leading to a fast-break lay up by Mayo and an eight-point. After a basket by Kobe Bryant, Mayo answered with seven straight points to push the lead to 89-76 with 7:18 remaining. The Lakers couldn't get closer than seven until Bynum hit the first 3-pointer of his career at the buzzer.

HOT: Bynum might be wondering why he doesn't get the ball more often after scoring 30 points on 11-for-16 shooting. It marked his fourth 30-point game in the last 13. As for the Grizzlies, Rudy Gay helped carry the team through the first 2-plus quarters. He scored a team-high 18 points on 8-for-14 shooting, scoring his final points on a 3-pointer with 9:06 left in the third quarter, matching the biggest lead of the game to that point, 63-51.

NOT: If the Lakers aren't going to get any help from their bench, then need all they can get from Bryant and Pau Gasol. That wasn't the case against the Grizzlies, as Gasol shot 4-for-15 and scored 16 points. Bryant was a little better, shooting 7-for-15 and scoring 18, but he was 1-for-4 in the fourth quarter when the Lakers needed him most. The duo was a combined 10-for-31 on Friday against Portland.

GOOD MOVE: Hollins made a bold move by starting Speights over Randolph, who missed 2 1/2 months with a knee injury before returning March 16. The Grizzlies had gone 1-4 since his return, losing the last three. Speights put up eight points while playing most of the first quarter, and that seemed to leave Randolph fresher for the fourth, when he had eight points and five rebounds.

BAD MOVE: Lakers head coach Mike Brown also made a bold move with 5:45 remaining in the game and the Lakers trailing by 14 points, replacing Bryant, one of the league's all-time greatest closers, with Metta World Peace, who is averaging 5.9 points this season. Bryant had just forced up a fall-away 15-footer, leading to a fast-break lay up by Randolph. After the crowd began chanting, 'Kobe, Kobe,' Brown put Bryant back in the game with 1:51 remaining and the Lakers down by seven. The Lakers didn't convert a field goal until Bynum's last-second 3-pointer, however, leaving many to wonder just what Brown thinking.

QUOTABLE II: "I decided to make a sub."
-- Brown on his decision to bench Bryant.

NOTABLE: The Lakers came into the game with the second-best home record in the NBA (20-3) ...Bynum's 3-pointer came on his seventh attempt from that range in seven seasons in the NBA ... Brown flew to Sacramento on Saturday night to watch his son, Elijah, win a state championship for the Mater Dei high school basketball team ... In his second game as the starting point guard for the Lakers, Ramon Sessions had 18 points and five assists. He shot 2-for-3 from 3-point range, putting him at 7-for-13 as a member of the Lakers.

UP NEXT: For the Lakers, Tuesday @ Golden State, Thursday vs. Oklahoma City, Saturday vs. New Orleans. For the Grizzlies, Tuesday vs. Minnesota, Friday @ Houston, Saturday @ Milwaukee.

• Grizzlies: Arthur, Selby
• Lakers: Eyenga

• Grizzlies: --
• Lakers: Barnes

• Lead Changes: 5
• Times Tied: 8

• Arena: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
• Officials: #10 Ron Garretson, #45 Brian Forte, #52 Scott Twardoski
• Attendance: 18997
• Duration: 2:21