| What a player Gasol is. People can say that he's playing tougher this year, but I think he's always been underrated because of his nationality/skin color. That block where he instantly closed out on Delfino's jumper from 10 or 12 feet away was incredible, and on offense he's like a super-sized Prince. Ben just doesn't have the length to deal with him, but he managed to get some steals at the right time.
Still a little hoarse from yelling at the TV. Didn't work -- the Pistons just kept getting burned on that stupid screen/roll at the top of the key. All you need to know: Detroit won the first quarter by 10 and the second overtime by 2. Otherwise we were giving ground.
Terrible game by Sheed, the Grizz did a nice job jamming up all our screens for Rip, and Prince cooled off after a torrid first half. How we won with starters shooting 3-11 (Sheed), 3-8 (Ben), 6-18 (Rip) and 8-18 (Chauncey) can only be explained by championship experience. Memphis started to wilt and lose focus in the second overtime. They were celebrating so hard at just hitting game-tying shots, I kind of felt they wouldn't have the composure to get over the top.
Pretty decent clutch free throw shooting by Ben, and as pointed out earlier, getting Eddie Jones out of the game made it a lot easier for Chauncey to sink the game winner on his third try (misses at the end of reg and 1st OT). Still, this game reminded me of the wins we were getting just before Dallas crushed us. Some bad habits and a very good Memphis club. |