On the one-year anniversary of Courtney Lee’s buzzer-beater against the Sacramento Kings, Zach Randolph’s put-back with 0.6 seconds remaining gave the Memphis Grizzlies a much-needed victory against the Portland Trail Blazers 101-100 in a hard-fought game on Friday evening at FedExForum.
Memphis (4-6) got revenge for a loss earlier to Portland, snapping a four-game losing streak in the process. Portland (4-6) has lost four in a row since the teams’ first meeting of the season at the Moda Center.
After the Trail Blazers tied the game at 97 with 36.3 seconds remaining, forward Jeff Green hit a runner to put the Grizzlies up two, but Portland quickly responded with a three-pointer from Al-Farouq Aminu. With 12.5 seconds remaining the Grizzlies called a timeout down 100-99.
Lee got a good look out of the timeout, but his shot was a little long. Randolph came up with the rebound, but his first attempt was partially blocked. However, he fought through to grab the ball again and tipped it in off the glass for the game winner.
Portland had a chance on the other end, but the Grizzlies denied the Trail Blazers a good inbounds pass, and they were unable to get the shot off.
For Randolph, it was the second game-winning shot with under a second remaining in his career (and first at home). The first came in Dallas against the Mavericks on March 6, 2011.
Marc Gasol had another big game for the Grizz. For the second game in a row, he set a season high in points, this time leading all scorers with 31 on an 11-of-18 clip (61.1 percent). Randolph had 15 points and pulled down eight boards. Mike Conley just missed out on a points-assists double-double as he scored 11 and dished out nine assists.
Newly-acquired guard Mario Chalmers looked right at home in a Grizzlies uniform. He entered in the first quarter to a warm reception from the Grizzlies fans, and then picked up an assist and drilled his first three-point attempt, earning him more cheers. Chalmers finished the game with 11 points, two assists and four steals in just under 20 minutes of action.
On the other side, CJ McCollum lead the way for the visitors with 26 points and six rebounds. Ten of his points came from the free throw line, where he was perfect. Guard Damian Lillard was held to 5-15 shooting and finished with his first sub-20 points performance of the season (11) but did get seven assists.
The game was close for the majority of the night. Portland’s biggest lead of six came in the first quarter, but the Grizzlies battled back to get within one after the first 12 minutes thanks to a Matt Barnes trey.
It was more of the same in the second frame, but this time it was the Grizzlies’ turn to lead by one, taking a 53-52 lead into the locker room. Memphis exploded out of the locker room with a 16-3 run, capped by a Gasol three-pointer as the shot clock wound down, his second three-pointer of the season. Gasol’s shot gave Memphis it’s biggest lead of the night at 69-55, and it looked as if the game might get away from Portland.
However, the Trail Blazers battled and chipped away at the lead to make it close and set up Randolph’s heroics.
Memphis hits the road to Minneapolis for a one-game road trip against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday afternoon before returning home to face the Oklahoma City Thunder at FedExForum on Monday for Hardwood Classics night.
Tip-off for Sunday’s game is at 2:30 p.m. CT and fans can listen live on 92.9 FM ESPN, or watch on Fox Sports Southeast.
The Grizzlies will travel to Minnesota to take on the Timberwovles on Sunday, November 15 at 2:30PM(CT).
