Through 27 quarters of basketball, the Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Clippers played each other to an absolute standstill. The two teams had traded blows throughout the playoffs, and the Clippers came into the final quarter of Game 7 with a 1-point lead in a hostile arena.
Then, after 36 minutes of profoundly ugly basketball, the Clippers finally got some offense going -- and it didn’t even come from Blake Griffin or Chris Paul. Los Angeles’ two superstars combined for a grand total of two points and zero assists in the fourth quarter, and those two points came when Paul was intentionally fouled with the Clippers up eight points with 28 seconds remaining in the game.
The Clippers won game 7 by beating the Grizzlies at their own game -- the team known as “Lob City” forced the Western Conference’s best defensive team into an absolutely abysmal offensive performance.
The numbers are ugly for the Grizzlies, who only managed to score 72 points on 32.5% shooting from the field. The team didn’t make a single three-pointer all game, and Mike Conley, O.J. Mayo, and Zach Randolph combined to shoot 6-36 from the field. Marc Gasol and Rudy Gay both had solid games, scoring 19 points apiece, but the Grizzlies really had no chance of getting any offense going with Randolph and their entire backcourt shooting so poorly. Through most of this series, the Grizzlies looked like a better team than the Clippers, but they simply melted down on their home floor when it mattered most. After their fantastic 1st-round upset last season, this is a team that will have a lot to stew over this offseason.
The Clippers now have a date with the Spurs, who will, to be frank, tear through them like a wet napkin if the Clippers don’t bring their absolute A-game. That means that Paul and Griffin have to get back to 100%, the role players will have to step up, they will have to get tough on defense, and they’ll most likely have to get a little lucky. The Spurs will go into their series with the Clippers as heavy favorites, but the Clippers showed in this game, which they were heavily favored to lose, and the 4th quarter of Game 1 that betting against them isn’t always the best idea.
