November 9, 2009 | Minnesota Timberwolves (2-9) @ Memphis Grizzlies (3-7) | Season Series: Grizzlies lead 1-0 | Team Stats
Last Second Run Falls Short As Grizzlies Hand Wolves Fifth Straight Loss
Grizzlies 100, Timberwolves 98
Long story short: After being outscored 27-13 in a disastrous first quarter, the Wolves spent the rest of the game trying to close the gap. We came as close as five points on several occasions, we never got the job done. With a minute to go, Memphis led by 8. Wayne Ellington scored 10 points in the final minute, but failed to hit the game-winner as the Grizzlies held us off, 100-98.
The Rundown: The Memphis Grizzlies were missing recently acquired power forward Zach Randolph to a broken foot (expected to miss 6-8 weeks) and at 2-7 were nearly as bad as us. Looking for our first home win, we thought this would be a perfect opportunity. Unfortunately, Rudy Gay and company had a different idea.
The Grizzlies started the game on a 16-0 run. None of our guys could scored, and we kept turning the ball over. OJ Mayo and Rudy Gay were killing us on the fastbreak, and we couldn't get an answer. Finally, a Corey Brewer dunk ended the drought. Memphis would go on to win the quarter 27-13. We built up momentum in the second, cutting the lead to single digits, but Memphis seemed to answer all of our runs. The third quarter was more of the game, and the Grizzlies still led 71-63 going into the final period.
After a fairly slow paced first three quarters, the fourth was a shootout. The Grizzlies lead fluctuated between 5 and 15, and with a minute to go, the home team held a 96-88 lead. Then, amazing almost happened. Rookie Wayne Ellington sunk a three, Mike Conley split a pair of free throws, then Ellington sunk another trey to put us within striking distance. Unfortunately, we failed to get a stop, and Marc Gasol made it a 99-94 game with 17 seconds left. Kurt Rambis called our final timeout.
Ellington once again ended up in the rookie's hand. He drew contact and threw up a three that somehow went in. He sunk the freebie to trim the deficit to one. Rudy Gay split a pair at the line, and with five seconds to go, we were down just two. Jonny Flynn got it up the court and dished it to - you guessed it - Wayne Ellington. Ellington's potential game winner clanked off the front of the rim, and the Grizzlies were spared a gallant comeback from the Wolves.
Individual observations: After scoring our first points, Corey Brewer went cold, missing shots left and right, and committing a team-high 5 turnovers. More importantly, he let Rudy Gay score 28 points on him. The kid has potential, but is just way too inconsistent at this point. Our rookies played well, contributing 14 points apiece, and Al Jefferson and Kevin Love played to their averages. We actually dominated Memphis on the boards, and shot slightly better than them in the end, but we committed 10 more turnovers and fouls than them. If we can get more consistent, improve ball control and improve at drawing contact, we could have a fairly decent team here. As it stands, we are simply too young.
Final thoughts: We could have really used this win. The hustle and never-say-die attitude really impressed me here. Wayne was fantastic, and was earned the nickname "Beef Ellington". However, the Grizzlies are a bad team when healthy, and this game was very winnable. The team has heart, but its missing discipline, talent and skill. Rudy Gay was very impressive tonight. We're going to have an abundance of cap space this offseason, but will likely have difficulty getting an A-list free agent with our location. Perhaps we can outbid Memphis this offseason for him...
Rookie Ellington hits the clutch trey and draws the foul.![]()
DeMarre Carroll was utterly useless on D | Not an uncommon sight at Wolves games![]()
How did Corey get his rep as a good defender, anyway? | This Live 08 pic brings back some good memories...13 29 21 35 98 | Al Jefferson: 22/8/3 | Kevin Love: 14/10/1 | Corey Brewer: 14/0/2, 5-7 FG
27 22 22 29 100 | Rudy Gay 28/7/3 | OJ Mayo 19/2/7 | Marc Gasol: 10/15/3
JORDAN Player of the Game: Rudy Gay (Grizzlies) 28 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 11-16 FG
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MCDWYANE Shitass of the Game: Corey Brewer (Timberwolves) 8 points, 4 rebounds, 5 turnovers, 3-11 FG