Nothing Can Stop Them
Grizzlies have now won 7 straight consecutive games and are playing fabolous ball
By Ronald Tillery
December 11, 2004
Jazz-87
Grizzlies-111
Gasol was able to have his way during the game without the Jazz having Kirilenko
The Grizzlies came into this game knowing that they had a great chance of winning. The Jazz were hurt after losing Kirilenko and Giricek to injuries that would keep them out for at least 2 weeks each.
The Jazz didn't have anybody that made up for the lost of Giricek and Kirilenko combined. Harpring was the leading scorer for teh Jazz as he put in 20 pts and grabbed 6 rebs, but that wasn't enough to overcome 24 point deficit. The Grizzlies ended up having 4 players with 17 points or more in this game. The depth was just too much for the Jazz to handle with two of their best players not being there.
"This was a must win game for us. We were on a 6 game winning streak going into this game and we knew we couldn't let this game get away because we have teams like Dallas and Minnesota to face in a couple of days," Artest said.
The Jazz miss Kirlekno's tremendous defense and offense and they needed him in last night's game against the Grizzlies
Raja Bell did a fair job by starting for Kirilenko, but he never did bring the presence that Kirilenko produces. Bell was able to get 12 points in the game and he didn't have a good defensive night which he is mostly known for.
The matchup between Jason Williams and Carlos Arroyo was even as Williams scored 11 points and dished out 7 assists, while Arroyo scored 13 points and dished out 5 assists. "Arroyo will be a great PG in the future and he has been taught by one of the greatest PG's, John Stockton. He is still a very young kid and with more experience, he will grow into that all-star mentality," Coach Hubie Brown said.
The play of Stromile Swift off the bench gave the Grizzlies a tremendous boost. Swift was probably the difference maker in this game as he scored 15 points off the bench for the Grizzlies. "When I came into the game, I knew we couldn't take it easy on this team even though they were without their star player. I came in and played my best," Swift said.
Player Stats:
Grizzlies
P. Gasol-20 pts, 8 rebs, 2 blks
J. Posey-20 pts, 7 rebs
E. Dampier-18 pts, 11 rebs, 2 blks
R. Artest-17 pts, 8 rebs, 4 asts, 2 stls
S. Swift-15 pts, 3 rebs, 2 blks
J. Williams-11 pts, 7 asts
Jazz
M. Harpring-20 pts, 6 rebs
C. Boozer-16 pts, 8 rebs
C. Arroyo-13 pts, 5 asts
R. Bell-12 pts
M. Okur-11 pts, 7 rebs
-Ronald Tillery: 555-5555
Last edited by
-BHZMAFIA- on Fri Sep 17, 2004 9:27 am, edited 1 time in total.