The NBA’s best-kept secret: Memphis, and the Grizzlies

In big media companies, you are not allowed to write or speak about the Memphis Grizzlies.

“Nobody cares,” is the common refrain. 

Well, it’s time to start caring, and we are going to bend over backwards to explain why that should be so.

First, the basketball part: The Grizzlies play in a division that is home to the NBA’s two hottest teams, the other being the Houston Rockets, who also have won seven straight games. Memphis pulled off an amazing comeback last night to keep their streak alive, rallying from 16 points down in the fourth quarter to defeat the Golden State Warriors 91-90.

Second, the non-basketball part.

If you attend a game in Memphis, you can exit the arena and walk two short blocks to Beale Street, where you can listen to outstanding live music seven nights a week while downing a 32-ounce coldie that’ll set you back a mere $2.

If you are lucky, the Grizzlies dance team will stop by your juke joint and join you for a beverage. And as my friend and colleague Frank Isola of the New York Daily News so astutely observed and tweeted last season, there is no better assemblage of fine young women representing an NBA team than the members of that particular dance team. 

Third, if you have an off-night in Memphis, you can get in your rental car, drive south into Mississippi toward the Tunica Casino and Resort and motor through miles and miles of soybean fields before your senses awake. You can smell it a mile away: Fried chicken.

And if you stop at that chicken stand out in the middle of nowhere, you will eat what Colonel Sanders is secretly chowing down on in heaven. Man, it’s manna, I tell you.

But those last two items are not the reason you are here for your daily update.

So let’s get back to the basketball, and take a closer look at what the Grizzlies pulled off last night in Oakland. After scoring a mere 35 points in the first half while playing their third game in four nights, the Grizzlies erupted for 39 in the fourth quarter to defeat the Warriors 91-90, coming back from a 20-point deficit in the final 15 1/2 minutes.

“We were dead in the water in the first half. We had no answers,” coach Lionel Hollins said. “We don’t quit; we fight. We did that, and we were able to come back and get this win, which is a sweet win.”

Rudy Gay scored 23, Tony Allen had 10 points in the final period and played stellar defense against Monta Ellis, Mike Conley added nine of his 20 points in the final frame, and clubhouse leader for Acquisition of the Year Marreese Speights scored all eight of his points during the comeback.

From Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial-Appeal: “The Griz became their comeback early in the final frame by scoring 11 unanswered points. They benefited from an efficient offense generated by hard-nosed defense. Memphis, which trailed by 16 points when the fourth quarter began, forced Golden State into a season-high 24 turnovers. That allowed the Griz to become more aggressive attacking the basket, which was evident by their trips to the free-throw line. They shot 18 foul shots in the fourth period after attempting just six free throws through three quarters. … Memphis had 15 fast-break points in the fourth.”

It would be a disservice to the Rockets to continue this conversation without including them next. They play in a sprawling metropolis with no zoning rules, which is why you can drive to the far corners of the city and stumble upon one or two 50-story skyscrapers that would seem to have no business being there. For miles around, the next tallest buildings are two-story strip malls.

Back when Jeff Van Gundy was coaching the Rockets, I was working down in Houston and was stopped at a red light when who should pull up in the next lane? None other that JVG himself. “Worst traffic city in America,” Van Gundy observed. “New York has nothing on this place.”

Kevin McHale is the coach nowadays in Houston, and last night was his first trip back to Minnesota since general managing and coaching the Timberwolves during an era in which he gift-wrapped Kevin Garnett and bestowed him on his old team, the Boston Celtics. Ever since (this year excepted), the ‘Wolves have been the laughingstock of the league. As columnist Jan Hubbard pointed out on this site yesterday, the one conspiracy theory that might actually have legs could happen later this season if a few questionable calls keep the Wolves out of the playoffs. After all, the league office vetoed the Chris Paul-to-the-Lakers trade and dealt him to the Clippers instead, in large part because the Clippers owned the Wolves unprotected lottery pick and included it in the trade.  And since the league office owns the Hornets, they have a vested interest in seeing the Wolves in the lottery, because that would benefit New Orleans.

Anyway, it was McHale appreciation night (NOT!) in Minneapolis last night, and the crowd booed McHale lustily during introductions before McHale got the last laugh with a 107-92 victory over the Wolves, who got 39 points from Kevin Love (5-for-5 on 3-pointers) and 12 more assists from Ricky Rubio.

From Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: “When the night began, “favorite son” Kevin McHale smiled through the boos. But he would laugh last. More than laugh, he seemed to have a good time Monday as Goran Dragic, who helped the Rockets dominate the game though the final 13 minutes, slipped in a flying reverse on a break to send them safely on their way to a 107-92 rout of the Minnesota Timberwolves for their seventh consecutive win. “Whoa!” McHale shouted for all to hear after Dragic’s exclamation point. “Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!” The shot was nice enough. The win was the Rockets’ most impressive of their three on the road this season. And it gave the Rockets their longest winning streak since Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman led them on a 22-game run in the 2007-08 season. But more than that seemed to inspire McHale to offer an on-court Dick Vitale imitation. “It feels as good as the last one, brother,” McHale said of winning his first game in Minneapolis on the opposing bench after 15 seasons as the Timberwolves’ general manager or coach. “And hopefully, it will feel as good the next one.”

The Rockets’ seven-game winning streak has only moved them into fourth-place in the Southwest Division, where they still trail the Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio.

The Spurs were only 1-6 entering their game against the lowly Hornets, but Tim Duncan turned back the clock and scored a season-high 28 points — the final two coming from just inside the foul line off an inbounds play for the game-winning points with 1.4 seconds left. “It was a mix of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson, a kind of sky-hook, and we’ll take it,” Tony Parker said of Duncan’s 13-foot game-winner over Hornets center Emeka Okafor. Parker added 20 points and a career-high 17 assists.

Elsewhere in the NBA:

• Hold that obituary on the Boston Celtics. They held Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic to 16 (!) field goals and 56 points in a 31 point victory that came despite Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen sitting out with injuries. The Celtics snapped a streak of six straight losses against teams with winning records. Howard was 0-for-6 from the field and 4-for-10 from the line in the second half.  The Magic had a season-high 25 turnovers, 20 in the second half.
• Derrick Rose returned from a four-game absence and had 22 points and eight assists, and Richard Hamilton added 22 and 10 in a 110-95 victory over the New Jersey Nets. Carlos Boozer added had 14 points and nine rebounds, and Ronnie Brewer (11 points) filled in capably for Luol Deng, who out with a sprained left wrist.
• Joe Johnson scored 14 of his season-high 28 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Hawks over the Milwaukee Bucks 97-92. Zaza Pachulia grabbed 14 rebounds for the Hawks, now 6-1 since Al Horford went down.
• Jamal Crawford scored a season-high 26 points, Gerald Wallace had 20 points and eight rebounds, and LaMarcus Aldridge added 13 points and 16 rebounds for the Blazers, who were coming off a 2-4 road trip. Portland improved to 7-1 at the Rose Garden, where they hadn’t played since Jan. 11.
• Russell Westbrook and James Harden each scored 24 points, Kevin Durant added 20 and the Oklahoma City Thunder built a 30-point lead midway through the second quarter in demolishing the Detroit Pistons 99-79. Oklahoma City made 22 of its first 33 shots, and Durant called it the Thunder’s best defensive game of the season.
• Philadelphia also opened a 30-point first-half lead and cruised to its third double-digit win of the season against the Wizards. The Sixers are 8-1 at home, where their next three games will be against New Jersey, Charlotte and Detroit.
• Shawn Marion, the key to the futures of Dwight Howard and Deron Williams, scored a season-high 29 points as the Mavericks extended their home winning streak to seven games by beating Phoenix 93-87.