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SH Blog: Grizzlies, Clippers shaping identities early

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2. Jamal Crawford: For the second straight week he earned the right to be included in SheridanHoops Weekly MVP Rankings, with good reason. Crawford is absolutely scorching opponents right now; his absurd 20.5 points on 51% shooting from the field doesn’t even do him justice. He’s that hot right now. When you watch him with the ball, it’s truly electric. “My teammates, my coaching staff, they give me a lot of confidence. It’s the most fun I’ve had since high school,” Crawford told TNT’s Lisa Salters immediately following the game. Every time he touches it, he’s a threat no matter where on the floor he is. How else do you explain this behind-the-back, right-to-left crossover before this 3-pointer in Ray Allen’s grill?

3. Chris Paul: If the Clippers are winning, Chris Paul is the engine that makes the W’s possible. The tempo and savvy with which he plays basketball with transcend statistics. He makes plays throughout the course of a game as necessary by feel. With the game still close in the third quarter last night and Paul struggling a bit to start the period – a missed 3-pointer, a defensive three seconds, an errant pass – Paul took control. An assist to Griffin, a 32-foot 3-pointer, a 27-foot 3-pointer and five free throws later and the Clippers had an 85-74 advantage heading into the fourth quarter. CP3’s dominance was in full force during the last 3:30 of the third quarter and illustrates why the Clippers are a problem for any team in their way.

4. Bench Play: Jeff Van Gundy and Mike Tirico had (approximately) the following conversation towards the end of last nights telecast:

MT: “What I like about their bench is that they bring so much energy.”

JVG: “I think Ryan Hollins and Matt Barnes and Eric Bledsoe set such a great tone from the standpoint of energy and intensity. Jamal Crawford provides that scoring, but their toughness is outstanding.”
Hard to disagree with Van Gundy. Bledsoe had it going on both ends last night and at one point Ryan Hollins nudged Dwyane Wade into the photographers in press row while attempting to corral an offensive rebound. That effort will go a long way for the Clips.

Crawford summed up the Clippers’ performance last night. “It just wasn’t the same intensity as we had in the second half,” he explained, in regards to the difference between the first and the second halves. “We’re a second half team for whatever reason and that’s what we did tonight.”

He also spoke about the excellent early season victories over the Grizzlies, Spurs, Lakers and Heat. “They gives us confidence,” Crawford said to Lisa Salters. “It lets us know that we can play with any team in the league. It’s still early in the season, but we’re still trying to rack up quality wins.”

 

Shots of the night:

Rudy Gay drained many a big shot in the Grizzlies’ victory. From a skill point of view, the most impressive shot was when he caught the ball and patiently squared up against Kevin Durant on the right wing late in the third quarter. He took one dribble to his left, spun quickly, gathered himself and drilled a tough, 18-foot Durant-esque mid-range turnaround.

The biggest shot he made last night, however, was a gut-check, put-away 3-pointer from just left of the top of the key to re-extend the Grizzlies lead over the Thunder to 91-78 with 7:52 remaining. Gay took a triple from the right wing on the previous possession and missed, but had the confidence to come through on his second opportunity.

Dunks of the night: 

Doc Rivers describes Jeff Green’s monster jam over Al Jefferson with accuracy: “It was huge,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said, “in a lot of ways. It was a great dunk. It was great for the team. It was great to see all the guys cheering for him. Great to see the crowd. So those are little plays that will just keep him going, and it keeps him aggressive.”

Video after the jump:

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