The Memphis Grizzlies were able to corral Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul Thursday night, and injected life back into the first round series with a 94-82 win in Memphis.
The Grizzlies defense, statistically the best in the NBA during the 2012-2013 season that is anchored by Defensive Player of the Year Marc Gasol, held Paul to just eight points and four assists in 35 minutes of play. Paul shot just 4-of-11 from the field, and didn't manage a single trip to the free throw line.
Memphis totally stifled the Clippers on the scoreboard and in the rebounding category. Blake Griffin topped Los Angeles' score sheet with 16 points but kept him off the glass in a major way; he pulled down just two rebounds when he averaged more than eight per game this season. Overall, Memphis grabbed 45 rebounds, 12 more than the Clippers.
Zach Randolph led the way for the hungry Grizzlies, scoring 27 points on an efficient 9-of-18 shooting effort and recording 11 rebounds, six of which came on the offensive glass. Randolph also sank nine of his ten free throw attempts. Marc Gasol played big as well, scoring 16 points and getting eight boards of his own.
Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins was very pleased with Randolph's performance, saying, "Zach was huge. He got started quickly. He had 18 at halftime, and that got us going and everyone else just flowed into that. I thought our defense, for the most part, was solid."
Speaking after the game, Randolph said, "I definitely wanted to come out and be aggressive. They've been double-teaming, triple-teaming me. So just go fast, you know, hit a couple jump shots and open it up. Most definitely, I wanted to come out and be aggressive."
A disappointed Chris Paul called on better execution going forward for his Clippers. "It's uncharacteristic of us. You know I mean especially me," Paul said. "I had five turnovers tonight, and our turnovers led to 17 of their points. They got offensive rebounds, things we hadn't let them do in Game 1 and Game 2. We just got to be better."
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