Exactly six weeks after the Memphis Grizzlies traded their leading scorer for spare parts in what was widely seen as a cost-cutting move, they dominated the Pacific Division-leading Los Angeles Clippers for their 14th victory in 15 games.So what's got into the Grizz left behind by Rudy Gay?
They say it's nothing fancy: Just hard work, determination and that signature Memphis toughness.
Marc Gasol (216-C-85, agency: Interperformances) scored 21 points, Tayshaun Prince added 18 and the surging Grizzlies beat the Clippers 96-85 on Wednesday night for their sixth straight win.
Mike Conley had 17 points and 11 assists, and Zach Randolph scored 13 points as Memphis hung on in the fourth quarter of back-to-back road victories. Shutting down the Clippers' lob game and scoring with their own unflashy offense, the Grizzlies followed up last night's win in Portland with a tenacious effort against the Clippers, who have lost three of five.
It might have been a statement victory, but nobody was making a statement in the upbeat visitors' locker room.
"We don't get caught up in the gravity of the situation too much," Conley said. "We just go out there as a hardworking team every night. This is a huge win, obviously, second game of a back-to-back against a good team. We just did a good job defensively, and playing at our pace."
The Grizzlies realize they're on a 15-4 surge since trading Gay to Toronto on Jan. 30, but they're not getting too excited about their achievements in his absence _ although they took particular satisfaction in beating the Clippers, who eliminated them from the first round of the postseason last spring and beat the Grizzlies in their first two meetings this year.
"We've seen this team before, and we have some good battles against this team," Gasol said. "It feels good to get one against them."
What's more, the Grizzlies are excelling during a particularly brutal stretch in their schedule with help from newcomer Prince, the Los Angeles native acquired in the deal for Gay. They're late in a five-week stretch in which they never play consecutive games in the same city, with 10 of 14 games on the road.
Memphis (44-19) is percentage points ahead of Los Angeles (45-21) for third place in the Western Conference, although the Clippers are division leaders.
"We just keep playing good basketball," Prince said. "It's very surprising I'm able to build that bond with them so quickly, without having a training camp. We trust each other, and that's the most important thing."
Chris Paul had 24 points and nine assists, and Blake Griffin added 22 points for the Clippers, who won the clubs' first two meetings this season.
Matt Barnes scored 14 points as a fill-in starter for Los Angeles in a physical meeting of two Western Conference contenders whose bruising seven-game playoff series is still fresh in most players' minds.
"They're pretty physical," Paul said. "We obviously saw that in seven games last year and we were able to adjust to it, but we've got to figure some things out. ... I could care less what (playoff) seed we are. We just need to be playing the right way when the time comes, and we're not there yet."
One game after scoring a season-high 129 points, the Clippers struggled offensively, including a 6-for-25 effort on 3-pointers while scoring just 33 points after halftime. Although the Clippers seem capable of coasting to the first division title in the long-suffering franchise's history, the Pacific leaders might be in danger of entering another slump in their mostly stellar season.
"We want to be playing better," Griffin said. "Concern, I don't know if that's the right word. Frustration, yeah. We're not scared of any team we have to face in the playoffs, but we do need to be executing better to be able to impose our will and our game on other teams. ... It's disappointing we didn't play as well as we should have, but this game meant more to them, and that's the way they played. They played hungrier."
The Clippers' impressive depth has been thinned by minor injuries recently. Los Angeles played without starting forward Caron Butler, who's out with a strained left elbow, and backup point guard Eric Bledsoe, who has a strained calf. Although Jamal Crawford returned from a two-game absence with a sore left ankle, he scored just two points against Memphis on 1-for-10 shooting.
Memphis jumped to an 11-point lead in the third quarter with a rally led by Gasol, who had 11 points and three steals in the period. Los Angeles got within three points with 7 minutes to play, but Quincy Pondexter's 3-pointer kick-started Memphis' final rally.
NOTES: After a day off, Memphis finishes its four-game trip in Utah and Denver. ... Along with his playmaking prowess, Paul scored his 10,000th career point on a jumper early in the second quarter, getting a standing ovation from the sellout crowd when the milestone was announced. But the All-Star point guard managed just six points in the second half. ... Unbeaten WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley watched the game in a Clippers jersey. The Palm Springs-area native defends his belt Saturday night in nearby Carson against Ruslan Provodnikov. Courtesy of: http://www.newser.com
ACB Round 4 of Finals. FCB Regal force decider - Jun 16, 2013
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FCB Regal - Real Madrid 73-62
FCB Regal claimed the crucial home win in Game 4 of the championship series and sent it back to Madrid for the decider. The game was mostly controlled by Regal FC Barcelona. Real Madrid managed to win second period 15-11. But it was not enough to take a lead and get a victory that evening. They outrebounded Real Madrid 34-21 including 21 on the defensive glass [read more]
FCB Regal claimed the crucial home win in Game 4 of the championship series and sent it back to Madrid for the decider. The game was mostly controlled by Regal FC Barcelona. Real Madrid managed to win second period 15-11. But it was not enough to take a lead and get a victory that evening. They outrebounded Real Madrid 34-21 including 21 on the defensive glass. Croatian center Ante Tomic (217-87, agency: XL Basketball Agency) fired a double-double by scoring 18 points and 11 rebounds (on 7-of-9 shooting from the field) for the winners. Brazilian-Italian point guard Marcelinho Huertas (191-83, agency: Edge Sports) chipped in 11 points and 6 assists. Four Regal FC Barcelona players scored in double figures. International Felipe Reyes (206-80) produced 10 points and 6 rebounds and international Rudy Fernandez (198-85) added 8 points respectively for lost side. Both coaches used bench players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Top scorers: FCB Regal: A.Tomic 18+11reb+2ast, E.Lorbek 11+3reb+1ast, M.Huertas 11+3reb+6ast, L.Mavrokefalidis 10+5reb, B.Oleson 7+2reb+1ast, J.Carlos Navarro 7+3reb+4ast Real Madrid: F.Reyes 10+6reb, S.Llull 9+1ast, R.Fernandez 8+2ast, D.Draper 7, S.Rodriguez 6+1reb+2ast, N.Mirotic 6+3reb
Bizkaia Bilbao keep Alex Mumbru, Raul Lopez and Roger Grimau - Jun 15, 2013
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Bizkaia Bilbao have secured the services of key players Roger Grimau (196-G-79, agency: INVICTUS Sports Group), Raul Lopez (183-PG-80) and Alex Mumbru (202-F-79) for the next season. Three players have agreed on terms of contract extensions.
Alex Mumbru signed a new three-season deal. The forward has been playing for the Basque team since 2009. Last season Alex Mumbru notched 10.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.1 steal per game in EuroCup [read more]
Bizkaia Bilbao have secured the services of key players Roger Grimau (196-G-79, agency: INVICTUS Sports Group), Raul Lopez (183-PG-80) and Alex Mumbru (202-F-79) for the next season. Three players have agreed on terms of contract extensions. Alex Mumbru signed a new three-season deal. The forward has been playing for the Basque team since 2009. Last season Alex Mumbru notched 10.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.1 steal per game in EuroCup. In ACB his stats read 12.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists per appearance. Raul Lopez will enter his third straight season with Bizkaia Bilbao. Last season the guard notched 6.1 points, 3.1 assists and 2.5 boards per game in EuroCup. He also delivered 5.8 points, 2.7 assists and 1.5 rebounds per appearance in ACB. Roger Grimau will enter the third consecutive season with Bilbao. The guard came up with 6.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game in EuroCup. He also tallied 7.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game in ACB.
Spain U19 claim second straight over Czech Republic U19 - Jun 15, 2013
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Czech Republic U19 - Spain U19 62:81
Spanish U19 National Team outgunned Czech counterparts in the second game of the exhibition series in Prague. Sebastian Saiz (203-F-94) stepped up with 19 points to lead the winning side as they earned the second consecutive victory in the series.
Spain grabbed a 23:20 lead after ten minutes. Czech Republic struck right back. They upend the tempo in the second period and surged ahead for a 36:35 halftime lead [read more]
Czech Republic U19 - Spain U19 62:81
Spanish U19 National Team outgunned Czech counterparts in the second game of the exhibition series in Prague. Sebastian Saiz (203-F-94) stepped up with 19 points to lead the winning side as they earned the second consecutive victory in the series. Spain grabbed a 23:20 lead after ten minutes. Czech Republic struck right back. They upend the tempo in the second period and surged ahead for a 36:35 halftime lead. Spain retained the advantage in the third period. The visitors spurred in front for a 57:51 lead with ten minutes remaining. Spain dropped 24 points in the fourth term and sealed the win at the end. Dario Brizuela (188-PG-94) netted 10 points, while Albert Homs (203-F-94, agency: Interperformances) contributed 8 points in the winning effort. Radovan Kouril (180-PG-95) answered with 12 points for Czech Republic. Martin Peterka (201-PF-95) chipped in 11 points in the defeat.
Caja Laboral: took 4th place (4-6) in Group C of the Regular Season, took
4th place (8-6) in Group F of the Top16, lost to CSKA 3-1 in the quarterfinals
!!!
FCB Regal: took 1st place (9-1) in Group D of the Regular Season, took 1st
place (13-1) in Group F of the Top16, lost to Real Madrid 67-74 in the
Semifinals, lost to CSKA 73-74 in the 3rd place game !!!
Real Madrid: took 1st place (7-3) in Group A of the Regular Season, took 2nd
place (10-4) in Group E of the Top16, lost to Olympiakos 88-100 in the Final !!!
Unicaja: took 2nd place (8-2) in Group B of the Regular Season, took 5th
place (7-7) in Group E of the Top16
Cajasol: took 2nd place (3-3) in Group H of the Regular Season, took 4th
(last) place (1-5) in Group K of the Top16
Gescrap BB: took 1st place (6-0) in Group B of the Regular Season, took 1st
place (4-2) in Group J of the Top16, lost to Lokomotiv 64-75 in the Final !!!
Valencia: took 1st place (5-1) in Group D of the Regular Season, took 2nd
place (4-2) in Group J of the Top16, lost to Lokomotiv 1-1 (-5) in the
Semifinals !!!
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