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Game 3 between the San Antonio Spur and Memphis Grizzlies started off with an unexpected standing ovation for head coach David Fizdale. The fans saw his rant and realized that he did that to protect his players and get them ready for Game 3. It was also to put pressure on the officials to give Memphis some home calls (it still didn't work, the Grizzlies still had less free-throws than the Spurs).The "Grindhouse" was bumped up and ready to go. Zach Randolph got the start to get more offense out on the court which was the right move. The Grizzlies were struggling to put some points on the board so they needed Z-Bo in the starting lineup. Fizdale also inserted athletic wing player James Ennis III at small forward, pushing old man Vince to the two guard. This would prove to be some good coaching adjustments as the Grizzlies won Game 3 105-94.
The " Big 3" of Memphis, Mike Conley, Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph, combined for 66 points. Conley continued to play aggressive and looked to score first and distributed second. While Marc Gasol was a problem on both ends of the court whether he was scoring or just blocking his older brother, Pau Gasol's shot. Z-Bo looked like the old Z-Bo even though he always had that old man game. There is a reason they call him first name 20, last name 10 (He only had 8 rebounds this game). Randolph even caught a dunk in the game. The last time I remember him doing that is his rookie year ( Yes it's been a while). He took over in the 3rd quarter when the Grizzlies outscored the Spurs,31-17. The tables turned when coach Gregg Popovich subbed all his starters out in the first 52 seconds of the 3rd quarter because of bad play. That's when Memphis made their run and extended their lead.
The Memphis Grizzlies also got contributions from James Ennis III, who had 12 points, and D-League call up Wayne Selden dropped 10 points off the bench. JaMychal Green and Andrew Harrison also gave Memphis some good minutes from the pine. Overall this was a great team effort. It is going to take this kind of play for the Grizzlies to tie the series. San Antonio will come back strong, especially after that poor second half performance they put on. Coach Pop will have his troops ready. Memphis didn't want to get swept like last year and they played like it. Now the Grizzlies have to show the world that it wasn't just a last stand game and that they really want to make this a series going back to San Antonio tied at 2-2. Game 4 is Saturday on at 8pm on TNT.