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NateRob, The Pound-For-Pound King!

May 7, 2013  ·  10:48AM



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HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – Nate Robinson said it best, “God blessed me with a lot of heart and no height, and I’ll take that any day.”

So will the Chicago Bulls.

Krypto-Nate devoured the Miami Heat in the fourth quarter of the Bulls’ Game 1 upset in the Eastern Conference semifinals Monday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.

The best fourth quarter scorer in these playoffs, Robinson served the Heat by scoring the final seven of his game-high 27 points (he also had nine assists) in the defining minutes of the game. He did all this after needing 10 stitches to close a gash over his lip, courtesy of a LeBron James elbow and head smash during a scramble for a loose ball.

“Get stitched up and continue to battle,” Robinson told reporters after the game.

LeBron’s already snagged the “King” nickname. But after watching Robinson the past eight games (and, really, the past eight seasons), is there any doubt that he’s the pound-for-pound king of toughness in the NBA?

Yes, that’s high praise for a third-string point guard. And Robinson remains one of the more unpredictable players in the league. His highs, though, trump his lows every time. Tell me the last time a third-string point guard outdueled the MVP on the night he received his trophy? Robinson became the NBA’s first three-time Sprite Slam Dunk champ and built a cult fanbase from New York (where he spent his first four and half seasons in the league) to Boston to the Bay Area and now Chicago and beyond.

Nowhere is Robinson more beloved than in his native Seattle, where he was the big man on campus at Ranier Beach High School, where he was a three-sport (football and track, too) star. Unlike many of his NBA colleagues who love to fantasize about being crossover stars in the NFL, Robinson could have pulled it off.

He was a All-Pac-10 Freshman Team pick at cornerback at the University of Washington, where his father, Jacque Robinson, was a Rose Bowl and Orange Bowl MVP. Nate Robinson was believed to have a much brighter future in that sport.

But he chose basketball instead and the rest is pound-for-pound history for a player who says he’s having the time of his life with this Bulls team.

“There’s something special about this group,” Robinson said. “It feels like we’ve been playing together for, like, 10 years. I told [Bulls] Coach [Tom Thibodeau], we just love to play for each other.”

Hoops fans love having players with Robinson’s toughness on their team. That’s why he’s the king/captain of the Hang Time Pound-For-Pound Toughness Team. These are the guys still working in these playoffs who give up every ounce of what they’ve got on a nightly basis for their respective teams, be it blood, sweat, tissue, tears or whatever else is needed.

The other starters:

David West, Indiana Pacers

6-foot-9, 250 pounds

An absolute bruiser, West changed the entire culture of an organization in Indiana with his reserved-but-unwavering leadership style. The Pacers have become the picture of defensive toughness and consistency since West arrived. West is a physical specimen who has found a way harness his brute strength and play under complete control at all times. He’s a huge reason why the Pacers are up 1-0 on the New York Knicks in their Eastern Conference semifinal.

Jimmy Butler, Chicago Bulls

6-foot-7, 220 pounds

Another reserve who has moved into a starring role during this postseason, all Butler has done is play every single minute in three straight playoff games (Games 6 and 7 against the Brooklyn Nets and Game 1 against the Heat). That’s 48 straight minutes for three straight games while guarding the likes of the Nets’ Deron Williams and Joe Johnson and the Heat’s LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. With his tireless work on both ends of the floor, Butler has done a masterful job filling in for Luol Deng while also showing the sort of mettle of a future star.

Marc Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies

7-foot-1, 265 pounds

The Memphis branch of the Gasol basketball family tree is much sturdier than the Los Angeles version in every way imaginable. Pau Gasol has always been considered the most skilled big man in the family. But the toughest Gasol, the recently crowd Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year, does his home work near Beale Street. He’s got it all … brains, brawn and he can ball.

Tony Allen, Memphis Grizzlies

6-foot-4, 214 pounds

A defensive stopper everywhere he’s been, Allen’s junkyard dog attitude inspired the Grit and Grind movement in Memphis (where you could fill out a Pound-For-Pound roster with the likes of Zach Randolph and others). Allen’s greatest trait is his fearlessness, which was on full display during the Boston Celtics’ title run in 2008 and has been as identifiable as his No. 9 jersey is since he joined the Grizzlies three seasons ago.

SECOND TEAM

Joakim Noah, Chicago Bulls; Jarrett Jack, Golden State Warriors, Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs; Iman Shumpert, New York Knicks; Chris Andersen, Miami Heat.


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Posted in 2013 Conference Semis: Heat-Bulls, 2013 NBA Playoffs, HT News / Comments (22) /

Pondexter Deals With Missed FT, Criticism

May 6, 2013  ·  6:00PM

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OKLAHOMA CITY – What did a deflated Quincy Pondexter do to shake off a crucial missed free throw with 1.6 seconds left in Sunday’s Game 1 followed by an endless barrage of R-rated — and downright shameful — Twitter criticism that followed?

He went out to dinner with teammates and saw Iron Man 3, rated PG-13.

“I was telling him we’re built for this situation,” Memphis Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley said after Monday’s practice. “We’re built to handle the negative, we’re built to handle the positive and I think he should be proud of how he played and all the effort he’s given us. Because I’d much rather have him in the game than sitting on the bench.”

Pondexter has had a productive postseason with four double-digit scoring games in the last five. He was set up to be the unsung hero of Sunday’s eventual 93-91 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second-round series opener. He already had 12 points and three 3-pointers, including a halfcourt heave to end the third quarter that put a temporary stop to the momentum shift that favored the Thunder.

But with 1.6 seconds left in the game and OKC leading 93-90, Pondexter, positioned at the left wing beyond the arc, got the ball and went up with the potential game-tying shot only to be inexplicably swiped on the arm by young Thunder guard Reggie Jackson. The third-year Grizzlies forward went to the line for three free throws.

He missed the first, effectively ending the game. After it he took to Twitter to take responsibility:

But that didn’t stop the immediate and vitriolic knee-jerk tweets that piled upon Pondexter and ignored the numerous opportunities the Grizzlies lost, including Conley being stripped from behind by Derek Fisher with 20 seconds to go and Marc Gasol‘s errant pass with less than five seconds to go.

“It’s part of the job,” Pondexter said after Monday’s practice on the Thunder’s home floor. “I just use it as motivation. It’s not the first time people have told me stuff like that it won’t be the last probably. You just got to take it all in stride and move on from it, and I’m going to be a lot better person and player from it.”

Pondexter even retweeted some of the nastier comments.

“I probably just retweeted because I was angry at the time. It was a tough situation,” Pondexter said. “Just to say, ‘You know what, I’m taking it all in stride.’ I probably think the same about myself of what those people were thinking.”

Athletes must have short memories no matter how difficult social media might make that these days. Pondexter said he’s ready for Game 2 on Tuesday night when the Grizzlies will try to even the series before heading back to Memphis for Games 3 and 4.

“People will remember the end of the game. I know I remember the end of it; I won’t forget it for the rest of my life,” Pondexter said. “I’m a tough kid, man. I’m as tough as any kid, and no matter what, nothing like that is going to ever break me down. So I’m looking forward to getting back on the court and if I get another pressure situation like that again, I’m going to knock it down.”

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Posted in 2013 Conference Semis: Thunder-Grizzlies / Comments (15) /

Red Carpet Rolled Out For the Spurs

May 6, 2013  ·  11:46AM

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SAN ANTONIO — Ever since they dusted off a young LeBron James and his overmatched Cavaliers with a backhanded sweep in 2007, the Spurs have been searching for a path back to The Finals.

Now, perhaps, the only thing missing is a red carpet rolled down an aisle or a trail of rose petals.

The Western Conference bracket that was supposed to a demolition derby involving a series of jarring collisions is beginning to look instead like dominoes falling just right for San Antonio.

What could have been a dangerous first-round matchup against the Lakers lost its peril the moment that Kobe Bryant collapsed with a torn Achilles tendon. Without their leader, the Lakers were toothless and clueless and simply ran out of healthy bodies to even put up a semblance of resistance, and the Spurs only had to fight boredom and try to avoid injuries.

Then while Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker were sitting at home resting their veteran legs for a full week, the remainder of the West came unraveled like a cheap sweater.

So many experts around the league had picked the superstar-less Nuggets to build on their 57-win season with a team-first attack that could carry them to the conference finals or even beyond. Yet No. 3 seed Denver had its home-court dominance ended by the sharp-shooting of Stephen Curry and the Warriors.

A season-long hullaballoo and love-fest over the No. 4 seed Clippers finally winning more than 50 games and their first division title in franchise history went out the window when they were exposed as little more than a sideshow dunking act that gave little inclination to playing defense or being serious when the stakes were raised.

While those two pretenders were being exposed, even the top-seeded Thunder were taking a severe blow when their All-Star guard Russell Westbrook suffered a torn ligament in his right knee in Game 2 of their series against Houston. First it meant that OKC was extended to six games by the young and restless Rockets and then it sent them into the second round and beyond looking vulnerable and anything like the favorites to reach a return match against Miami than a month ago.

Now the Spurs go into a second-round series tonight against the Warriors and Curry, who have become the “must-see” TV-show of the playoffs and it’s likely that the top shooting ace in the game will provide a few moments of entertainment and drama and anxiety in Spurs huddles.

But it can’t be overlooked that Golden State has lost an astounding 29 consecutive games in San Antonio, a streak that goes back to Feb. 14, 1997, four months before the 37-year-old Duncan was even drafted by the Spurs. As much of a test that they’ll get from trying to guard Curry, the Spurs would much rather have it against the No. 6 seed than trying to run and keep pace with the Nuggets in the mile high thin atmosphere of Denver.

Of course, the grit-and-grind Grizzlies are still out there lurking with their powerful inside game of Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol and the much-improved point guard Mike Conley. But the Grizzlies already blew an opportunity to take Game 1 of their series at OKC on Sunday and trail 1-0. So the storyline couldn’t be playing out any better for the Spurs if they had written it themselves.

“We lost to an eight (Memphis, 2011) once,” Ginobili told reporters. “We won being seventh (Dallas, 2009). So anything can happen.”

Of course, the Spurs know they had won 20 straight games and took a 2-0 lead on the Thunder in the conference finals a year ago before dropping four in a row to be eliminated. Nothing is ever certain, nothing is guaranteed.

But the Spurs were looking for a route back to The Finals for the first time in six years, they couldn’t have found a clearer path.

– Series hub: Spurs vs. Warriors

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Posted in 2013 Conference Semis: Spurs-Warriors, 2013 NBA Playoffs, HT News / Comments (4) /

Durant Wins It, But Not Without Help

May 5, 2013  ·  7:58PM


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OKLAHOMA CITY – News that All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook would miss the entire playoffs rippled across the NBA like an earthquake tremor. The epicenter was Oklahoma City where the shock was sudden and the aftermath is fueling new opportunities for a team that still aspires to win it all.

“It was kind of a gut-punch initially that day at practice, and the whole day you could tell guys were disappointed and down,” reserve forward-center Nick Collison said. “Of course we’re at a deep disadvantage without him, but I don’t think we work that way really. We do a good job of seeing what’s right in front of us.”

As the Memphis Grizzlies frustratingly discovered on Sunday afternoon, count out the Thunder at your own peril. Oklahoma City stole Game 1 on its own home floor, rallying from 12 down late in the third quarter to take a 93-91 decision on a go-ahead, pull-up jumper by Mr. Clutch, Kevin Durant, with 11.1 seconds to go.

“My teammates did a great job of setting me up all game,” Durant said. “I missed some easy ones, some chippies, and I was able to hit that one.”

Let the box score show Durant with a game-high 35 points on 13-for-26 shooting, 15 rebounds, six assists, a couple blocked shots and a steal in 44 exhaustive, mandatory minutes. Yet the opportunity for OKC’s Big One to put his team ahead for good was supplied, as much of the Thunder’s gusto on this day was, from role players coming up big in Westbrook’s absence.

As OKC continues to adjust and tweak on the fly, it is discovering what lies beneath.

They’re finding a resilient Kevin Martin, who scored 25 points, 15 in a critical second-quarter stand when OKC scored 33 points without Durant attempting a shot. Martin’s game, which also included a season-high seven rebounds and a late fourth-quarter swat of Quincy Pondexter in the lane, came on the heels of scoring 26 in the clincher at Houston after being left for dead and his OKC future being questioned, following his Game 5 stinker.

Derek Fisher proved he can still bring it in the clutch at age 38, hitting both of his 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, the first to start the period with OKC down nine. Then he’s making the defensive play of the game with 20 seconds to go, stripping driving Memphis guard Mike Conley from behind just before he can ascend to the rim and triggering a rush the other way for Durant’s big bucket.

The moment once again didn’t swallow second-year guard Reggie Jackson, who starts in place of Westbrook but watched from the bench while Fisher played down the stretch until the final possession when Memphis had to foul with 3.5 seconds to go — a sequence set up by Thabo Sefolosha’s deflection of an errant Marc Gasol pass. Jackson calmly sank both free throws, as he did against Houston, to make it 93-90 with 1.6 seconds left.

Fisher and Jackson totaled 20 points with a couple of assists and just one turnover. Conley, coming off a big series going toe-to-toe with All-Star Chris Paul, finished with 13 points, three assists and two turnovers. The final one cost Memphis the game.

“We got a nice little flow going right now,” Martin said. “I think we settled in, realizing that we’re not going to have Russell, and guys are stepping up.”

How about Thunder coach Scott Brooks, who absorbs criticism at times for stubbornly sticking to lineups? When he deployed a small unit for the first time in the game as he sensed it getting away at 70-58 with 1:57 left in the third quarter, the momentum shifted drastically in OKC’s favor. A 15-5 run — with three of the Grizzlies’ points coming on Pondexter’s halfcourt heave at the end of the third — cut Memphis’ lead to 75-73 with 10:10 to play.

And his trust in Durant to take the turnover created by Fisher’s poke of Conley uninterrupted by a timeout proved masterful. The ball came to Durant who pushed it up at his coach’s insistence. With Memphis trying to get back, Durant pulled up from 19 and banged it home.

It was a game the resolute Thunder could have lost and one the Grizzlies believe they should have won.

“I feel like we gave it away, honestly,” said Zach Randolph, who had 18 points and 10 rebounds.

But that’s not giving the Thunder enough credit. OKC’s big men, Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka, were atrocious offensively, going 2-for-16 from the floor, and Perkins nearly blew OKC’s chance altogether when Durant’s routine inbounds pass slipped through his hands, leaving Durant rolling his eyes and Memphis with the ball up 90-87 and 1:07 to go.

But the Thunder’s inside duo made Memphis’ Randolph and Gasol pay a physical price in the paint. Perkins played 34 minutes, the most of OKC’s starters other than Durant, and played big in holding the inside-oriented Grizzlies to just 32 points in the paint and four second-chance points on eight total offensive rebounds.

It wasn’t always pretty — OKC missed its first 10 shots and scored 31 points in the first and third quarters combined — and it won’t be the rest of the way. But in taking Game 1, the Thunder, down a star, are coming up with alternatives.

“We know what Russell brings to our team,” Brooks said. “He’s an amazing player and an incredible leader that has been missed, there’s no doubt. But we’ve changed in different ways. We’re different, but we’re still a good team and on both ends of the floor we present problems.”

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Posted in 2013 Conference Semis: Thunder-Grizzlies, 2013 NBA Playoffs, HT News / Comments (30) /

Game 6: What’s On The Line Tonight

May 3, 2013  ·  10:53AM



HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – For those who truly love the reality TV drama of the NBA playoffs, this is what we pay and hope for every year. Elimination time, 48 minutes with everything on the line plus seasons (and sometimes careers) hanging in the balance.

We get four of them tonight, four Game 6 matchups (two in the Western Conference and two more in the East) and potentially four teams going fishing.

The posturing is over. Wear black if you want to (New York Knicks), but if you’re not careful and don’t treat Game 6 with the urgency required, the funeral you’ll be attending might be your own (if the Boston Celtics are able to force a Game 7, that will put pressure on the Knicks that could shake the very walls of Madison Square Garden).

The Celtics, Atlanta Hawks, Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers are all facing a win-or-go-home circumstance in their respective Games 6 battles tonight. Each one of them trails 3-2 and each one of them will have some serious thinking to do in the aftermath of defeats.

That said, the Knicks, Indiana Pacers, Oklahoma City Thunder and Memphis Grizzlies do not want to let this opportunity to end things slip away. A Game 7, be it at home or on the road, comes with an increased level of intensity that can make anyone crack.

So we’re going game-by-game and detailing exactly what is on the line tonight for the winner and loser of these games:

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KNICKS AT CELTICS, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN

What’s on the line for the Knicks: Everything! An entire season comes down to whether or not they can survive their own foolishness. Suddenly the Knicks aren’t in a playful mood. Too bad they didn’t adopt that philosophy before Game 5, when they had a chance to end this series on their home floor. Kenyon Martin and J.R. Smith have to redeem themselves for their words and actions before and during that Game 5 disaster. Carmelo Anthony, on the other hand, needs simply to return to the MVP form he showed down the stretch of the regular season and early on in this series. Just 21 assists in two games is not the sort of ball movement that led the Knicks to that 3-0 series lead. They either find a way to fix that or face the possibility of a Game 7 at home, which sounds like a good thing … until you remember that the Celtics would welcome another opportunity to silence Spike Lee and the rest of the Knicks faithful at the Garden.

What’s on the line for the Celtics: An era! The Big 3 era ended last season when Ray Allen bolted for Miami. But that was the ceremonial end. The official end comes when this team sees its season finished. No one knows what Danny Ainge has in store for this group when it’s all over. Celtics coach Doc Rivers is a master at preparing his team for big games, but the Knicks did much of the work for him this time by calling out the Celtics. That’s usually all the incentive Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett need to get their fires raging. They responded like the true (and aging) warriors that they are. And they’ll bring a Game 7 zeal to Game 6 and dare the Knicks to match their effort before a home crowd that should be in a full lather by lunch time. While the Knicks have focused their attention elsewhere, Jeff Green has gone about destroying them in the past two games. The Celtics’ supporting cast will be the difference if this series goes to a Game 7.

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PACERS AT HAWKS, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2

What’s on the line for the Pacers: Legitimacy! The Pacers fancy themselves as championship contenders this season. And they are serious about it. Problem is, their performance on the road in this series suggests otherwise. If they can’t handle an inconsistent bunch like the Hawks on the road, what exactly can coach Frank Vogel‘s crew do against either the Knicks or Celtics in the conference semifinals? Paul George and David West have designs on leading the Pacers deep into the playoffs, but they better finish this series off first without having to host a Game 7 in the first round. A little help from Roy Hibbert would help. Vogel keeps talking about his team still being young and needing to learn some things along the way. Learning how to survive a mess of your own making with a Game 7 against an inferior foe can’t be what he had in mind.

What’s on the line for the Hawks: The (immediate) future! It’s no secret that the organization is pointing to this summer, and free agency, as their salvation. Any noise the Hawks made in this postseason was strictly for the men in uniform and on the sideline (most of them are playing out the final years of their respective deals). A sustained postseason run is just more advertising, sometimes good and sometimes not so good, for coach Larry Drew and stars Josh Smith, Jeff Teague, Devin Harris, Kyle Korver and others. The fitting way to end their six-year run of consecutive playoff appearances is to go out the same way they did in that first-round series against the Celtics in 2008, losing in a Game 7 in Boston. There is more respect earned going down like that than there is in going down on your home floor in Game 6. (more…)

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Posted in 2013 NBA Playoffs / Comments (39) /

Marc Gasol Earns Big Brother’s Praise

April 24, 2013  ·  3:54PM

SAN ANTONIO — The backyard battles between the Gasol brothers growing up in Barcelona were lively and sometimes contentious.

“We always liked playing 1-on-1,” said Lakers forward Pau Gasol following Wednesday’s shootaround. “We were always very competitive when we played and we did put in a lot of effort on defense.”

That effort turned younger brother Marc Gasol of the Grizzles into the 2013 Defensive Player of the Year.

“It’s a great award to receive, great recognition, great accomplishment for him and I’m just very proud of what he’s been able to do and what he’s become as a player and a person,” Pau said. “I’m a proud big brother.

“He gets it done on both ends of the floor. He’s a great anchor for their team. On the defensive end, he gets a lot of deflections, a lot of steals, gets blocks. He makes critical defensive plays and helps them be the defensive team that they are.”

ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy said recently that whoever taught the Gasol players the game should be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

“You’ve got to give the credit to a lot of people,” Pau said. “We had a lot of coaches growing up. We paid attention to the fundamentals of the game, ballhandling, passing, court awarenesss, team ball. That’s what we’ve been taught since we were little and have been able to absorb it really well and put it to practice. Also the values that our parents taught us were also crucial as far as being humble and hard workers and respectful.”

Naturally, the question was posed of which of them is a better defender.

“Apparently Marc,” Pau said chuckling. “He has always been more of a hard-nosed player, does more of the dirty work. He has a bigger body and can be a little more physical and more effective with it.

“I’m not discontent with my ability to defend…When we had our championships I had to defend and I usually defended the best post-up player and was very successful and got some All-Defensive team votes a couple of years.

“But I’m not gonna take any credit for (the award). Marc has just grown into a magnificent player all around. Defense, offense and quietly, under the radar and I’m glad he’s getting the recognition he deserves.”

With the Lakers and Grizzlies in the same half of the Western Conference bracket, the brothers could meet in the next round of the playoffs if they advance.

“It would be a pretty amazing feeling,” Pau said. “I wish that would happen. We’re both in a disadvantaged position at this point this year. They’re down 2-0 against a team playing well and they took a really tough hit in Game 2, losing that way. And we’re playing against San Antonio. It is what it is. It’s a nice thought that we’ll continue to pursue.”

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Superb Sub Crawford Driving Clippers’ Game-Changing Reserves

April 23, 2013  ·  10:15AM

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LOS ANGELES – Jamal Crawford spent the first few minutes after Monday morning’s shootaround being as affable as ever while answering questions about the physical nature of the series, adjustments to be made and the importance of protecting home court.

Then came the one topic that visibly soured his mood. His smile disappeared, his shoulders slumped, his voice lowered.

While the Clippers were reviewing Monday night’s Game 2 strategy against the Memphis Grizzlies, the league was announcing New York Knicks gunner J.R. Smith as the Kia Sixth Man of the Year. An award Crawford owned for the first half of the season was swiped by Smith’s late hot streak that corresponded with the Knicks’ late-season 13-game win streak.

“Congrats to J.R.,” Crawford said softly. “You can’t worry about stuff you can’t control.”

It’s uncertain if Crawford was already aware of his fate or was just learning of it. Clearly, though, when it hit his ears, his mind reeled back to late January when the All-Star reserves were announced. Crawford, the 2010 Sixth Man of the Year with Atlanta, had hoped he’d be selected for his first All-Star team in his 13th NBA season. He was not.

“Going back to the All-Star team, I guess twice in a season,” Crawford said of getting the snub. “But congrats to J.R.”

So when Crawford came out on fire in the Los Angeles Clippers’ 93-91 Game 2 win over the Memphis Grizzlies for a 2-0 first-round series lead, it sure seemed like he had come out with a Big Apple-sized chip on his shoulder.

He canned his first six shots and put together an 11-point second quarter that changed the flow of the game and a 13-point first half as the Clippers’ bench again caused all kinds of problems for the Grizzlies.

Crawford led L.A.’s bench with 15 points, plus three steals and a single turnover in 33:30. Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro, as expected, backed his first-year sixth man who averaged 16.5 points in the regular season, his high mark since taking the Sixth Man award three seasons ago, while shooting 37.6 percent from beyond the arc.

“He’s [third] in the league in fourth-quarter scoring, he’s had 29 20-point-plus games off the bench,” Del Negro said. “He set the franchise record for free throws (58 in a row), set the franchise record for 3-pointers made (149 in the regular season). He’s been a huge catalyst for us all season from Day 1, the whole season, so it’s hard for me to look at it and say that Jamal didn’t deserve that. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find someone more deserving.”

With an All-Star snub in the rearview mirror and now the Sixth Man hardware in Smith’s hands, Crawford still has the biggest prize of all in his sights.

He’s the leader of easily the deepest (and arguably the most dangerous) bench in the league. During the regular season it was just one of four benches to average better than 40 ppg.

In the first two games of the first-round series against the Grizzlies, the Clippers’ bench has been superior and has forced the hand of Memphis coach Lionel Hollins.

In L.A.’s breathtaking 93-91 victory Monday in Game 2, the Clippers’ bench outscored their opponents’ reserves 30-11. In Game 1, Memphis got 19 points from Jerryd Bayless, who played 30 minutes because the Grizz were constantly playing catch-up, and that limited defensive-minded Tony Allen to  just 17 minutes. In that game, L.A.’s Eric Bledsoe went off for 13 points, four assists and six rebounds in the decisive fourth quarter.

Del Negro has pushed all the right buttons so far. In Game 1, he went to little-used power forward Ronny Turiaf instead of Ryan Hollins and it paid off. In Game 2, Crawford accounted for half the scoring, but the Clippers got five assists and 15 rebounds from the bench.

“I have confidence in all of our guys,” Del Negro said. “I have no hesitation putting them in if I feel they can help us.”

And that’s included Lamar Odom throughout the season. Although Odom’s 3-point and free throw shooting has been abysmal, he’s rewarded Del Negro in other ways. He had seven rebounds in Game 1, more than burly big men Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol combined. There was his fourth-quarter sequence in Game 2 that included a defensive rebound and long outlet to Matt Barnes, a leaping swat of Randolph and a terrific bounce pass to the slashing Bledsoe for a dunk.

An all-reserve second unit changed the momentum of Game 2 in the second quarter and opened the fourth quarter on an 8-0 to build a double-digit lead.

“With the depth of the Clippers’ bench, we have to match them offensively as well as do a decent job on them defensively,” Hollins said. “But we can’t go out there and not score and give up eight, 10 points in a row. Then they can’t be out there for long as a group.”

And they weren’t. Hollins got all five starters back out there early in the fourth quarter to battle, in a rare occurrence, the Clippers’ five subs.

It’s a predicament the Grizzlies must solve in a hurry.

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Round 2: Blake Vs. Z-Bo

April 22, 2013  ·  3:42PM

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LOS ANGELES – Where’s Vince McMahon when you need him?

When Blake Griffin and Zach Randolph get together it’s always a no-holds-barred (depending on what the refs actually allow) steel-cage match and tonight’s Game 2 at Staples Center (10:30 p.m. ET, TNT) should be no different.

In Saturday’s 112-91 victory for Blake’s Los Angeles Clippers, the opposing big fellas — who combine for at least 511 pounds — grabbed, pushed, bumped, used elbows, shoulders and whatever else to gain an ounce of traction against the other.

In the end, they effectively canceled each other out, combining for more fouls (11) than field goals (nine), free throw attempts (seven) and rebounds (nine). Both logged well below their season average for minutes played because of the constant whistles.

At one point they were handed the usually rare double-foul, only it’s not so rare for these two. It happened twice in four games during the regular season.

“It’s going to be a physical series that way,” Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said. “It was last year, it was all of regular-season games and obviously the playoffs, with the energy in the building and just kind of what’s at stake, it’s going to be like that.”

No one needs to remind Griffin what he’s in for again tonight when he steps into the ring with Randolph.

“For anybody else, I feel like it’s not that much of a fight, because most of the time things get called no matter what,” Griffin said. “But that’s his game. Over time, people get used to that. So it’s not going to really work in my favor. I just have to make sure it’s even.”

It was in Game 1. Griffin fouled out with 10 points, just nine shot attempts, and five rebounds in under 26 minutes. Randolph had five fouls, picking up two in the first quarter that sent him to bench early. He had 13 points and four rebounds in less than 25 minutes.

It’s been the norm whenever Blake and Z-Bo lock up. In four regular-season games, Randolph has shot 37.3 percent, his second-lowest field-goal percentage against a team he played more than twice. Griffin averaged 13.8 points, more than four points below his season average, and seven rebounds, also below his season average.

“People might look at the box score and say, ‘Oh, he’s not contributing,’” said Griffin, who did acknowledge that he’d like to be more aggressive on the offensive end. “But watching the film (of Game 1), our coaches and our team felt like we did the job we were supposed to do. If you look at the final stats, it reflects that because we won the rebounding battle.”

In a huge way: 47-23 (and 14-4 on the offensive glass for a 25-5 advantage in second-chance points), a margin that surely won’t be repeated in Game 2.

But the larger point to tonight’s game and the series is that Memphis, dependent on running its offense through its two “bigs” — Randolph and Marc Gasol —  can’t count on Randolph to be a dominant force matched against Blake at both ends of the floor. If those two continue to cancel each other out, the deeper Clippers are better equipped to find other ways to win as they did with a tremendous bench effort to grab the 1-0 series lead.

It was their fourth win in five games against the Grizzlies this season.

Prior to Game 1, Jamal Crawford described the physical play to come as going to be a “bloodbath.” Prior to Game 2 he said, “I think it will get progressively more physical as the series goes on. I think the best is yet to come.”

Get the steel cage ready.

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Grizz Must Get Hands Dirty On Boards

April 21, 2013  ·  5:04PM

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LOS ANGELES – How poor was the Memphis Grizzlies’ rebounding in Saturday night’s Game 1?

So poor that Lamar Odom’s seven boards in 18 minutes were one more than Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph combined to bring down in 66 total minutes.

“Very surprised,” Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said when asked about the Los Angeles Clippers’ 47-23 overall margin on the boards and 14-4 on the offensive glass. “But I’ve been saying when we played them before, they’ve gotten more boards than they should. Their wing people come in and get offensive rebounds.”

Hollins then noted after his team’s 112-91 loss the seemingly impossible with what can only be described as stunned exasperation: Randolph managed four rebounds in 25 foul-plagued minutes and Gasol got just two rebounds — one defensive board in the first quarter and another in the third — in 41 minutes.

And just look at those offensive rebounds that Hollins is talking about for the Clippers. Of their 14, the starters had five — center DeAndre Jordan (three), Caron Butler (one) and Blake Griffin (one), who, like Randolph, was taken out of the flow of the game by fouls — some seemingly very ticky-tack both ways — and played less than 26 minutes.

The bench, led by Odom’s three offensive rebounds, accounted for nine, and remarkably equaled Memphis’ overall 23 rebounds. Even little-used Ronny Turiaf, getting nine minutes of in place of Ryan Hollins late in the third and early in the fourth, outrebounded Gasol, 3-2, including an offensive board and a put-back.

Nothing in Saturday’s Game 1 held to form for either club other than the Clippers’ bench playing outstanding basketball. The rebounding aspect went haywire. During the regular saeason, Memphis ranked third in allowing the fewest offensive rebounds per game (10.3), was tied for third in accumulating offensive rebounds (12.9). It was also third in rebounding differential (plus-3.6).

The Clippers are big up front and are a good rebounding team, having finished sixth in differential (plus-2.5). But to have a plus-24 advantage in Game 1 and to be outscored 25-5 on second-chance points, it was all about outhustling the burly Grizzlies.

“We got beat at our game. We got to give them credit,” said Gasol, a top Defensive Player of the Year candidate. “Once we got a stop, they kept running and getting offensive rebounds and second-chance points. The way we played for 36-40 minutes, I think we played good basketball. Even though we weren’t fully feeling like ourselves, they were doing a good job of trying to get us away from what we’re trying to do.”

For Memphis fans who were screaming at Lionel Hollins through their television sets to see more of Ed Davis, who was first off the bench when Randolph got in foul trouble and started fast with six points and three rebounds in the first quarter (he finished with six and six in 12 minutes), the coach made it clear why he Davis saw just five minutes of action after the first quarter.

“We’ve got to stop people, too,” Hollins said. “That sounds good and I know that everyone’s chirping at that (playing Davis more), but there’s a lot more to this game than just one step.”

Like rebounding.

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Prince: Grizz’s 2011 Playoff Run Without Gay Aided Transition

April 16, 2013  ·  3:32PM

DALLAS – Want to know why teammates respect and admire Tayshaun Prince? Traded from the Detroit Pistons, the franchise he loyally clung to through the lean, post-championship years, he’s now just days away from beginning his first postseason since 2009 with the Memphis Grizzlies.

Is he excited to be back in the playoffs?

“I am excited,” Prince said after scoring a dozen points in the Grizzlies’ 103-97 win Monday against the Mavericks. “I’m more excited for Ed Davis, and I’m more excited for Austin Daye. Austin’s been with me for four years now. He was with me in the tough days in Detroit. I’m excited for those guys.”

For the third-year Davis and the fourth-year Daye, it will be their first forays beyond the regular season.

Prince, 33, an integral member of the 2004 champion Pistons, is one of the league’s most unassuming, thoughtful and grounded players. He goes to work and gives all he has to give, then does it again the next day and the next day. His 10-year run in Detroit ended in late January with a three-way trade. Memphis dealt the still quite youthful Rudy Gay to Toronto and Davis landed in Memphis along with the veteran Prince and his Pistons teammate Daye.

“I’m one of the last guys in this league that would let something affect me if somebody said why would they trade for an old, veteran guy and this and that,” said Prince, who acknowledged that the deal did take him by surprise. “I don’t care what people say about me. I have fun with it, I roll with it, it doesn’t bother me. At the end of the day, we’ve got some good pieces.”

From a personality standpoint, the old veteran and his new, rather old-fashioned, grind-it-out team have been a near-perfect match with their blue collars raised proudly.

“I love Tayshaun,” Grizzlies center Marc Gasol said. “I love the way he plays, I love what he brings to the team, I love his leadership and the way he approaches the game of basketball.”

And Grizzlies fans have to be relieved and pleased with what they’ve seen after initial apprehension to Memphis’ new ownership group breaking up the long-held core of Gay, Gasol, Zach Randolph, Mike Conley and Tony Allen before they could make a playoff run as a fully healthy unit.

Last year, Randolph was gimpy into the playoffs following a knee injury, and reserve forward Darrell Arthur missed the entire season. The Grizzlies blew Games 1 and 7 on their home floor and bowed out to the Clippers in the first round. The year before, Gay missed the playoffs with a shoulder injury that required surgery. Without him, the Grizzlies upset top-seeded San Antonio in the first round and took Oklahoma City to seven games in the second round.

Prince suggested that the 2011 run has actually helped boost this team’s confidence as they’ve meshed since the trade. They’ve reeled off 26 wins in 37 games and at 55-26, the Grizzlies have won the most games in a season in the franchise’s history.

“If you really look at it, that’s what made them the team they are. They found out they can play without him,” Prince said, referring to Gay’s playoff absence. “They found out that, ‘Hey, we can still compete at a high level because of the toughness, the team, the camaraderie.’

“So when they traded for me, I believe they were down when the trade first happened because they played with Rudy for so long and they were familiar with him. But I think after a few games, they were like, ‘You know what, we had a while where we didn’t play with Rudy and things were working out well for us. This may not be a bad idea; hey, this might work.’ At the end of the day, it’s all about competing and having fun. These guys are really tough-minded guys.

“Hopefully we’ll have a good chance at doing something special.”

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