Gametime: Grizzlies vs. Nuggets

Gametime

Rudy Gay led all scorers with 19 points Saturday as the Grizzlies snapped a two-game losing streak with an 81-72 victory over the visiting Denver Nuggets. Gay scored eight points in the final 3:55, when the Grizzlies pulled away from a 68-all tie.

"It was about trying to get some energy. What happened was: I was going to take Marc [Gasol] out and they had a big guy in, so I decided to play big. Then Q [Quincy Pondexter] got hurt and I needed a three. I had just taken Rudy [Gay] out and I didn’t want to put Rudy back in. I just rolled the dice and we were fortunate that they brought a lot to the table. [Marreese] Speights had been very energetic all game long and Darrell [Arthur] had played well. Hamed [Haddadi] went in there and continued that. He set some screens, got rebounds and blocked a shot. We were able to energize the crowd and energize ourselves because we were just playing in mud. I didn’t think we were going to get 70 points. We had 36 [points] at halftime and we just hadn’t shot the ball well, or moved and played well. We were just moping around. That group gave us a lot of energy and the crowd got into it. Down the stretch Zach [Randolph] and Rudy [Gay] carried us. Wayne [Ellington] made a couple of shots and JB [Jerryd Bayless] did a good job of running in the pick and roll and creating stuff for other people. They were able to play us with their big guys. I just thank God that we got the win."

"He was special down the stretch and made some big plays. He and Zach [Randolph] both made big plays. We went inside, Zach finished a couple of times then dropped off to Rudy, Rudy drove and scored. It was a team win. We all contributed tonight. Tony Allen did a good job on [Danilo] Gallinari early. He didn’t let him get off and that was huge. The fact that they played last night took a little of their running steam away from them – which I’m not complaining about at all – I’d like to play everyone after they’ve played the night before. I’m just thankful for the win."

"Well they [Nuggets] started out and they did have both guys, they had [Ty] Lawson and Andre Miller. They were in the game down the stretch, so they had two smalls so we just matched up differently, that’s all. Then they went back with [Andre] Iguodala and they took [Ty] Lawson out of the game and kept Andre Miller in the game, so we had to matchup. I didn’t put JB [Jerryd Bayless] in to play with Mike [Conley], I put him in because we needed a matchup. We were running out of small guys. We had Wayne [Ellington] in the game and Rudy [Gay] at forward. We had JB and we had Mike, Q was in the locker room. It’s just out of necessity. I don’t think about ‘I have to play JB and Mike together.’ You guys can go and see all of that stuff on the stats, combinations and whatnot. If you play both of those guys together, then when do you rest one? There’s a lot of factors. Then you have other people who deserve to play, and are effective so you’re taking away from that. I just played it by ear and it worked tonight."

"It was just important to get a win. I don’t think Denver (specifically) mattered, they just happened to be the opponent. We had lost two-in-a-row and we needed to get back to playing our game. I thought we had two good days of practice and it carried over into tonight. I told the guys, ‘It’s not over, it’s a process.’ We have to keep building and getting better. You can’t take too much stock in the fact that we shot 40 percent. We were shooting under 39 percent for most of the game. Down the stretch we caught fire and started making shots. Hopefully that will carry over as we go on the road. I wasn’t concerned about losing three times to Denver, I was just trying to get a win. We needed a win. We needed a win like a man needs air when he’s underwater."

"I think we carried over from practice yesterday. Our last two practices gave us the energy we needed. The sixth man, the crowd, helped after the dunk that Hamed Haddadi got. It pretty much gave us momentum. It was a great team effort. We needed it more than they did."

"His work was definitely shown today. He carried us down the stretch. He made big boy baskets down the stretch. It was a great team win. Hopefully we can take some of these wins and carry them over."

"We had to just go out there and play hard. That’s what we did. Everyone contributed. Wayne Ellington did a great job. Darrell Arthur did a great job. Marreese Speights obviously had a great night. Everyone just played well and played hard."

You never know. It’s whatever coach decided and he decided he wanted to try it. He threw it out there and it worked. Rudy was great. He went in the game for us and made big shots. That is what Rudy is supposed to do. He is our guy and we have to ride him in as far as he can go."

"We were shocked. Coach did it a couple times in practice. We never knew he would do it in a game. It helped us a lot. He got the crowd into it. So he gave us some momentum. So we went out there and played hard, made buckets, and got stops. The crowd always helps us out. Hamed Haddadi came in big and got that dunk that changed the whole game."