Grizzlies coach David Fizdale wanted to see how his team would respond to adversity on the road in the preseason once it was essentially punched in the mouth.
The blow came early when Memphis fell into a 15-point deficit in the first quarter of Thursday’s game against Oklahoma City. Instead of getting rattled, the Grizzlies showed the resolve this team is developing despite lingering injury absences that continue to sideline two projected starters with less than two weeks remaining before the Oct. 26 opener against Minnesota.
Marc Gasol, Mike Conley and Zach Randolph combined for 52 points and played well into the fourth quarter, but the Grizzlies relied on defense to dig themselves out of that early hole and pull away for a 110-94 victory over the Thunder at the BOK Center.
“Our connection has to be better on the road, and we have to be able to weather the storms by the other team,” Fizdale said entering Thursday’s game. “I’m interested to see how we respond on the road when we get punched, and if we have some grit to us to dig in.”
Those answers came in the second quarter, when the Grizzlies outscored OKC 41-21 to carry a 58-52 lead into the half. More answers came in the third, when the Conley-to-Gasol, pick-and-pop chemistry hit a rhythm that pushed Memphis’ lead to double digits. And by the fourth, the performance was punctuated by a defense that converted 28 OKC turnovers into 37 points.
Memphis has been without starting swingmen Tony Allen (knee) and free-agent pickup Chandler Parsons (knee surgery rehab) throughout the preseason, and there’s no indication when either might be available. What’s known is the start of the season is quickly approaching, regardless.
“For us to come out and play Fizdale’s style and do it with different lineups and guys on the floor - and do it consistently, and not have lulls up and down - that shows a lot,” Conley said after Thursday’s win. “We did a lot of good things defensively as well.”
TURNING POINT
The Grizzlies answered OKC’s 19-7 run to start the game with a 19-7 spurt of their own at the start of the second quarter. The momentum had already shifted into Memphis’ favor when Gasol and Russell Westbrook exchanged heated words and had to be separated by the refs. But that skirmish seemed to fire up the Grizzlies even more as they outscored OKC by 20 in the quarter.
HIGHLIGHT REEL
Gasol impacted every aspect of the game. But the biggest highlight for Big Spain came at the 6:28 mark of the fourth quarter, when he stole the ball on the baseline and passed it the length of the court to James Ennis for a dunk that put Memphis ahead 98-84. The ball never touched the floor as Ennis caught the pass in stride, took two steps and soared toward the rim.
WHO SHINED
“You find ways to know when to shoot it and when not to shoot it,” Gasol has said of adding the three-point shot to his arsenal. “You can’t be just jacking threes. We practice it every day. Hopefully, that’s going to play into the game, and we’ll make a lot of threes.”
UPSIDE/DOWNSIDE
The Grizzlies scored 110 points despite shooting just 39.8 percent from the field. In fact, Memphis shot better from three-point range (43.5 percent) than they did overall for the game. The Grizzlies also benefitted from all the extra possessions that came from forcing 28 turnovers and only committing 11 themselves.
ROTATION DEVELOPMENT
There’s been a different starting lineup in each of the Grizzlies’ four preseason games. This time, Troy Williams and Vince Carter opened at the wing positions alongside Conley, Gasol and JaMychal Green. Williams, an undrafted rookie who led the team in scoring the previous two games, went 1-for-4 from the field and scored six points in 24 minutes. Noticeably absent from Thursday’s rotation was Troy Daniels, who did not play for the first time this preseason.
GAME RECAP
WHAT’S NEXT
Grizzlies at Rockets, 7 p.m. Thursday at Toyota Center (Listen on ESPN 92.9FM)
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