Marc Gasol hits game-winner to send Grizzlies past Rockets in controversial finish
The Memphis Grizzlies needed a win. They’d lost three of their past four games, they were coming off a dispiriting home defeat to the Utah Jazz and they were dealing with some intra-squad static surrounding a reported practice altercation between guards Tony Allen and Nick Calathes that led to a one-game suspension for “The Grindfather.”
More than that, though, Dave Joerger’s club had also dropped two of its first three games this season against its Wednesday night opponents, the Houston Rockets, and the Grizz certainly didn’t want to cede the head-to-head tiebreaker to James Harden and company, who entered Wednesday’s action sitting just 1 1/2 games behind Memphis for the No. 2 spot in the Western Conference.
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So, yes: This was a big one, and when Memphis has needed big things this season, it has turned most often to the man they call “Big Spain.” And once again, with the game in the balance and the clock winding down, All-Star center Marc Gasol answered the call:
With the game knotted at 100 and 5.4 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Grizzlies forward Jeff Green lofted an inbounds pass to … well, to nowhere in particular, really, but Gasol tracked it down. (“The pass was a little bit terrible,” Grizzlies guard Courtney Lee said later. “He’s an All-Star for a reason.”) Gasol faced up on Rockets forward Terrence Jones — undersized for the matchup at 6-foot-9 and 255 pounds, but quick, active, tough and in the midst of a whale of a game against the Memphis frontline — and made his move.
The 7-foot-1 Spaniard lowered his shoulder, took a couple of hard dribbles to his right, and then elevated along the baseline with an off-balance-but-pure 10-footer that found the bottom of the net, putting Memphis on top with 0.1 seconds left. The Rockets tried a lob to the rim for a tip-in try, but came up empty, sealing a 102-100 win that earned the Grizzlies a split of their season series with Houston and improved their record to 43-17, putting 2 1/2 games of room between them and the Rockets in the standings.
Gasol finished with 21 points on 10-for-14 shooting to go with seven rebounds, six assists and a monster block of Jones in the final minute, carrying Memphis over the finish line after the Grizzlies allowed a 12-point fourth quarter lead to disappear. He capped off the command performance with that for-the-win baseline leaner … which you can certainly argue he didn’t deserve to get the chance to take, given the way the Grizzlies gained possession to set it up.
After a missed Gasol jumper with 30 seconds left, Harden — Houston’s MVP candidate, back from a one-game suspension for kicking LeBron James in the groin during a Sunday win — dribbled the ball into the frontcourt. Having spent much of the game facilitating (13 assists, one off his season-high) while struggling somewhat to find the range on his shot late (1 for 4 in the fourth quarter, 7 for 16 for the game), Harden set about doing what he does best — driving into the lane, inviting contact and looking to finish at the rim.
In this case, two out of three wasn’t good:
Harden broke down Lee, went left off the bounce and drove into the help defense of Randolph, who raked down on the bearded wonder’s hands as he brought the ball up to attempt a shot. There was definitely contact, but no foul was called on the play; in fact, Randolph was credited with a block on the official score sheet — and Z-Bo grabbed the loose ball to call timeout and set Memphis up with possession in the frontcourt with 5.4 ticks left.
Harden, Houston head coach Kevin McHale, the entire Rockets broadcast team and every partisan fan in the Toyota Center were livid at the no-call. As you might expect, the displeasure extended into postgame interviews like Harden’s scrum, as captured by ClutchFans:
On what Harden saw on that possession:
“What I saw, or what I felt? End of the game, everybody’s watching the ball. I drove to the basket and I got grabbed on my arms, and nothing was called.”
On what referee Ken Mauer said to him when they spoke after the play:
“He didn’t say anything.”
Was he surprised that no whistle blew?
“Very surprised. You know, at the end of the game, I think everybody’s watching the ball. Everybody. The entire crowd. Everybody in the gym is watching the ball. So, I mean … [shrugs] … I don’t know what to say. It’s frustrating, man. It’s frustrating when you fight so hard to come back, when you get an opportunity to win the game, you know. It’s frustrating.”
On whether he thinks his penchant for creating contact and drawing foul calls might have worked against him here:
“I’m not worried about any other call. I’m worried about that particular call. That call gives us an opportunity to win a basketball game.”
In this case, though, the NBA’s leader in free-throws made and attempted, second in the league in personal fouls drawn behind only DeMarcus Cousins, didn’t get the benefit of the whistle. For his part, Randolph, who finished with 15 points, eight rebounds, six assists, three steals and a block in 33 minutes in his return from the illness that sidelined him on Tuesday, didn’t seem particularly sympathetic:
Missed call or no — and we’ll eagerly await Thursday’s “last two minutes” report — the Rockets also gave away an early 12-point lead and allowed 25 Memphis points off their 13 turnovers; one single bang-bang play doesn’t necessarily determine the outcome of a game. Except … y’know … when it does. In this case, both of the game’s biggest moments went in the Grizzlies’ favor, and sometimes, with teams this good, that’s all the margin you need.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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