In response to the recent Indianapolis drug arrest, Zach Randolph released the following statement through representatives.

"I am committed to my family, my career, the NBA and the Grizzlies.  Although I had a rough start, I've learned valuable lessons from all of my mistakes and I can assure my family, the Grizzlies and the city of Indianapolis I was not involved in any of the allegations. There were no controlled substances found in my locker.  The reports that have surfaced are inaccurate.

I have been very intentional in distancing myself from anything that would jeopardize my personal and professional relationships.

IMPD made an official statement around 6p Eastern Standard Time this evening stating that I am not a suspect in any current narcotics investigation.

It is so unsettling to work so hard at rebuilding the trust of the Grizzlies organization, my teammates and my family only to have my image tarnished by someone else's questionable behavior.   I would like to thank my family, the Grizzlies, and the city of Memphis for their continued support."

This story has been updated since it's original posting. New information at the bottom.

The other shoe may have dropped on Zach Randolph's tenure in Memphis. The Indianapolis Star reports the Grizzlies' All-Star was implicated in an Indiana drug arrest yesterday, after a man arrested "on suspicion of dealing marijuana" was stopped in a Cadillac Escalade registered to Randolph.

"A police detective described Randolph as a financier for known drug dealers in Indianapolis, according to court documents obtained by The Indianapolis Star."

It is important to note that Randolph has not been charged or arrested in the case.

Memphis Sport interviewed Randolph at the end of the regular season, and found him hesitant to talk about any personal issues, particularly those tied to his troubled past.

An unedited section of the interview is below.

What changed for you this year, from a personal perspective?
Not nothing. Really not nothing. People just go off what they hear from three of four years ago but they really don't know a person. What happened was so long ago so, not nothing. Just being in a great situation. Memphis is a great city and this is a great organization. I'm just surrounding myself with the organization and the team.

Is the Hoop Family here?
Naw (laughs) I got nothing to do with any of that.
Note: The "hoop family" refers to a group of individuals implicated in criminal and civil cases connected to Randolph while he was in Portland.

What would be one thing you could pick as a reason for your having such a successful season?
Just my conditioning. Putting time in, working out, shooting jump shots, running, treadmills, all that stuff. I love the game. So I'm like this 82 in and out, even before I came to Memphis. If you can't get inspired by the job you do, you shouldn't be doing it. I work hard and I love to play.

Then what do you say to those people who say you were a problem?
99 percent of the people don't know me. I work hard.

It would be wrong to start casting stones this early in the game, but the situation is very troubling, especially given Randolph's problematic past.

A longer, edited version of this interview is on stands now in the latest issue of Memphis Sport Magazine. It is available at select locations in the Memphis area including Kroger, Huey's and the Flying Saucer.

We will update here as the situation progresses.

Update 1:

Grizzlies General Manager Chris Wallace has released the following statement concerning the situation:

“Since Zach Randolph joined this organization, he has been an active member of the Memphis community and embraced our core values of hard work and leadership. These qualities helped him develop into an NBA All-Star this season and guided one of the NBA’s youngest teams to a 16-game improvement.

“Zach’s continued commitment to the team has been evident the last couple of weeks as he’s been working out with members of our staff on the West Coast.

“Due to the ongoing police investigation, we do not feel it would be appropriate to comment further. Unless some other information surfaces, Zach remains a valued member of the Grizzlies family and Memphis community.”

Update 2:

Things don't seem to be getting any easier for Z-Bo. TMZ.com reports Randolph was involved in an altercation at a Los Angeles strip club. Like the Indy case, no charges have been filed.

Playoffs are out. Fifty wins has been a no-go for some time. The Grizzlies’ Cinderella season has to look for a consolation happy ending in the final week, an ending that will attach something tangible to the much improved season.

Forty wins would be a good start. At 39-38 following last night’s loss to Houston, that’s an attainable goal. It could even happen tonight at Dallas.

But the real goal is a better than .500 season. It will not be easy. The Grizzlies have lost five of their last six games, and only have one home game remaining in their final five contests. Also all the final away games are against playoff teams: Dallas, Denver, San Antonio and Oklahoma City.

To finish the season at .500 the Grizzlies would need to win two of those final five games. They will need three to finish above .500, and they’ll have to do it without Marc Gasol or Ronnie Brewer. The final games of pride continue tonight after a week mostly filled with disappointments that put the playoffs permanently out of reach.

Wednesday, March 31: Grizzlies fall to Dallas in OT
We already covered this briefly, but I wanted to throw in a mention about my father, who attended his first Grizzlies game this season.

My dad is a self-professed basketball fan but not an NBA fan. He instantly took issue with Dallas point guard Jason Kidd, who appeared to get away with a travel on the opening possession. Dad did not let up on Kidd for the rest of the game, and relished in the schooling Mike Conley put on Kidd for the entire game.

The Grizzlies loss was tough to handle for anyone, but my Dad, who attends about 1-2 Grizzlies games per year, walked out of the arena finally accepting the attitude most Memphians are showing lately.

“Man they struggle to finish, but, wow, they’re a LOT better!”

Thursday, April 1: Hamed Haddadi is the only Grizzly with a sense of humor

Pictured: Comedy
Photo by Chase Gustafson

The day was relatively uneventful, except for Hamed Haddadi’s facebook page, which featured a curious post about his girlfriend’s fertility. Most people think this was an April Fool’s joke. I’m more concerned with Haddadi’s use of language, saying that he will become “father Haddadi” after having a child.

“Father Haddadi?” Does he even listen to fans? He’s known as “Who’s your Haddadi!” Keep it simple Hamed. No “father Haddadi.” Just "Hamed is a HadDADi."

Friday, April 2: Grizzlies Buzz by Hornets 107 – 96

Sam Young all in your FACE!
Photo by Chase Gustafson

The Grizzlies picked up a solid win, dominating the overmatched and uninspired Hornets in front of a relatively full house at FedExForum. The previous home matchup against New Orleans extended into overtime and snapped the Grizzlies’ franchise record home winning streak. Would the Grizzlies get revenge? Absolutely.

O.J. Mayo and Rudy Gay dominated, and Sam Young added 19 points off the bench as the Grizzlies cruised to a big win without Marc Gasol. The win technically kept the Grizzlies’ playoff hopes alive at the time, but by then the focus had already shifted to finishing the season above .500.

"I think it would be huge because 'Bad News Bears' is all I've heard for the last three years along with bad ownership, management and decisions," Lionel Hollins said after the game. "To get to .500 would really set the stage for next year because I've always said that if we went from a downtrodden team to having a winning record, it is better than having a better season and still a losing record."

The win was one step toward that goal, but it came against a weak opponent. New Orleans star Chris Paul was obviously still hobbled by his recent knee surgery, and even though he was able to spend some quality time with Rudy Gay after the game, he and the Hornets continued to struggle the following night, getting blown out by the NBA-worst New Jersey Nets.

On the plus side however, the night was full of highlight reel moves from Sam Young, Rudy Gay, Darrell Arthur, Hasheem Thabeet (I know!) Mike Conley and of course O.J. Mayo – so much that it brings about the return of…

Dunk of the Game
Rudy Gay treated everyone to a very fancy 360 off a fast break (see top photo), and Darrell Arthur took home an alley oop from Rudy Gay that was equally impressive, but the award must go to Sam Young, who flew at the basket with ninja timing to slam home a missed DeMarre Carroll jumper. Young caught the ball off the rim with one hand, midair, and just sent it home. The play was number 5 on Sports Center's Top 10.

Saturday, April 3: Sam Young likes Johnny Rockets; not a big fan of political correctness.
Perhaps feeling good from his 19 point performance the previous night, Sam got very open the following day. This is from his Twitter account after the Grizzlies’ landed in Orlando on Saturday.

5:23 PM – I feel you lele that what some bullshit…

5:26 PM – At Johnny rockets… About to get real greedy

5:39 PM – I just had to drive 30 miles to get a big slice of this "[slur deleted] pie"... LoL http://twitpic.com/1d0dy0

5:52 PM – No homo…

5:59 PM – Y’all need to get that I- Pad

iPad talk was heavy on Grizz twitter that day, with Mike Conley, Rudy Gay and Marcus Williams all mentioning the release, although no one seemed to have bought one (like most of the country). Slurs concerning race and sexual orientation though, that was just Sam.

Sunday, April 4: Grizz scuffle, fall to Magic 107 – 92
Through two and half quarters the Grizzlies were turning in a dismal road performance on Easter Sunday. The Grizz trailed by as much as 14 and let Vince Carter run rampant. A blowout was coming, until Hasheem Thabeet decided not to take any of Nick Barnes’ crap.

After being called for an offensive foul in the third quarter, Barnes pushed Thabeet in the back while trying to move toward the referee to protest the call. Thabeet took offense and shoved back, big time. The benches cleared as O.J. Mayo and Vince Carter jumped in. Zach Randolph worked to hold Barnes back and even Lionel Hollins made an appearance before the whole scenario settled down.

Barnes was assessed two technical fouls and ejected. Thabeet, Mayo and Carter all received on technical foul.

The scuffle lit a fire under the Grizzlies, who came roaring back for the next 10 minutes of play, but it wasn’t enough in the end. As they have so many times this year, the Grizzlies faded late in the fourth quarter and went home still needing three wins to secure a better than .500 season.

Thabeet apologized to fans via twitter after the game, writing:

“Rough game 2day - had a bit of a scuffle & want to apologize to the fans! I'm better than that! Thanks 4 ur support. Goodnight Ya'll”

Monday, April 5: Mike Conley gets an iPad. Sam Young decides to wait for 3G version.
Conley described his iPad as “crazy.” Also most of the Grizzlies (like most of the country) appeared to be pulling for Butler in the NCAA championship.

Tuesday, April 6: Grizzlies still can’t keep up with Rockets, fall 113 – 103

It has become rare to see this kind of play from Mike Conley, but Houston put it front and center.
Photo by JD Meredith

In China, Bear Claw is one of the most prestigious and expensive items that can be ordered. An American equivalent to the delicacy would be a golden Godiva chocolate lobster steak marinated in diamonds.

Yao Ming was not with the Rockets last night, or for any of the contests between the teams this year, but he must have shown his teammates how to appreciate a fine meal of bear, because the Rockets continued their Grizzly feast in this one.

Shane Batier and Marc Gasol were both out; meaning the likelihood of a repeat of the worst sports front page of all time was slim.

Seriously CA? How did you run this?

A lack of a disturbing cover was the only thing that changed though, as the Rockets won the same way they did the last time they came to FedExForum, with scrappy defense under the post, pinpoint perimeter shooting and a momentum changing dunk from Chase Budinger late in the second quarter.

Really. Right down to the dunk. After the last home loss to Houston, I wrote this under “Dunk of the Game”

The real dunk of the game was Houston’s Chase Budinger, whose reverse slam with 3:34 left in the second quarter marked the beginning of the end for the Grizzlies. In fact Budinger’s jam was so intense that the crowd actually had a reaction.

Yeah. It happened again in this one. Everything was the same except the exact time on the clock. This time the dunk came with 3:27 left in the second quarter, a full seven second difference. Budinger’s slam put the Rockets up 52 – 49 and erased the biggest Grizzly lead of the night, 49 – 45 just minutes earlier.

The Grizzlies did make a run in the fourth quarter, highlighted by DeMarre Carroll going coast to coast and slamming home a runner-up dunk of the game. The score put the Grizzlies down just two, 90-88, with 8:02 left.

Aaron Brooks helped Houston clamp down on the run however, blowing by Mike Conley for back to back layups in the final two minutes to seal the win for the Rockets.

Twitter Watch
Hasheem Thabeet (before the game)

RT @AkbarTM183 TALKIN TO MUM ON THE PHONE IS THE BEST THING ALIVE>>> LUV YOU MOM..

Final Shots
As mentioned above (several times) the Grizzlies are still 3 wins away from sealing a winning season. They have five games remaining. Local radio show host Chris Vernon extensively berated Conley for not being able to keep up with Aaron Brooks at the close of the Houston game. The Grizzlies will host a watch party for the game tonight at Buffalo Wild Wings on Highland.

Last night’s loss was a microcosm of the season. The Grizzlies, for 45 minutes of a 48 minute game, kept up with one of the best teams in the NBA. Good enough to be competitive, but not good enough to climb the ranks just yet.

For the 16^th time this year, the Grizzlies let a double digit lead evaporate as they fell to the Mavericks in overtime. Staples of the team’s season-long weaknesses, fatigue, lack of a proven crunch-time leader, inexperience, and a weak bench, were all on display in the final minutes of regulation and overtime.

Brilliant play from Mike Conley and O.J. Mayo fizzled in the fourth quarter. A typically dominant game from Zach Randolph wasn’t enough to stave off Dallas with Marc Gasol’s neck injury causing him to leave the game in the second quarter. Hasheem Thabeet played very well defensively, but added only 2 points. The rest of the bench was mostly useless.

Barring some miracle, the Grizzlies really are out of the playoffs at this point. Three straight losses over the past week have made that a pipe dream for this season. You could see the pain in coach Lionel Hollins’ and in the players after the game.

Despite Hollins comments two weeks ago that jumping into a playoff spot would have been a long shot, his pained expression during the press conference showed a man frustrated by the idea that postseason dreams were now truly dead. The locker room was no different.

Marc Gasol declined to speak to reporters. The usual playful banter and singing heard after a game was gone. Listening to the players chat amongst themselves the topic was still focused on one thing – basketball. You would hear numbers (time left on the clock, shot percentages) descriptions (the one fade, backboard bounce) and names (Dirk, Kidd). They lost the game, and probably the playoffs, but they weren’t about to stop competing. They knew they could beat that team, and they believe they will be a better team tomorrow than they were today.

Something happened in December, something that seemed like this year would be different for the Grizzlies, maybe the best year ever. Franchise record winning streaks at home and on the road coupled with a superstar that makes some Grizzlies fans forget Marc Gasol even has a brother. It’s a much better product at FedExForum this season, one that can hold on closely with the top teams in the league, just not one that can hold them off just yet.

Final Shots
Zach Randolph is the only Grizzly with his alma mater still represented in the NCAA tournament. Randolph gave the only smile seen from the Grizzlies post-game when asked about the Spartans, saying he was “really happy” about their run. FSN sideline reporter Rob Fischer wore an all-black zebra striped smoking jacket that looked like a bad April Fool’s joke. Mike Conley owned Jason Kidd.

With March Madness in full swing, we of course had to take a look at our Grizzlies and their interests in the spring tournaments. While it would make sense for the madness to infect the locker room with a lot of joking around, this season doesn't feature much, as the loudest representatives of their school, Rudy Gay and Marcus Williams, have little to brag about, O.J. Mayo seems to consider NCAA a four-letter word at this point, and DaMarre Carroll had nothing to say to Darrell Arthur after the Kansas loss (with good reason, Mizzou lost the next day).

Currently only Zach Randolph's Spartans and Mike Conley's Buckeyes are left alive. If both teams win Friday, they will face each other in the Elite 8 round. We'll be sure to ask them about it if that happens, but I can save you some time by predicting their four part answers.

1) My school will probably win if they play well.
2) I said a little something to (player who went to opposing school) but nothing much.
3) It's fun but doesn't take away from our focus.
4) San Dimas High School football rules.

The Grizzlies play tonight at 9:30 at Golden State. You can follow this reporter on twitter @douggillon for insight during the game.

Slightly better than .500, but a lot better than last season. That’s been your Grizzlies this year, and that’s how things went last week: 3-2.

The Bizzaro run of home losses and road wins is over, and although math still says the Grizzlies CAN make the playoffs, conventional wisdom, and coach Lionel Hollins, points to the Grizzlies just coming up short (because what does math know anyway?).

Saturday, March 13: Nuggets 125, Grizzlies 108
Just like in their previous game against the Knicks, the Grizzlies laid a big fat egg in the fourth quarter of this one. Unlike that game, the egg resulted in Memphis blowing a 12 point halftime lead to lose by 17.

J.R. Smith lead the Denver charge in a fourth quarter which saw the Nuggets outscore the Grizzlies 40-23. Smith was 11-16 from the field including 7-10 from three-point range and finished with 30 points.

Worst thing about this game? Chris Anderson. The excessively tattooed (and for this game mustachioed) Denver center is usually more famous for his obnoxious hair rather than his play, but he and Nuggets starting center Nene beat the Grizzlies at their own game, dominating the pain inside.

That’s not a typo. In addition to the embarrassing dunks and open lanes created and taken advantage of by the Denver big men, Chris Andersen came down butt first on Marc Gasol’s neck while grabbing a rebound in the third quarter. Gasol finished the game but hasn’t played since, subjecting Grizzlies fans to a string of starts from Hasheem Thabeet. More on Thabeet later.

Tuesday, March 16: Grizzlies beat some guys wearing Bulls jerseys, 104-97

O.J. Mayo scores on some guys the Bulls picked up at the park on Tillman before the game.
Chicago was missing four players for the game.
Photo by Chase Gustafson

For the Grizzlies, there wasn’t a better time for Hasheem Thabeet’s first start than against a Bulls team missing four key players. Derrick Rose, Luol Deng and Joakim Noah all missed the game with injuries and Kirk Hinrich was still serving his league suspension for attending the University of Kansas ^{[citation needed]}.

While the Grizzlies were without Gasol, guard Ronnie Brewer returned to the lineup. Brewer had not played since injuring his hamstring in his first game with the Grizzlies after being traded from the Utah Jazz.

The Grizzlies fourth quarter woes continued in this one, as they were outscored 30-19 in the final period after leading by as much as 25 in the third. The trend wasn’t lost on the team.

“We build a good lead then seem to get lackadaisical sometimes,” guard Mike Conley said after the game. “It’s definitely something we have to improve on.”

Conley himself played well, scoring 19 and racking up 10 assists. Despite an off night against the Nuggets (only 6 points) Conley’s numbers have been up significantly in March.

Oh and Thabeet? He was pretty respectable in his first NBA start, matching his career highs in points and rebounds with 10 and 9 respectively. Coach Lionel Hollins praised the oft-maligned lottery pick after the game, but recognized that Thabeet still has a long way to go, particularly on offense where he still shies away from baskets.

“He’s different in that regard,” Hollins said. “When I see a deuce I’m going for it.”

Another highlight from this game was the improved demeanor of Hollins in his post game press conference. See the colorful quote above? That was just the start. When asked about his rationale for using a unique fourth quarter lineup which featured both Marcus Williams and Mike Conley, Hollins replied with a thoughtful answer concerning the advantages of having two ball handlers on the court in full court press situation.

Compare that to previous blowups about Mike Conely, describing the concurrent home losing and road winning streaks as “We’re playing better on the road than we are at home,” and the last answer to a matchup question, “Because I wanted to,” and blowups at people other than this reporter (after the first Houston game at home and the second Laker game), and there’s a BIG improvement.

Wednesday, March 17: Grizzlies fall to Rockets 107-94
Hard evidence that the Bizarro run has ended. The Grizzlies could not keep up with their nemesis, the Houston Rockets, dropping their third matchup against the team this season.

It had all the elements to predict a Grizzlies loss. Second night of a back-to-back, on the road against a team the Grizzlies just haven’t been able to figure out. During the Bizzaro run, this inexplicably would have resulted in a win. Not so in Houston.

Even a 30 point night from Zach Randolph wasn’t enough for the Grizzlies, partially because Aaron Brooks pulled a J.R. Smith (see above) and was perfect from long range - en route to a 31 point night.

Thabeet contributed again, with 8 points and 10 rebounds, but the rest of the team had an off night. O.J. Mayo only finished with 4 points on 1-6 shooting from the floor.

The Rockets win moved them past the Grizzlies into the ninth spot in the west, but while Houston is adept at beating Memphis, they aren’t so lucky with other teams. The Grizzlies would regain the ninth spot after two more games.

Saturday, March 20: Grizzlies overpower the Warriors 123 – 107

Randolph probably could have taken on Golden State by himself.
Photo by JD Meredith

The night after dropping 147 points to the Mavericks in regulation, the Warriors continued serving as a doormat to the Grizzlies, who outplayed Golden State in the very style the Warriors are used to running.

Darrell Arthur had his best game of the season despite his alma matter, the Kansas Jayhawks, losing to ninth seeded Northern Iowa in the NCAA tournament just moments before tipoff.

“I was sad,” Arthur said of the loss, “but I couldn’t let it affect me. Just had to stay focused.”

Arthur finished the game with a season high 16 points and 13 rebounds.

Zach Randolph finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds, nothing new to one of the NBA’s most consistent 20-10 players this season, but the night was special as it put Randolph just seven rebounds shy of the Grizzlies single season franchise record.

Lionel Hollins continued his improvement in dealing with the press, even staying polite to a group of student reporters who attended the press conference as part of the Don Poier annual journalism scholarship.

Hollins had already described how he felt about any playoff talk surrounding his team (“What playoff talk?”) when one of the students asked him the same question.

“You weren’t listening,” Hollins said. The room paused, waiting for a signature Hollins moment that talk radio hosts would repeat for weeks. But that was the old Lionel. The new Lionel is different. “That’s ok, you were writing," Hollins continued. "I’ll cut you a break because you were writing.”

Hollins proceeded to repeat the answer. It wasn’t word for word, but the meaning was the same – probably not going to happen, but it’s still been a good season for the team.

Yes. For the team and for Coach Hollins, who needs a new award created to be given to him at the end of the season - “Most Improved in Dealing with the Media.”

Monday, March 22: Grizzlies blow past Kings 102 – 85
Randolph broke the rebounding mark, and the Grizzlies showed a rare second half surge as they soundly beat the Kings last night in Sacramento. O.J. Mayo caught fire in the second half after shooting dismally for the first two quarters, scoring 10 points in less than 2 minutes and putting the Grizzlies ahead for good.

The Kings were without former University of Memphis star and rookie of the year favorite Tyreke Evans, who missed the game with an injury worthy of the NHL (mild concussion, bruised jaw, lacerated gums and chipped tooth).

Hasheem Thabeet and Mike Conley both reached double digits scoring in this one, notching 10 and 12 points respectively.

Final Shots
The Grizzlies are currently in the ninth spot in the Western Conference, four games behind Portland and five games behind San Antonio and Oklahoma City, who are tied for seventh. Of those teams, only Oklahoma City has shown signs of weakness down the stretch, as they have lost their last two games.

Memphis plays next tomorrow, March 24 at Golden State followed by a matinee road game at Milwaukee on March 28. The Grizzlies will not return to FedExForum until after the conclusion of the NCAA Women’s tournament. The next home game is March 31 against Dallas.

You can follow @douggillon on twitter for live updates and insight during the games.

It looked like a done deal at the end of the third quarter, but man did the Knicks make it interesting. The Grizzlies survived a 39 point fourth quarter from the Knicks last night and held on to win their third in a row, 119-112.

Just like their previous game in Boston, the Grizzlies jumped out to an early lead and held it for most of the game. They were up eight after the first, up 13 at half time, and led by as much as 29 in the third quarter. Then things started to break down.

The Grizz built the lead off dominant rebounding, smart shots and very tough defense. Going into half time the Knicks were shooting 36% from the floor, and the Grizzlies held a 15-2 fastbreak advantage. The Knicks just couldn’t do anything.

“Unbelievable defense in the first half. Unbelievable defense in the second half,” Lionel Hollins said after the game. “One was positive one was negative.”

The second half defensive breakdown resulted in the most second half points (70) scored by a Grizzlies’ opponent in FedExForum this season, and the most points given up by the Grizzlies in the fourth quarter (39).

But it was the big nights from Randolph (24), Mayo (22) Gay (20) and Mike Conley (18) that had the Grizz up big by the time the run started.

The Grizz did not finish as strongly as they did in Boston, but they started strong enough to hang on for the win.

The Grizzlies Sold Sam Young Jerseys Last night
Well, I would think so anyway. We definitely saw a guy with a custom Sam Young Jersey just after Young had scored 9 of his eventual 13 points. Young was everywhere during the first half, including one possession in which Young made a layup and drew a foul, missed his free throw, got the rebound off the free throw, passed the ball off, got the ball back on the wing, then charged at the basket for a dunk… which he missed. Oh well, nobody’s perfect.

Young, Marcus Williams and DaMarre Carroll were again productive off the bench, with the group scoring 23 points, grabbing 13 boards and adding 6 assists. Hasheem Thabeet played two minutes – finished with a block and a lot of zeroes.

Dunk of the Game
I’m going with Sam Young, who got another chance to jam the ball home in the second and didn’t miss this time. Honorable mention goes to Mike Conley, who didn’t dunk, but dished out two of his six assists on two of the Grizzlies’ four dunks of the night.

Dunk Count: 4; Young -1 Gasol – 1, Mayo -1, Gay -1,

You Had to Be There
A Grizzlies possession in the second quarter featured four consecutive offensive rebounds, three straight inside shots and no calls, until a foul was finally called after Marc Gasol was manhandled under the bucket. Despite the Grizz lead sitting at 23, the small crowd (announced at just over 12K) gave the team a standing ovation just before Gasol sank two free throws. Even in the blowout the fans were loving it.

Twitter Watch
Nothing after the game. Seriously. Nothing. Unless you follow Marcus Williams. His tweets are protected so you’ll have to get them for yourself.

Final Shots
Grizzlies PA announcer Rick Trotter was not with the team, and will miss the rest of the season for personal reasons. The Commercial Appeal reported that it is not a health issue. The Grizzlies radio pre-game and halftime host, Ken Kincaid, ran the PA last night and will continue to do so for the rest of the season. Rick Trotter had sung the National Anthem at the last Grizzlies’ home win against the Nets, now his last of the season. A five-year-old patient at St. Jude sang yesterday’s national anthem. Former Ole Miss and Saints star Deuce McAllister was in the house to shoot the “celebrity prize cannon.” Grizzlies’ MC Ashley referred to Mike Conley as “Sean Conley,” Conley responded by scoring 18. David Lee threw an inbounds pass directly at Lionel Hollins, causing the coach to nearly get run over by, again, Mike Conley, who was diving for the errant throw. Grizzlies have won eight of their last 10 games against eastern conference teams. The losses both came at home during the Grizz home losing streak of February.

The Grizzlies next game is tonight against Denver. Nuggets coach George Karl will not be with the team. Karl is battling throat cancer.

Follow Doug Gillon (that's me!) on twitter during the games for updates and insight.

Teflon Don said it. In both performances of his M.E.M.P.H.I.S Grizzlies song last night, the lyric “We can’t miss! We on fire!” came out. And he was right.

The Grizzlies shot 55 percent from the floor in an impressive beat down of the Boston Celtics in Boston. The win extends the Grizzlies franchise record road winning streak to seven games and has Memphis fans starting to whisper the p word again.

Dominant from the Start
The Grizzlies came out firing on all cylinders, leading by 16 after the first quarter, 22 at the half, 19 after the third quarter and winning by a 20 point margin. The margin matches Boston’s worse loss of the season and is the first Memphis win against Boston since 2006.

Don’t think the Grizzlies sluggish third quarter woes are entirely gone though. The Grizzlies were outscored in that quarter 30-27, but were so dominant throughout the rest of the game that it was a non-issue.

Rudy Gay led the team in scoring with 28 points, with O.J. Mayo adding 17. Next in line was, surprisingly, backup point guard Marcus Williams with 16, and Zach Randolph with 13.

Other bench players followed Williams’ lead, as Sam Young added 10 points and Hasheem Thabeet finished with 7.

Thabeet was playing in his first game since being recalled from the d-league Dakota Wizards, and as Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley promised the Commercial Appeal earlier this week, he logged more than 25 minutes. Thabeet was only in the d-league for about a week, but he seems to have learned something. His final line (the 7 points mentioned above plus 6 boards and a block) was one of the best of the season and a huge improvement from his usual performances.

Bizzaro?
So despite the home losing streak being over, the Grizzlies are still acting somewhat like the Bizzaro team that’s impossible to predict, although some of these things are turning into trends.

The road streak continues – that’s one Bizzaro Grizz point still in effect, but again with a few more it will become expected.

Again the backups played well and this is the second game in a row with solid production from the bench. If this continues up until Ronnie Brewer returns, I’ll take it out of the Bizarro category, but for now it’s still an anomaly.

A big test comes over the next seven days. The Grizzlies have back-to-back games at home, followed by a home-road back-to-back in the middle of the week. The Grizzlies swept their only other home back-to-back in January, and have not lost on the second night of a back-to-back since February 6.

If the Grizzlies win at least 2 out of the three home games AND continue their road streak against Houston, we’ll have to dump this Bizzaro talk for a while and just say they’re playing very well again. But will it be good enough for…

Playoffs?
There are 17 games left in the season, and the Grizzlies are currently 3.5 games behind Portland for the eighth and final spot. Portland is currently on pace to win 47 games. In order for the Grizzlies to beat that record and win 48, they will have to go 14-3 over the final stretch. It’s a tall order considering the Grizzlies have two games each against division leaders Dallas and Denver, two games against a Houston team that has pounded the Grizzlies in each of the previous meetings, and road games against Orlando and San Antonio. The Grizzlies aren’t out yet, but they’re hanging on by a thread.

Big Love from the Hometown
Last night’s Memphis Sport watch party featured a full house of Grizzlies fans at the Poplar Lounge – with cheers and free stuff to go around. Fans won MS O.J. Mayo t-shirts, Grizzlies flags and hats, some of Jack Eaton’s books and even some premium tickets to Saturday’s game against Denver.

Everyone also enjoyed free Red Bull from the Red Bull girls, and two performances by Teflon Don. Also a HUGE Grizzlies win.

The Grizzlies are now 1-0 with a +20 point differential when Memphis Sport throws a party to watch the game.

The Grizzlies next game is against the Knicks Friday night at 7 p.m. CST at FedExForum. You can follow @douggillon on Twitter for live updates and insight during games.

Party with Memphis Sport, the Grizzlies, and Teflon Don as we watch the Grizzlies try to extend their franchise record road winning streak against the Boston Celtics. Tweet up, shout out, chow down and cheer for the blue suede bears.

Here's some of what we've got in store:

Enjoy $2 domestics until the end of the game.

See the live performance of "M.E.M.P.H.I.S. Grizzlies" by Memphis' own Teflon Don.

Hang out with MSL hosts Kevin Cerrito (@cerrito) Andy Skrzat (@andyskrzat) and The Moc (@chrabe) plus Memphis Sport writers Doug Gillon (@douggillon) and Brandon Harris (@bharris901) .

Come early, the first 10 fans get a Memphis Sport prize pack.

Register to win sweet prizes including game tickets.

Trivia hosted by Kevin Cerrito starts during the 8 o'clock hour.

Party starts at 6:00 PM, game time is 6:30 PM. No Cover. Must be 21. No corkage fee.

RSVP on Facebook right here.

The When and Where:

Date:	Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Time:	6:00pm - 10:00pm
Location:	The Poplar Lounge (under new ownership)
Street:	2586 Poplar Ave
City/Town:	Memphis, TN

So is the Bizzaro run over? Maybe. At least the agonizing home defeats are. Last night the Grizzlies used solid production from their bench and the terrible play of the New Jersey Nets to end an eight game losing streak at home and finally hear Rick Trotter yell “Grizzlies Win!” as the confetti fell for at FedExForum for the first time since Feb. 1.

It wasn’t exactly pretty…
The Grizzlies third quarter woes continued in this one, as they were outscored 26 to 14 there. Despite the miserable quarter, the Grizzlies never trailed after the first, as they had built a 20 point lead in the second quarter, and went into the half up 16. The closest the Nets got was two points.

Coach Hollins said after the game that the lackadaisical play in the third quarter was perhaps his team not realizing how important it was for them to snap their losing streak at home, but was happy with the win.

No Z-Bo, no problem?
Well not exactly. While the Grizzlies rebounding numbers were still ok (52 compared to 45 from the Nets), Grizzlies big men Marc Gasol and Hamed Haddadi were stretched defensively, picking up fouls more quickly than usual without Randolph to help on the defensive end. Gasol and Haddadi both finished with 5 fouls.

The team did not discuss Randolph’s absence before the game, staying focused on playing with who they had. Hollins said the real detriment to having Randolph out was missing “that dominant post player who always draws a double-team,” but added that they were still able to win because of the bench players stepping up.

Big Night for the Bench
When asked about how Randolph’s absence affected their game, center Marc Gasol looked irritated.

“We’ve got a lot of good guys here,” he said. “We’ve got enough good guys that we should be able to win without him for a few games.”

At least last night he was right. Sam Young continued his solid production with 10 points, Marcus Wliams had 8, Hamed Haddadi added 3 points and 2 rebounds, and Darrell Arthur had 7 points and 3 rebounds in his first start of the season. The bench star of the night however, was DaMarre Carroll, who finished with a season high 10 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals.

Benefiting from a small New Jersey lineup that allowed Hollins to play him at power forward rather than small forward, Carroll got most of his points the same way he did in college, from offensive rebounds and putbacks, but he even added a jump shot for the first time in a while. Carroll clocked 24 minutes and almost hit his first NBA double-double.

Carroll had not been playing much in February or March, and saw Randolph’s absence as an opportunity.

“I’ve just been sitting at the end of the bench, patiently waiting, lifting weights and coming in at night to get in extra shots, and tonight I just tried to come out and stay true to myself,” Carroll said.

But Carroll also said that Lionel Hollins gets on him more than any other rookie, which is odd considering Carroll wasn’t demoted to the d-league.

You had to be there
The crowd was tiny - announced at over 10,000 but appeared to be about half that in reality. First signs of life from the crowd came when Tiger favorite Chris Douglas-Roberts checked in. The crowd responded with a big applause even before Grizzlies announcer Rick Trotter said his name.

Really he should just add the Chris to make a complete circle.
Photo by Chase Gustafson

Although small, the crowd was excited the entire game, cheering loudly during the first half, booing even louder during the third quarter, and enjoying the win at the end. They even paid enough attention to boo a botched game of Grizzlies Tic-Tac-Toe during a timeout in the second.

Dunk of the Game
There were a bunch in this one, especially in the first half. Rudy Gay, Marc Gasol and O.J. Mayo kept in simple with their dunks, preferring to just get the ball in the basket, rather than show off (which is probably good when you’re on an eight game losing streak). His dunks still looked good, but we’ll have to give this one to DaMarre Carroll, who found a wide open back door late in the fourth and pounded home a two handed jam to put the Grizzlies one point shy of 100 and essentially put the game out of reach for the Nets.
Dunk Count: 5, Carroll - 1 Gay – 1, Gasol -2, Mayo -1,

Twitter Watch
Hasheem Thabeet
GoodMornin Wonderful World!!!!! I’m Back.. Ya’ll Have a nice and Blessed Day!!!

Rudy Gay
No disrespect to Hurt Locker! But Avatar was the greatest of all time! (Kanye shrug) lol

Grizz
Well it’s the end of my b day weekend, thx to all my furry homies for coming out and hangin with me. Best b day game yet!!

Final Shots
Hasheem Thabeet was back in Memphis after being recalled from the D-League (See tweet above). He sported a new, shorter haircut and sat the bench. New Jersey guards Courtney Lee and Devin Harris lit up the Grizzlies for a combined 58 points. Games are much more comfortable without Ronald McDonald ruining Black History Month. The Grizz should keep honoring players through March without the clown just to make up for February.

The Grizzlies next game is on the road at Boston Tomorrow at 6:30 pm. You can follow @douggillon and @cerrito for tweets during the games, or come watch the game with the entire Memphis Sport crew and rapper Teflon Don tomorrow night at the Poplar Lounge.