The Grizzlies’ final-month momentum hit a brick wall in the Big Easy last night. The game itself was horrendous, with the Grizzlies stumbling to 75 points on 36% shooting with 21 turnovers. O.J. Mayo, after his explosive fourth quarter the night before, imploded, with 0-7 three-point shooting and six turnovers. Starting backcourt Mike Conley and Tony Allen combined to shoot 2-12. The bigs … well, we’ll get to that in a minute. Only Rudy Gay, who scored 24 points on 9-17 shooting, showed a pulse on the offensive end.
Give the the Hornets a little credit, despite an 18-42 record, the team has played hard and been good defensively all season, and with the return of shooter Eric Gordon from a season-long injury, they now have just enough offense to be competitive. Last night’s win completed a 4-1 homestand for the Hornets, with the only loss by two points to the Lakers. The Grizzlies had been unusually good on the second night of back-to-back sets this season, but last night looked like the classic road back-to-back slog.
Though falling to the Hornets perhaps severely impacts the Grizzlies’ playoff-positioning calculus, watching the standings is overshadowed for the moment by a bigger concern: As the Grizzlies prepare for the post-season over these final six games, there is a queasy uncertainty over the two players most responsible for driving last season’s dramatic run: Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph.
Gasol left last night’s game with what was initially diagnosed as a hyperextended left knee and had an MRI done in New Orleans following the game. The play itself didn’t look that bad despite Gasol’s initial reaction and he was able to stay in the game to hit a free throw and then walk to the locker room without assistance. If this is just a hyperextension, it likely wouldn’t impact Gasol’s availability for the post-season. (Dallas’ Shawn Marion and Boston’s Brandon Bass seem to have suffered hyperextensions this spring without missing games.) But Grizzlies fans have learned from recent injuries to Zach Randolph, Darrell Arthur, and Rudy Gay to withhold judgement on these matters until the outcome is crystal clear. I think Gasol was looking pretty banged up even before this latest mishap. And even if the MRI comes back negative, I would think it might be wise to sit Gasol in this week’s Tuesday-Wednesday back-to-back, at least.