The Grizzlies overcame an 18-point deficit to beat the Los Angeles Clippers in an unusual game, moving to 19-18 and 1.5 games out of final Western Conference playoff seed.
1. The Evacuation: The most notable thing that happened at this Grizzlies game didn’t involve any players or coaches. It was a sudden arena evacuation that happened near the end of the third quarter, at approximately 8:53 p.m., signaled by a written message that appeared on the Jumbotron.
Kevin Cerrito of Memphis Sport magazine took this photo of the message, which I post here with his permission:
Fans and game personnel spread out through various exits and no one seemed to be sure what had triggered the evacuation. At first, Cerrito and I ended up in a parking garage where we could see players from both teams first milling about and then entering separate buses. At the other end of the garage, water was flooding in near the ground. Moving back up to the area just outside the main lobby, I talked to a Grizzlies employee who said he’s heard there was a water system problem and by that point, the same word was beginning to spread among other team officials.