Grizzlies

The second three of the game came from Marc Gasol -- his first of many, Fizdale hopes -- in a play that illustrated what having five three-point shooters on the floor can do for you. The play probably should have ended with a JaMychal Green three, but he elected to pass it up. The only Grizzly in the paint was the small forward, James Ennis, who attracted both Karl-Anthony Towns and Gorgui Dieng, the two Timberwolves bigs, as they sniffed out a turnover. Ennis passed out of the post to Andrew Harrison, who swung it (slowly) to Gasol for the three. Neither of the Grizzlies bigs ever went inside the three-point line. Both were wide open.

Though the pace wasn’t there on Wednesday, the space was -- and you see the effect it can have.

Clutch Conley

I wrote about Mike Conley’s fit in the system Fizdale wants the Grizzlies to employ, and wondered whether it could carry over into the regular season, especially against a Timberwolves team that would want to guard him with an excellent defender in Ricky Rubio. Conley’s 24 points in just over 29 minutes seems to indicate that it certainly has carried over.

Conley hit 6 of 7 shots outside the paint, but just 2 of 7 inside it. As teams have to start respecting the Grizzlies’ outside-shooting bigs, there will be even more space in which Conley can operate. He was played off the ball as much or more than he was on the ball -- and that was by design. Fizdale said, “That’s something I want to do this year. I don’t want to wear Mike out by having him always have to get us organized and get us in our offense and do scoring, because I want him to score more, and I want to open up his game more.”

The beginnings of that plan could be seen, but there’s still a long way to go. Once Chandler Parsons arrives on the scene as another playmaker, Conley’s off-ball ability will be even more valuable. But even with Fizdale trying to emphasize that side of his game, down the stretch, Conley and Marc Gasol slipped right back into their familiar pick-androll routine they’ve used to great effect for years. The result: two key possessions, two key baskets, closed out by Conley’s pull-up jumper to seal the game.

As Gasol told me after the game, “It’s our habit. It’s what the team trusts. It’s the two guys that are going to make the right read, that have been doing it for a