Making points
Gay, teammates have something to prove, take it out on Knicks
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Rudy Gay took flight and it wasn’t to deliver a tomahawk dunk during his finest moment.
The Grizzlies’ versatile forward caught everyone in Fedexforum by surprise when he elevated and blocked New York Knicks center Tyson Chandler’s dunk attempt late in the third quarter. O.J. Mayo picked up the def lection as the action shifted toward Memphis’ end of the court.
The Grizzlies swung the ball around until it reached Gay, who calmly buried a 3pointer that extended their lead to 24 points.
Gay just stood there, frozen in his shooting motion.
It was about the only time any Griz player stood still Thursday night as they ended a three -game losing streak with a 94-83 victory before 15,324 and a national television audience watching on TNT.
The final score was in no way an indication of the Grizzlies’ dominance. They matched their largest lead of 25 points with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter. Led by season-high point totals from Gay (26) and Mayo (18), the Griz (4-6) pummeled the Knicks (6-5) with their defensive intensity.
“People don’t think we hear what people are talking about,” Gay said, referring to the recent criticism he’s received along with the team for a slow start to the season. “Whether we like it or not, we know we have to respond.”
Gay, who made 11 of 16 shots and scored all of his points through three quarters, then jokingly said: “Take that .”
Griz coach Lionel Hollins lauded Gay for leading a Grizzlies effort that seemed infectious to his teammates.
“I just told Rudy Gay ‘That was the best I’ve seen you play overall,’ ” Hollins said. “Forget making shots. … The shots notwithstanding, it was his defense, his rebounding and his passing. He was just doing everything you could ask him to do, especially from someone with that kind of versatile talent .”
The Knicks only scored more than 19 points in one quarter — the fourth. That’s because the Griz were active and aggressive with hardly any lulls.
Tony Allen picked up five of the Grizzlies’ nine steals. Mayo grabbed eight rebounds and Marreese Speights collected nine to help out center Marc Gasol, who had 12 boards.
Memphis built its 49-38 halftime lead by deflecting a lot of New York passes and earning transition baskets. The Griz continued that prowess with a 16-5 run, which in-
Over the first month of the season, the University of Memphis was one of the highest-scoring teams in the nation, averaging nearly 82 points over its first nine games.
But the gaudy offensive numbers didn’t translate into wins, as evidenced by the Tigers’ 5-4 record to start the year.
Sure, Memphis was lighting up the scoreboard, but so were its opponents.
Belmont scored 81 in the Tigers’ season- opening win. Tennessee put up 97 in a double - overtime loss in the Maui Invitational. Georgetown scored 91 in winning in overtime in Maui, and Louisville lit them up for 95 in the Cardinals’ eight-point win last month.
What Memphis (11-5, 2-0 in Conference USA) was missing then was cohesion on the defensive end, a problem the Tigers appear to have solved for the most part going into their game at Houston (9-7, 1-2) on Saturday.
Over its current five -game winning streak, the Tigers have limited opponents to 30.8-percent shooting and an average of just 54.6 points. Memphis entered the week ranked No. 22 nationally in defensive field-goal percentage (38.1), and limited Southern Miss on Wednesday to 35.1 percent from the floor in a 60-58 home win.
So what’s changed for a team that always had the tools to be extremely effective defensively but didn’t fully utilize them early this season?
“I just think they’re understanding that , ‘Hey, if our identity is going to be anything it’s going to have to be on the defensive end,’ ” coach Josh Pastner said Thursday. “If you look at the first part of the year, we were one of the best offensive teams in the country, but we weren’t winning games. I think through tape and emphasizing and talking about it so much, finally guys understand that if we want to win it’s going to have to be through defense.”
Part of their improved efficiency defensively can be attributed to their improvement on the defensive glass. The Tigers have been better of late in limiting opponents’ second- chance opportunities, but it remains an area of concern with Memphis having allowed opponents to grab 16 or more offensive rebounds in eight of 16 contests.
Against Southern Miss, the Tigers added a new wrinkle defensively, going from their tradi- TV, radio: CBS Sports, WREC-AM 600
cluded 12 unanswered points, to end the third quarter.
“That’s what it takes — playing hard and playing together,” Allen said. “(Being aggressive) defined us last year. We just try to build on the defensive end first, and everything else will come offensively with the great sets that coach Lionel Hollins draws.”
Conversely, the Knicks couldn’t match the Grizzlies’ intensity and didn’t get much help from their stars. Their scoring leader, Carmelo Anthony, left early in the third with a right ankle sprain, and didn’t return. Anthony and Bill Walker each scored 14 points to lead the Knicks. Amar’e Stoudemire was a nonfactor after picking up two fouls just two minutes into the game. Stoudemire finished with a season-low six points on 1- of-7 shooting.
“It was definitely one of those nights where we couldn’t get into a rhythm,” Chandler said. “We came out a little flat. Both teams came out a little flat. But they got their energy before we did.”
Gay led the way by converting eight of his first nine shots en route to 18 points by halftime. Mayo had 10 at that point. The reserve guard gave the Griz offense a shot in the arm by not hesitating to hoist shots.
“I just really wanted to be aggressive after the Oklahoma City game (Tuesday),” said Mayo, who had four of the Grizzlies’ six 3pointers. “I took four shots and we lost . I felt like I didn’t give it all I had. I couldn’t sleep. Losing streaks aren’t good in a short season.”
Gay, who entered the game shooting 41 percent this season, said the entire team was motivated to put together a complete game. The Grizzlies’ showing against the Knicks was in many ways an extension of testy and detailed- oriented practices on Wednesday and during Thursday’s morning shootaround.
“We came out with a sense of urgency. We knew we needed this game,” Gay said. “We couldn’t extend that losing streak. We’re still a good team, and we want to show that night in and night out.”
— Ronald Tillery: (901) 529-2353