JUST WARMING UP
After slow start, Lebron scores Miami’s final 8 points to beat Griz
MIAMI — Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins took a few moments Friday night to laud his troops for their recent play and show of mental toughness.
He saved his biggest praise for Miami Heat swingman LeBron James. Hollins said James has undoubtedly supplanted Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant as the best player in the NBA.
“I love watching (James) play,” Hollins said during his pregame chat with media. “I just hope he doesn’t have a good game against us.”
The Grizzlies indeed caught James on an off night shooting. But, in the end, that meant nothing.
James scored the Heat’s final eight points and helped hand the Grizzlies a 98-91 loss in American Airlines Arena.
Despite shooting 4 for 14, James made the biggest shot of the night. The Griz trailed 90-89 when James buried a straightaway 3-pointer with
HOT TOPIC
24.2 seconds left, then closed out Miami’s 13th straight win by making five of six free throws.
“You just feel out of rhythm when you’re not making shots you’ve been making all year,” James said. “But you don’t get discouraged when you’re out there. When I don’t make shots, I know I can do other things to help our team.”
James still came close to a tripledouble with 18 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.
“LeBron’s 3 at the top of the key really broke our hearts,” Hollins said after seeing his team’s eight-game winning streak end. “But we battled. … I have no problem with the game. We were right there and they just made a few more plays than we did.”
Memphis (38-19) dictated the tone, making it a grind-it-out, ugly contest in many ways. Miami’s high-scoring offense couldn’t take flight mainly because it struggled to generate transition opportunities.
The Heat (42-14), who had scored 100-plus points all but twice during their streak, had just 42 points and a one-point lead by halftime. The Griz trailed 67- 66 entering the fourth quarter.
Those few occasions when the Heat generated fast breaks were damaging — like when Dwyane Wade raced the other way for a dunk after Quincy Pondexter’s missed 3-point attempt.
The Griz trailed 90-85 after that sequence with 2:03 left.
“It was definitely in our favor,” Griz forward Tayshaun Prince said after having the primary job of guarding James. “For the most part we did a great job in transition defense. This was tough loss to swallow, but the effort was great.”
Wade’s 22 points and eight assists kept the Heat in a game that had 15 lead changes and 10 ties. Marc Gasol’s 24 points and nine rebounds powered the Grizzlies, who took advantage of their size advantage and punished the Heat inside.
Miami used an array of small lineups. The downside for Memphis was that its defense was often caught scrambling and losing Miami’s longrange shooters. The Heat made 10 3-pointers — four from Shane Battier. Miami had three long-range daggers in the fourth quarter and each seemingly kept Memphis from gaining enough momentum to take a lead.
Hollins picked up his fourth career Coach of the Month honor when the NBA gave him the award for February. Memphis went 9-2 to complete the most successful February in franchise history. Memphis’ defense led the West in points (88) and total rebounds allowed (37.4), and finished second in forced turnovers (16.7) during the month.
This is the second time Hollins won coach of the month this season. He was acknowledged in November after the Grizzlies’ 12-2 start.
“I know I get the credit and I get the blame,” Hollins said. “But our guys have been playing extremely well. You have to give them their due.”
SPOTLIGHT
Pondexter came off the bench and gave the Griz a lift with his allaround play. Pondexter finished with 10 points, three assists and a rebound. He also earned fourthquarter playing time with disciplined defense. Pondexter played all but 1:39 of the final period in place of Tony Allen.
Pondexter’s four-point play with 43.6 seconds left in the third quarter was the first for a Grizzlies player since Mike Miller did it against the Los Angeles Clippers on Dec. 14, 2007.
THE OTHER GUYS
James missed eight of his first nine field goal attempts and settled for jump shots most of the night. He entered the game averaging 29.8 points on 65-percent shooting during Heat’s win streak.
“It’s a matter of being aggressive,” Prince said about defending James. “And if the other four guys on the floor are at the right spots at the right time, it makes things a whole lot easier. As we all know, not one person can contain him.”
James’ worst moment happened when he shot an air ball on a 3-point attempt with three minutes remaining.
“That’s why I like this win, because we had to find a different way,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Battier made his first four shots — all 3-pointers — to help the Heat compensate. Miami also took care of the basketball. The Heat had just nine turnovers.
THAT’S WHAT HE SAID
“These kinds of games can really prepare you for what the playoffs are about. I like it. We knew it was going to be a tough, grind-out game. These are the kinds of games where at some points you get frustrated and you have to fight through it all.” — Miami’s Wade.
HEALTH STATUS
The Griz got a scare after the first play when Zach Randolph landed awkwardly after attempting a running shot in the lane. Randolph grabbed his left ankle and began to hobble, forcing Hollins to call for time. Randolph jogged on the court to shake the injury and remained in the game.
“His step wasn’t like he’s used to,” Gasol said. “He had to settle a lot.”
X-rays on Randolph’s ankle were negative after the game. He’s dayto-day.
“I hope I’ll be OK,” Randolph said. “It was sore and painful.”
ROSTER MOVES
Miami played musical chairs with the power forward position. Udonis Haslem started and then Battier and Rashard Lewis took turns opposite Randolph. Even James spent a few minutes at power forward when the Heat played a small lineup toward the end of the second period. 0: Miami second-chance points 27: Free throw attempts for both teams
49: Opponents Memphis has held to fewer than 100 points
GOT NEXT
Grizzlies at Orlando Magic, Sunday, 5 p.m. The Magic are just 9-22 at home and have dropped eight of their last 10.