Starting Line-ups
Kings
- Beno Udrih
- Tyreke Evans
- Francisco Garcia
- Jason Thompson
- Samuel Dalembert
Reserves: Jermaine Taylor, Donté Greene, Carl Landry, DeMarcus Cousins, Omri Casspi, Darnell Jackson, Pooh Jeter.
Inactives: Luther Head.
Grizz
- Mike Conley
- Tony Allen
- Rudy Gay
- Zach Randolph
- Marc Gasol
Reserves: O.J. Mayo, Sam Young, Darrell Arthur, Hamed Haddadi, Xavier Henry, Hasheem Thabeet, Greivis Vasquez.
First Quarter Recap
The first quarter started off rocky for the Kings, but the Grizzlies were no better. At the midway point of the first, the Kings were shooting 38% with five turnovers, while the Grizz were sitting at a mere 36% shooting, but had yet to turn the ball over. Zach Randolph was a handful on the offensive end, quickly inducing two fouls on starter Samuel Dalembert. The Grizzlies’ big man had an impressive 14 first quarter points to lead all scorers. Beno Udrih scored eight and Francisco Garcia nailed two three pointers to finish up with six, but at the end of one, the Grizz led by three.
Kings 24 Grizz 27
Leaders
Kings- Udrih (8) Points; Four tied (2) Rebounds; Evans (4) Assists.
Grizz- Randolph (14) Points; Randolph (5) Rebounds; Conley (3) Assists.
Second Quarter Recap
The Grizzlies opened the second on an early run, pushing their lead to eleven around the eight minute mark. The Kings fought back by pounding the glass and getting out in the open court. At the three minute mark, Beno Udrih hit two free throws and the Kings took the lead at 44-43. DeMarcus Cousins did his best Zach Randolph impersonation in the second, going inside and ringing up the foul totals of all the Grizzlies’ big men. After scorching the Kings for a combined 22 points in the first quarter, the combo of Zach Randolph and Rudy Gay were held to only seven in the second. Riding a 24-16 rebound advantage, the Kings only trailed by one at the half, in a very entertaining game.
Kings 50 Grizz 51
Leaders
Kings- Udrih (12) Points; Cousins (8) Rebounds; Evans (4) Assists.
Grizz- Randolph (18) Points; Randolph (6) Rebounds; Conley (4) Assists.
Team Kings Grizz
FG% 40.0% 48.7%
Rebounds 24 16
Assists/TO 9/11 11/8
Third Quarter Recap
The Kings continued to have turnover problems in the third, losing the ball four times in the first five minutes of the quarter. Rookie DeMarcus Cousins started the second half in place of Jason Thompson and played well early. Zach Randolph continued to pace the Grizz, scoring another nine points in the third. The Kings fell behind as the turnovers piled up, but again, they used Pooh Jeter and his change of pace to get out in the open court and run. After trailing by as many as nine, the Kings used a late two by Jeter to cut the lead to four going into the fourth quarter.
Kings 70 Grizz 74
Leaders
Kings- Udrih (20) Points; Cousins (13) Rebounds; Udrih (5) Assists.
Grizz- Randolph (27) Points; Randolph (12) Rebounds; Conley (6) Assists.
Fourth Quarter Recap
With their stars on the bench, Memphis was able to push the lead to nine early in the fourth. With the game in the balance, Omri Casspi hit a huge three to cut the Grizzly lead to six and energize the Arco crowd. Francisco Garcia hit a huge three of his own at the four minute mark to bring the Kings back to within four. The Grizzly lead floated between four and six until Tyreke Evans stole a ball and got fouled going coast to coast. His two free throws cut the lead to two and after a defensive stop, DeMarcus Cousins tied the game with another two free throws with 57.4 seconds left.
Zach Randolph scored on a runner in the lane for his 34th and 35th point of the night with 39.6 seconds left to give the Grizz a 95-93 lead. Evans missed a lay-in and the Kings fouled Mike Conley, who stepped to the line with a chance to stretch the lead to four. Conley made the first, but bricked the second to keep it a one possession lead. The Kings went to Cousins in the block and he went right around Randolph and cut the deficit to one point with 26.2 seconds left.
With 16.4 seconds left, Tyreke Evans stole a ball from O.J. Mayo at half court and hammered it home to give the Kings a 97-96 lead. DeMarcus Cousins tipped a rebound out that could have sealed the game. With 1.5 seconds left, O.J. Mayo hit a fall-away 18 footer to give the Grizz the lead, but the Kings were not done yet. Evans got the in-bounds and hit an unbelievable half court shot to win the game 100-98. Holy cowbells!
Kings Win!!!
Kings 100 Grizz 98
Leaders
Kings- Udrih (24) Points; Cousins (16) Rebounds; Udrih (6) Assists.
Grizz- Randolph (35) Points; Randolph (17) Rebounds; Conley (7) Assists.
Team Kings Grizz
FG% 46.1% 43.7%
Rebounds 41 40
Assists/TO 20/21 18/15
Player of the Game: Tyreke Evans. Half court shot at the buzzer. Any questions?
The Difference Maker: DeMarcus Cousins. This award should go to Zach Randolph, who put up 35 points and 17 rebounds. It could go to Beno Udrih, who quietly scored 24 points, dished out six assists and grabbed four rebounds. But DeMarcus Cousins grew up a bit tonight and was dominant. The rookie scored 21 points (career high), 16 rebounds (tied career high) and dished out three assists. DMC finished with five fouls, but his defense on Marc Gasol was spot on, limiting the Grizzlies’ big man to 11 points (4-13 fg’s) and five rebounds in 40 minutes of play.
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