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THROWBACK breakdown from one of the greatest Grizzlies teams ever: 2013 West Semis GRIZZLIES VS THUNDER GAME 4
Tayshuan Prince takes the Durant assignment off the tip. The Thunder run a cross screen to try to get him open, but the Grizzlies swarm him with three defenders and get a steal out of it. Notice how every defender is packed in, ready to help and clogging passing lanes.
The Grizzlies' offense is all out of sorts to start this game. Thunder ice the side PnR, so Conley drives baseline to free up Gasol for a wide open jumper that misses badly. Conley then falls asleep in semi-transition, allowing Sefolosha to cut behind him for the dunk. Timeout.
Out of the timeout, the Grizzlies run a lot of decoy actions with Gasol as the facilitator at the elbow. They evenually clear out the side and let Zach Randolph go to work for the first bucket for the Grizzlies.
Remember that this is Marc Gasol's DPOY season. The Thunder run FLOPPY for Durant, so Randolph has to come out high to prevent the pass. Gasol reads this and jumps into perfect help position on Ibaka's dive to the rim, forcing the turnover while preventing an easy dunk.
Gasol gets an elbow touch out of HORNS and it turns into an empty side PnR with Prince. Sefolosha completely leaves Conley one pass away to help into the paint, leaving Conley wide open for the three.
With Conley off and Dooling on, the Grizzlies are using Allen and Prince as facilitators more than usual. Here, Tony Allen makes the tough entry pass to Gasol who goes to work on Ibaka.
OKC controlling the pace here in the 1st has allowed them to jump out to the lead. The Grizzlies are not suited to play fast like this. Conley turns it over trying to take on a 2-on-3 fast break and Sefolosha is fouled on the other end
On this play, Pondexter leaves his man to help and then never finds him again, allowing Martin to cut backdoor. Randolph contests, leaving nobody to box out Collison. The Grizzlies are getting killed on the glass, 18-8.
This is a BEAUTIFUL ATO from Hollins. Conley acts as if he's going to set a pindown for Pondexter who then cuts backdoor. Gasol then sets a pindown for Conley to spring him open after Fisher and Martin get discombobulated. Prettiest play I've seen in a while.
With Durant guarding Gasol and Allen being a bad shooter, Reggie Jackson stands right in front of Gasol to deny the entry pass. Allen drives right at him, gets him backpedaling, and crosses back left for the nice reverse layup.
GREAT defense here from both Allen and Gasol. Allen doesn't let Durant use the first screen and Gasol gets in his way on the second screen. They double, nearly force a turnover, and get the ball out of his hands. All three other defenders were ready to help also.
This is the kind of hustle that wins you playoff games. Every point is crucial with the Thunder going on a run and Randolph is able to save this missed free throw to Conley, who is able to go back to the line for two more.
Conley has been struggling with OKC's ice coverage all game, so the Grizzlies run a little STS action to get him more space. He's able to swing it to Prince who gets it to Randolph in the deep post and it's two points.
The Thunder's ice coverage has worked so well because they can normally ignore Allen or Prince in the weakside corner to cover the roller. This time, it's Bayless that's stationed there. Conley spots him and makes an accurate pass and it's three points.
Good start to the second half here. Gasol gets a low post touch, beautiful footwork, no double team, and the fadeaway is pure.
The Thunder are preparing to defend Conley in ice, but Ibaka is in bad position directly behind Sefolosha, allowing Conley the wide open lane to the rim. Perkins doesn't help because he doesn't want to leave Randolph.
Conley finally starting to figure out this ice coverage. One dribble baseline and he has the angle for the little pocket pass. Ibaka can't recover and it's two points.
Bayless scraps the set play that Hollins called, directing traffic to run FLEX action out of HORNS. He refuses Gasol's screen to drive to the rim and get the bucket plus the foul.
The Grizzlies' defense has been SUFFOCATING. Watch Marc Gasol here this whole possession. He blows up the initial PnR and then is a force in the paint that deter both Jackson and Fisher from challenging him, leading to the airball.
Watch Zach Randolph's physicality here. He makes first contact with Collison at the free throw line and pushes him all the way into the restricted area. From there he continues to muscle his way up into the easy layup.
FOUR TIMES in the first half the Grizzlies got cut backdoor for a dunk or layup (Mostly Conley). The Thunder try to do it again and it almost works, but Tony Allen has great instincts and hands and is able to get the steal.
Here, Conley relocates to the weakside corner after the entry pass to Gasol. Jackson doesn't follow, opting to double. Fisher's job is to zone up the weakside, but Prince screens him off, leaving Conley wide open. Good find from Gasol, unfortunate missed shot.
Off the high PnR, Durant is forced to tag the roller. Prince performs a weakside lift then curls around into the paint once he receives the ball, catching Durant out of position. The running floater is pure.
I managed to screw up the thread so here is the rest of the breakdown :) https://twitter.com/GrizzFilm/status/1263922641087455232
