The Memphis Grizzlies got one of their biggest wins of the season on Sunday when they erased a 17-point Dallas lead to defeat the Mavericks 104-103.
Zach Randolph nailed a 17-foot rainbow shot with 0.3 seconds remaining to give Memphis the win.
His game-winning shot came on the heels of Dirk Nowitski’s 15-foot jumper to put Dallas ahead 103-102 with 3.1 left.
The Grizzlies are making a habit of overcoming huge deficits to win games, but the latest was perhaps their biggest of all.
The Mavericks entered Sunday night’s contest against Memphis as the hottest team in the NBA, having won eight straight games and 18 of their last 19.
It looked as if the Mavericks were well on their way to winning a ninth straight game after they completely dominated the first half in building a 17-point lead.
The old version of the Memphis Grizzlies would have laid down and let the Mavericks cruise to a victory, but this is the new version of the Grizzlies.
And despite what ESPNDallas.com columnist Tim McMahon says, Dallas didn’t give the game away in the second half.
The fact is, Memphis took this win from the Mavericks because they were more aggressive and played better defense.
The Grizzlies outrebounded the Mavericks, forced more turnovers and outscored Dallas in the paint 66-38.
No, the Mavericks didn’t give this game away. Memphis simply played harder in the second half and earned a huge road win that kept them in the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Dallas can paint this loss any way they want, but they lost this game to Memphis because the Grizzlies wanted it more.
Memphis (35-29) won’t have time to celebrate the victory because they return home on Monday to face the Oklahoma City Thunder.
