A 'Slim' Live BLog

I'm not a real live blog type of guy but since my friend Memphis Slim is presently unable to watch the game and is not in a city that has radio coverage I will try and help him out as much as I can.

The Keys to the game according to Sean Touhy and Pete Pranica will be 3 pt shooting, a 30 pt 3rd quarter (happened in both victories so far) and reaching triple digits (Milwaukee hasn't won when their opponents scored 100 pts so far).

Starting lineups are as expected with the Grizz starting Pau Gasol, Darko Milicic, Rudy Gay, Mike Miller and Damon Stoudamire. Milwaukee starts Mo WIlliams, Michael Redd, Yi Jianlian, Andrew Bogut and Desmond Mason.

Grizz won the tip and did a great backdoor play to Pau. 2-0 Memphis

Desmond Mason gets blocked by Rudy, Bogut missed, Yi gets blocked by Rudy out of bounds. Gasol then blocks Bogut but a foul is called on Pau. Bogut made the 1st but missed the 2nd. Rebound Pau.

Stoudamire assisted to Darko for slam. Damon has two nice assists already.

Who cuts Andrew Bogut's hair? He should get his money back. Memphis 4-1

Redd missed a shot but no one put a body on Bogut who slammed the rebound.

Miller nails a long 2. 6-3 Grizzlies

Redd nails a long shot. Miller responds with a drive. 8-5 Grizzlies

Travelling on Redd. Nice Defense by Miller.

Gasol airball. Possibly touched by Bogut (on the ball or the arm I am unsure).
Milwaukee missed a shot, rebounded by Gasol.

Memphis missed the shot. Good pass by Mo Williams to Bogut but Rudy blocked the shot. Foul called. Bogut made both FT's. 8-7 Grizzlies

Mo Williams stole the inbounds but Yi missed the shot. Darko misses one and then Yi makes a long shot. Rudy misses a three. Milwaukee missed the shot. Miller missed a 3 and then Yi scores around Gasol. 11-8 Milwaukee. 7:29 left in the 1st.

Damon misses a three. Michael Redd misses badly and Rudy breaks out for an slam assist to Pau!

Bogut hits a baseline shot. Foul on Redd. Darko misses one in the lane.

Yi misses badly but gets his own rebound. Redd misses and Grizz rebound. Gasol gets hammered but no foul. Rudy almost steals the ball. Time out Memphis. 13-10 Milwaukee with 5:34 left in the first.

Fast paced game so far. That should be good for the Grizzlies.

Damn this is hard to do!

For the first time I really miss Fratello's slow paced games.

Damon already has 4 assists out of 5 baskets. Gasol assisted the other.

Bogut makes a difficult runner in the lane. 15-10 Milwaukee.

Grizzlies throw the ball away. Milwaukee scores but Grizz come right back for a Gasol slam.

Miller grabs a rebound off a Milwaukee miss. Gasol gets hit again but no call. These refs aren't going to give Gasol anything. Mason hits a hook shot. 19-12 Milwaukee

3:54 left in the first and Gasol is replaced. Lowry and Stro are in now.
Stro missed the shot at the buzzer.

Williams misses, rebound Grizz but Miller misses the break. Darko stuffs Yi but Redd gets the rebound and gets a foul.

Redd makes 2. Yi is replaced by Villanueva. 21-12 Milwaukee

Miller assists a shot by Kyle.
Redd Misses, rebound Darko
Miller misses drive. Milwaukee rebounds then almost throws the ball away to Rudy. Timout Memphis. I made a mistake earlier. The first TO was charged to Milwaukee.

Grizz are getting good looks but the shots aren't falling. Hopefully that will change. Right now Milwaukee is leading thanks to going 5-6 from the line while the Grizz haven't had a single foul shot despite the Grizz taking the action to the Bucks.

Oh yeah, the score is 21-14 Milwaukee with 2:16 remaining.

Almost a highlight dunk by Mason rebounded by Miller.
Offensive foul on Rudy going over the back. Good call too Damnit

Mason makes the 1st and Casey Jacobsen checks in for Rudy with 2 fouls.
Mason misses the 2nd.
22-14 Milwaukee with 1:35 remaining

Miller scores despit getting killed. No foul
Darko grabs his 6th rebound of a Charlie V miss. 22-16 Milwaukee

Lowry gets an offensive foul for leaning in on a shot as the shot clock expires.

I've got blisters on my fingers!

Miller with another board.

Swift draws the first shooting foul of the night on Charlie V.

Stro goes 2-2. 22-18 Milwaukee

Bell misses a 3 and Kyle gets the rebound as time expires at the end of the 1st.
End of 1st quarter: 22-18 Milwaukee
Grizzlies closed the quarter on 6-0 run but Charlie V nails a 3 to open the 2nd

Darko misses and Charlie V nails another 3. CJ answers back for Memphis.
Who would expect Jacobsen to hit the 1st Grizzlies 3 pt shot?

Charlie V missed a three! Finally

Casey Jacobsen makes another shot but Redd rebounds hos own miss and scored. Gasol misses and Charlie V scores again.

Gasol finally makes a shot.

Grizz steal the ball but Navarro missed the layup

JCN steals the ball and Casey Scores. 32-27 Bucks

Grizz make another stop. Casey drives and gets killed, no call but Gasol cleans it up for another two

Another Grizz stop. Now I see what it takes for the Grizz to get a call as Gadzuric horse collars Gasol to the ground. Foul called.

Timeout: 32-29 Bucks at the 7:24 mark of the 2nd.

Redd is shooting 2-10. That won't likely last.

Navarro short on a shot.
Rebound Bucks
Charlie V gets fouled and is fouled by Stro.
makes the FT 35-29 Bucks
Conley is in the game. I didn't realize that.
Swift is out and Gay is in.

Conley with a high floater off the glass for 2
Charlie V misses
Rudy misses
Charlie V again. 12 for him tonight.

Conley gives Gasol a great backdoor lob
Charlie V nisses
JCN assists to Rudy with a great pass.
Timeout with 5:07 remaining 37-35 Bucks.

Very distrurbing Sierra Mist commercial. Remind me not to drink that stuff.

THe game is being played to Milwaukee's scoring desire but it is strangely fast paced just the same. The timeout came right at the moment it looked like the Grizz were getting warmed up.

Yi is back as is Bogut. Bobby Simmons misses a 3. Rebound Grizz
Brian Cardinal sighting and he creates an offensive rebound.

Conley throws the ball away and Yi ends up with a dunk.
Gasol makes a nice move to get two.

Cardinal called for a foul from behind when it sure looked clean to me. Simmons on the line. Hits one misses the 2nd. Bogut with the offensive board.

Another foul on Cardinal sends Bogut to the line for two. Timeout Memphis 40-37 Bucks with 2:59 remaining

Yi misses and rebound Miller
I missed a bit while I put the kids to sleep.
Conley makes a buzzer beater for two. 42-41 Bucks

Redd misses again, Yi rebounds and Redd hits his first 3 pt shot.
45-41 Bucks
Rudy substituted with 57.2 seconds left before hie gets his 3rd foul.

Yi knocks the ball out of bounds Casey misses a runner, Gasol mises two taps and is fouled but nothing is called.

Redd makes a floater in the last second.
Halftime: 47-41 Grizzlies
Gasol leads the Grizzlies with 12 pts and 5 boards. Charlie V leads the Bucks with 13 pts.

I expect the refs will have some serious make up calls in the 2nd half. Don't quote me but I just have a funny feeling.

Grizzlies are getting beaten on the boards, look a little flat footer and committing too many turnovers. Both of Milwaukee's last two baskets were 2nd chance points. That reflects fatigue more than anything else to me. The Grizzlies are actually doing decent rebounding except they are getting killed on the offensive glass by a tune of 13-4. That gives Milwaukee a 13-2 lead in second chance points.

Grizz only got 4 foul shots despite pounding the ball inside a lot more compared to 13 for the Bucks. I expect that number to get closer in the 2nd half.

So the Grizz need to get more defensive rebounds and stop allowing Milwaukee so many wnd opportunities and they can win this game. The problem is the fatigue factor will only get worse in the 2nd half as Milwaukee has been waiting on the Grizz since Sunday night and should be fresher than Memphis who played a tough game last night.

3rd Quarter:
Mo Williams beats Damon to the basket and feeds someone for an easy basket.
Gasol answers with a hook in the lane.

Milwaukee carries the ball (Mo Williams). Miller feeds Darko for a nice basket.
49-45 Bucks

Mo Williams misses, out of bounds to Grizz
Beautiful play with Miller to Milicic to Gasol.
49-47 Bucks
Gasol blocks a shot but Milwaukee gets the loose ball for a basket.

Rudy gets fouled on a drive. They just replayed the Darko layup and he got hammered without a call. I guess I was wrong about the refs.
Rudy makes them both 51-49 Bucks.

Redd makes a tough shot and Darko beats the Bucks down the court for another hoop.
Milwaukee throws the ball away. 8:59 remaining.

Stoudamire hits a jump shot to tie the game.
Mason misses in the lane and Yi knocks it out of bounds.
Rudy makes a pretty move to give the Grizz the lead. 55-53
Stoudamire scores on a steal! Grizz up 57-53 and Milwaukee calls timeout.

Is there anybody out there?

Not to send people away from the blog but the Memphis Grizzlies message board should have a lively conversation going on if you want to make comments about the game. Just an FYI.

Redd from way downtown. 57-56.
Gasol gives Rudy a nice pass for a dunk. 59-56 at the 7 minute mark.

Gasol blocks Bogut and Yi knocks a pass out of bounds. Miller misses a three. That was the 1st Grizzlies missed shot in the 3rd.
Redd hits another shot.
Miller drives and is fouled but just misses the shot.
Miller makes 2-2. Grizzlies are still perfect from the line.

Redd travels on a pump fake. Maybe the refs are making for things. Yi stuffs Damon and it goes off of Darko. Milwaukee's ball
Mason hits a shot.

Miller misses a 3, Damon gets the board but Miller is stripped in the lane
Redd hits a 3
Rudy makes a ridiculous scoop shot. 63-63 with 4:16 in the 3rd but Mason answers with a great shot.
Damon hits a three with a big bounce!

Mo Williams hits a jmp shot.
Damon misses a three and Milicic gets the offensive board for a basket.
Bogut scores in the paint.

Bogut fouls Milicic after Miller avoids a double team trap and hits him with a great pass. Timeout with 2:48 remaining. 69-68 Milwaukee

Redd is now 8-17 shooting the ball and has 21 points. He sure heated up fast after his 2-10 start.
Grizz haven't committed a turnover yet this half.

Darko goes 1-2 from the line. tie game at 69

Lowry in for Stoudamire.
Bogut with an easy dunk. 15 and 8 for Bogut. Almost double his season average.

Swift misses a 20 ft shot. Why did he take that?

Bogut scores in the paint and is fouled. First foul on Darko. Missed the FT.

72-69 Milwaukee
Lowry scores making it a 30 pt 3rd quarter for the Grizzlies.

Miller misses back to back threes and Williams scores for Milwaukee.
Lowry throws too tough a pass for Swift to handle and Redd nails a three for a 7 pt lead with 17.4 remaining. 20 second timeout for Memphis.

Redd has 24 points and Mike Miller is struggling. Fatigue is having a big role in this matchup as I predicted. Milwaukee has won the last 2 minutes of every quarter.

End of 3rd quarter. 78-71 Milwaukee.

Gasol had 4 pts, no rebounds and 2 assists that quarter. Memphis needs him to be big in the 4th to pull this one out. Rudy has played well but Miller is not hot and we can't expect Casey to provide a lot more scoring can we?

Memphis reached 30 but surrendered 31 that quarter.

Cardinal misses to open the 4th.
Cardinal gets called for his 3rd foul.

Rudy steals the ball and then Casey falls down on the entry pass. Stro tries for a steal and gives Bogut an easy basket instead.

Lowry hits a nice jumper to stay down 7 but Bogut gets another easy bucket for an 82-73 lead.
Desmond Mason fouls and that allows Conley to come in for Jacobsen. Interesting lineup right now with Swift, Cardinal, Gay, Lowry and Conley.
Gay hits a big three but Redd answers with one of his own.

Swift scores on Bogut in the lane. Redd banks in a long two. I don't think he called that. Lowry misses a shot in the lane after being fouled but no call. Swift fouls Bogut on the runout.
Timeout 87-78 Milwaukee with 8:57 remaining.

Now would be a good time to get Pau back in the game. Swift isn't playing well defensively and Memphis needs someone to get it going.

Darko's in instead. Darko has 10 boards and 9 points but we need someone to put the ball in the basket.

Bogut makes 2-2.

Conley gets hacked after some good ball movement. Conley goes to the line. Hits 2-2. 89-81. Miller is at the table to check in. Blocked shot by Milicic. Rudy makes a sweet move to score. Redd misses and Darko grabs another board.

Grizzlies grab three offensive boards but can't score.

Redd turns the ball over thanks to some nice defense by Rudy.
89-82 with 6:48 remaining. Kyle grabs a nice rebound and hits Miller for a three point shot and Redd is finally on the bench.

Bogut turns the ball over. 89-85 Bucks. Miller gets stuffed on a drive but Darko grabs the board and is fouled. Milwaukee calls timeout. 89-85 with 5:58 remaining.

Darko goes 1-2 from the line. 89-86

Bobby Simmons hits a 3 pt shot. Rudy answers with a 3 of his own. Rudy has 22 pts but only 1 rebound. Conley actually punched the ball out.
Lowry steals the ball from Bogut and gets fouled on the drive but no shot was taken.

Terrible NO CALL!
Lowry goes up on a doulbe pump and gets killed from behind but no call. Milwaukee gets an easy basket going the other way.
Miller scores again and gets the call on Bogut who was barely moving. Can you say makeup?
Miller makes the FT. 94-92 Bucks.
Yi misses and Conley grabs the board but Rudy misses a shot with no one in position to rebound.

Gasol is back in the game and grabs a big rebound. Rudy gets fouled on the drive. Rudy missed the first. Made the 2nd. 94-93 and Redd is back in the game.

Yi makes a good pass to Mo Williams for an open jumper.
Gasol passes out Miller who drives and scores. Redd was all over him but no one expects that call at this point in the game including me. 96-95 Grizzlies with 2:18 remaining. Milwaukee calls timeout.

The Bucks mascot just missed a dunk during the timeout. Could it be a sign?

What is the mascot doing dunks for with 2 minutes left in a 1 pt game anyway?

Mo Williams just nailed a guy in the front row with a pass. Who was that supposed to go to?

Gasol gets called for charging but Bogut wasn't set. That should have been a block. You know the refs will be crucified in the grade the refs thread over at the Grizzlies message board.

Redd gets fouled and makes them both.

Gasol missed a wild hook shot.

Redd misses a three but Yi jumps on Darko's back to pop the ball out and no call is made. Redd charges into Lowry covering for Mike Miller.

RUDY GAY HITS A 3 TO TIE THE GAME!

Desmond Mason hits a jump shot to put the Bucks up 100-98 with 13.6 seconds remaining. Timeout Grizzlies.

By the way I am wearing my Rudy Gay jersey I got last night while doing this live blog. I know that has helped Rudy tonight! Just kidding.

Who do you go to for the last shot?

Lowry drove the lane and Mo Williams stripped him and is fouled. Makes the first and the second.

Down four with 7.1 seconds remaining.

Grizzlies need a fast 3 pt shot. Miller drives the ball and is fouled by Bogut.
Miller makes the first and deliberately missed the second. Gasol got the rebound but missed the 3 pt shot at the buzzer.

102-99 Milwaukee.

Great effort. A few calls here or there could have changed the outcome. Tough loss anyway. 2-5 on the season and tough games against New Orleans Friday and Dallas Saturday coming up.
Night everyone.