Gay paces Griz to third straight win, beating 76ers in Philadelphia

[La Bomba]

How could anyone leave Rudy Gay open at the tail end of that performance? Gay took Mayo's pass and swished a tear-drop 20-foot jumper that sealed the Grizzlies' 102-97 victory at the Wachovia Center.

 

The 76ers, showered with boos by a flabbergasted crowd of 14,269, called for timeout as Gay jogged to the bench and jumped one last time, chest-bumping teammate Hamed Haddadi, who showed some surprising hops.

 

"I've got to talk to him about that," Gay said. "He's got to come with that same passion when he tries to dunk!"

 

Gay scored a game-high 33 points on 14-of-22 shooting to go with 10 rebounds, a one-man highlight reel who obscured the fact that this was Memphis' most complete effort of the season. The winners of three straight, the Grizzlies (4-8) shot 51.9 percent and pounded the 76ers on the glass, claiming a 48-28 rebounding edge. Philadelphia, which went with a smaller lineup in a late act of desperation, grabbed just 11 boards in the second half.

 

Point guard Louis Williams, an emerging star, led the 76ers (5-7) with a career-high 31 points on 12-of-16 shooting.

 

"We weren't so bad when we were losing, and we're not so good now that we're winning," said Grizzlies center Marc Gasol, who finished with 19 points and eight rebounds. "We just have to keep playing hard, keep relying on each other."

 

That was what Gasol told himself when he trudged to the bench with four fouls late in the third quarter. The Grizzlies were mounting a run when Gasol was whistled for bumping forward Elton Brand, a tough call that left Gasol feeling frustrated but confident.

 

"I fully trust my teammates," he said, which might have sounded laughable about a week ago.

 

But early in the fourth quarter, Gay hit back-to-back fadeaway jumpers -- from each side of the court, for symmetry's sake. And after reserve point guard Marcus Williams drilled a mid-range jumper, rookie swingman Sam Young drove the lane for a violent two-handed dunk that extended the lead to 90-82.

 

"Anytime I get a chance to take it to the rim," Young said, "I try to tear it down."

 

Young acknowledged that he was releasing some pent-up aggression, and so were his teammates. Before the game, coach Lionel Hollins was subjected to another round of questions about Allen Iverson -- this time from the Philadelphia media, which was to be expected. Iverson, waived by Memphis on Monday, spent the first 10 years of his career with the 76ers.

 

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/nov/20/gay-paces-griz-102-97-win-over-76ers-philadelphia/

[BlueDevil]

good to hear its about time they started turning things around there.