Clippers vs. Grizzlies Final Score: Memphis Eliminates Los Angeles after 118-105 Win
By Josh Hill
The Los Angeles Clippers posed as a team that looked like it could be the best in basketball, but despite that appearance of talent and dominance the Clippers have found themselves in a similar position as last season — a season that ended in disappointment. A Game 6 win looked like a daunting task for Los Angeles, especially since they were without star forward Blake Griffin, but they battled the Grizzlies hard all game long but it was too little too late as Los Angeles has been eliminated in the first round of the NBA Playoffs for a second consecutive season.
Memphis seemed to have a tall task ahead of them, as everyone knew how good the Clippers could be. But despite that intimidation, the Grizzlies hung tight with the Clippers and matched, even exceeded Los Angeles in momentum and talent during the duration of the series.
Matt Barnes and Chris Paul seemed to be the only productive Clippers on the court on Friday night, scoring a combined 53 points, but they got no support whatsoever from the rest of the team. Lamar Odom replaced Blake Griffin on the depth chart but hardly came close to replacing him on the court. Old Lamar is probably better off Keeping Up with the Kardashian’s as he struggled all night to keep up with Memphis, something that was universal for Los Angeles.
For the Grizzlies, they bounce the Clippers for the second straight season and are now set up for a winnable series against an injured Oklahoma City Thunder team. Before you discount the Grizzlies chances against the Thunder, remember what they did here against the Clippers and remember how injuries shifted this series.
Oklahoma City will be without Russell Westbrook and that was an injury that tripped up the Thunder for a few games against the Houston Rockets. There is work to be done, but this Grizzlies team is heating up and all it takes is getting hot at the right time to shock the world.
One team down, two to go for Memphis.
As for the Clippers, there will be plenty of questions that will need to be answered in the offseason, and some of the answers given might not make a lot of people happy. Los Angeles is officially the Tony Romo of basketball and something clearly needs to change and it needs to change fast.