|
 It seems to be working.
Memphis cruised to a 103-83 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on
Thursday at FedExForum as forward Jeff Green scored a team-high 21
points off the bench. The Grizzlies shot 47.5 percent from the floor
and finished 10 for 28 from 3-point range after making 1 of 8 in the
first half.
"I was sitting out there thinking what I was going to say after the
game, and it was going to be, 'Oh, it was an ugly game,'" Joerger
said. "But then the ball started going in. At one point, we were 2
of 13 from three."
Memphis led 50-41 at halftime before opening the third quarter with
an 11-2 run to go up 61-43 following a 3-pointer from guard Courtney
Lee (13 points) at the 8:58 mark. Lee scored 11 points in the
quarter and the Grizzlies carried a 76-62 advantage into the fourth.
Memphis (27-20) controlled the fourth quarter, leading by as many as
25 points. Backup point guard Mario Chalmers led the Grizzlies'
assist brigade (28) with 10 and also chipped in seven points.
Starting point guard Mike Conley handed out nine assists with five
points.
Shooters were in rhythm - partly a carryover from the extra shots
getting put up in practice?
"The more you practice the better you're gonna be at it," Lee said.
"We had guys banged up, low on bodies, so there's not much
five-on-five that you can do."
Milwaukee's 15 turnovers led to 18 Memphis points and though Bucks
center Greg Monroe scored a team-high 21 points, he also made a
team-high five turnovers.
The Bucks (20-28) dropped to 7-21 on the road. Forward Giannis
Antetokounmpo (seven points, seven rebounds) didn't stick around for
the end of this defeat as he was hit with a technical foul at the
6:30 mark in the fourth quarter and ejected. Whether he uttered some
"magic" words or not wasn't clear; he didn't talk to media after the
game.
Bucks coach Jason Kidd didn't mind that Antetokounmpo disagreed with
an officials' call enough to say something.
"Yeah, I think there is nothing wrong with showing emotion for
Giannis or for any of the guys," Kidd said. "Giannis cares and he
got frustrated."
The Bucks shot 36.7 percent from the field and were 1 for 16 from
beyond the arc. That brought some frustration, too, but Rashad
Vaughn kept firing; he went 0-for-5 from three and finished with two
points on 1-for-7 shooting overall.
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"I'm not going to let missing a shot get me down," he said.
Center Mac Gasol finished with 15 points, eight rebounds, four
assists and four steals for Memphis, and forward Matt Barnes scored
13 points and knocked down 4 of 8 threes. Tony Allen had 13 points
and seven rebounds.
Milwaukee guard Khris Middleton scored 15 points with six assists,
five rebounds and three steals. The Bucks led 27-23 after the first
quarter.
"We lost control and tempo of the game," Kidd said.
Memphis has won eight of its last 10 games and is seven above .500
for the first time this season. The Grizzlies won their fifth
straight at home and are 18-7 at the FedExForum.
The Grizzlies did not have anyone selected as a reserve for the
All-Star Game.
Allen said Gasol was "snubbed," but Gasol had a different take.
"I don't know what snubbed means," Gasol said. "If you look at the
list, (everybody) deserves it that's there. If we would have been
30-15, then we'd probably have somebody up there. At the end of the
day, that's how it works. And that's on me to play better and we'd
have more wins."
NOTES: Milwaukee G O.J. Mayo missed his seventh straight game with a
sore left hamstring. F John Henson was out Thursday with a sore
lower back. ... Memphis F Jeff Green scored a season-high 30 points
off the bench in an overtime victory over Orlando on Monday. ... The
Bucks have the third-worst record in the Eastern Conference, but
coach Jason Kidd said they are treating the final seven games before
the All-Star break as an opportunity to climb back in the playoff
race. "We feel we still have a shot," Kidd said.
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