The Grizzlies got the break they needed when Amare Stoudemire was ejected from Tuesday's game late in the first half. Unfortunately, Stoudemire's Phoenix teammates used his dismissal as motivation and rallied to beat the Grizzlies 101-89.
The Grizzlies ended the calendar year of 2008 by missing 15 of their final 18 shots, more evidence that they need to pick up a shooter. Darius Miles is still sitting out his suspension and Steve Francis is still not in action, although he should play following the New Year break.
The Suns took advantage of the Grizzlies' lack of a post presence by pounding the ball inside to Shaquille O'Neal, who looked a lot younger and more athletic than he has in a few years. They outscored the Grizzlies 31-11 in the fourth quarter to erase the Grizzlies' 8-point lead. The Grizzlies gave up 58 points in the paint, which was the most telling stat of the night. The Suns made only 5-of-16 3-point attempts, but with such domination inside, they didn't need them. O'Neal finished with 24 points, while third-year forward Louis Amundsen, a UNLV product, scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
Hakim Warrick had a great night for the Grizzlies, scoring 25 points on 7-of-11 shooting, but he was pulled from the game with three minutes left and the Grizzlies within three at 92-89. Why would you do that? He was the hottest shooter the Grizzlies had last night, but coach Marc Iavaroni yanked him to get Quinton Ross into the game, evidently for defensive purposes. This team needs to take offense wherever it can get it right now. I know defense wins games, but this team doesn't have any consistent shooters, so they can't afford to take the ball out of anyone's hands when they are hot.
Most of Warrick's points came on 15-18 foot jumpers, which the Grizzlies have been missing all year. Marc Gasol also knocked down some tough shots, breaking out of a recent shooting slump to score 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting.
