The Grizzlies caught a break with the absence of Toronto's Chris Bosh on Saturday, and they took advantage of it by beating the Raptors 78-70. The Grizzlies were shorthanded themselves, playing without three of their regulars. Rudy Gay was a late scratch because of a sore hip, a sprained ankle sidelined Kyle Lowry, and Darrell Arthur missed his second straight game due to a family illness. With those three out the win became even sweeter.
O.J. Mayo scored 12 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter to help the Grizzlies close out the game. That came after the rookie couldn't buy a basket early on, missing 10 of his first 12 attempts. His assist to Marc Gasol for a fast-break layup in the third quarter capped an 11-0 run to put the Grizzlies on top for good.
The Raptors made things difficult for the Grizzlies by grinding them and not allowing them to get easy transition opportunities. The Grizzlies simply adjusted their style of play and didn't let the Raptors push them around.
The Grizzlies rebounded from a disappointing defensive effort on Friday against the Clippers by holding the Raptors to 29.5 percent shooting. They limited Jermaine O'Neal and Andrea Bargnani to a combined 14 points on 3-for-20 shooting.
That is the kind of defense they need to play every night. Even though it may seem cheap with Bosh out, it is important for the Grizzlies to have this kind of physical, defensive victory. Impressively, they played better perimeter defense, which may be a first this season. Maybe they actually paid attention to the game tape from Friday. They just haven't seemed to learn from their mistakes until recently, and that has a lot to do with coaching.
The Grizzlies had their lowest winning scoring output since Dec. 11, 2004, when they beat Detroit 72-68. They also held an opponent under 30 percent shooting for only the third time in franchise history and won for the first time this season when scoring less than 20 points in the first quarter (18).
