Memphis Grizzlies Blog – Page 44 – NBA Blog

Mike Conley, Grizzlies hold off Celtics

Tony Allen scored a season-high 15 points to help his current team beat his old one. Then he went down the sideline trading fist-bumps and hugs with his former teammates and coaches.

Mike Conley had 23 points and nine assists, and Allen had nine points and four of his five rebounds in the second half on Wednesday night to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 93-83 victory over the Boston Celtics. It was the fourth consecutive loss for Boston, which won its 17th NBA title with Allen in 2008…

Rudy Gay scored 19 points for Memphis, which shot 61 percent from the floor – and 62.5 percent from 3-point range – in the first half. The Grizzlies led by 18 early in the fourth quarter, then made 8 of 11 free throws down the stretch after the Celtics made it a five-point game…

Paul Pierce scored 17 for Boston, but he had just one basket in the third quarter and none in the fourth while missing seven of his last eight shots.

Rajon Rondo had 11 points and 10 assists for the Celtics, who trailed by 79-61 after the opening basket of the fourth quarter but closed the gap to 83-78 with under 5 minutes to play on back-to-back 3-pointers from Jason Terry. Boston began fouling and the Grizzlies made their shots.

— Reported by Jimmy Golen of the Associated Press

Paul George leads Pacers over Grizzlies

The Indiana Pacers are now finding ways to win on a regular basis with or without veteran players.

”I’m proud of them and the effort to be a really good basketball team,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said.

Paul George scored 21 points to lead the Pacers to an 88-83 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday.

D.J. Augustin had 17 points and David West added 13 points and nine rebounds for the Pacers, who have won five of six. George also had six rebounds and five assists.

Zach Randolph had 21 points and 15 rebounds and Marc Gasol scored 13 for the Grizzlies, who have lost three of four…

Still without star forward Danny Granger and with the injured Hill on the bench and even without center Roy Hibbert putting up the expected numbers, Indiana remains atop the Central Division and now a game up on the Chicago Bulls…

[Lance] Stephenson was listed as day to day with a left orbital contusion, but started. … Grizzlies F Quincy Pondexter didn’t travel with the team because of a left MCL sprain. … Hibbert’s first offensive rebound of the night was his 800th career.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Grizzlies recall guard Tony Wroten from D-League

The Memphis Grizzlies recalled guard Tony Wroten from the NBA Development League’s Reno Bighorns, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.

Wroten (6-6, 208) averaged 14.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists on .545 shooting in 29.5 minutes in two games (both starts) for Reno after being re-assigned to the Bighorns on Dec. 26. The 19-year-old has recorded 13.6 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists on .411 shooting in 24.5 minutes in eight games (two starts) over two assignments with Reno this season.

The Seattle native will join the Grizzlies for their road contest against the Indiana Pacers at 2 p.m. CT today at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Drafted by Memphis in the first round (25th overall) of the 2012 NBA Draft after one season at the University of Washington, Wroten has totaled eight minutes in three appearances for the Grizzlies during his rookie season.

Grizzlies re-assign Tony Wroten to D-League

The Memphis Grizzlies re-assigned guard Tony Wroten to the NBA Development League’s Reno Bighorns, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.

Wroten (6-6, 208) averaged 13.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists on .370 shooting (.438 three-point shooting) in 22.8 minutes in six games for Reno during his first assignment from Nov. 27-Dec. 17. The 19-year-old scored a D-League season-high 21 points in his Bighorns debut on Dec. 2 at Santa Cruz and matched that total in his next game on Dec. 7 vs. Bakersfield.

The Seattle native will be Bighorns for their next game on Friday, Dec. 28 at Idaho.

Memphis will seek its fourth consecutive home victory tonight when the Grizzlies host the Philadelphia 76ers at 7 p.m. tonight at FedExForum.

James Harden leads Rockets over Grizzlies

Houston coach Kevin McHale figured the best way to beat the Memphis Grizzlies was to get down the court before they could get their dominant defense set.

His plan worked perfectly.

James Harden scored 31 points with eight assists, and the Rockets earned their third straight win, 121-96 over the Grizzlies on Saturday night.

Memphis entered the game allowing an NBA-low 89.2 points a game. But the Grizzlies had no answer for Harden. He did all his scoring in the first three quarters and reached at least 20 points for an eighth straight game…

Mike Conley had 16 points for the Grizzlies on a night when leading scorer Rudy Gay finished with a season-low six points…

”I think tonight we showed how explosive we can be offensively because we put 120 points on a team that hasn’t allowed over 100 since the first game of the season,” Lin said. ”This is just a testament to people moving and passing the ball.” …

Lin added 15 points and a season-high tying 11 assists, and Marcus Morris scored 16 points…

Randolph finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds for his 21st double-double this season, which leads the league.

Houston’s 32 assists were a season-high.

— Reported by Kristie Rieken of the Associated Press

Grizzlies recall Josh Selby from D-League

The Memphis Grizzlies recalled guard Josh Selby from the NBA Development League’s Reno Bighorns, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.

Selby (6-2, 183) posted 22.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 7.0 assists on .439 shooting in 34.0 minutes in two games for Reno after being assigned on Dec. 17. The 21-year-old finished with 23 points and scored the Bighorns’ final 10, including the go-ahead free throws with 5.0 seconds remaining, in a 98-97 win on Dec. 21 at Austin. He totaled 21 points in his season debut for Reno on Dec. 20 at Rio Grande Valley.

Drafted by Memphis in the second round (49th overall) of the 2011 NBA Draft, the Baltimore native has logged a total of 15 minutes in five appearances for the Grizzlies this season.

Selby will join the Grizzlies for tonight’s tilt with the Houston Rockets at 7 p.m. at the Toyota Center, where Memphis will seek its fifth consecutive victory.

Grizzlies overcome slow start to beat Bulls

The Memphis Grizzlies were struggling early against the stingy Chicago Bulls, taking bad shots and committing turnovers.

Then the Grizzlies’ bench took over, providing the burst that helped Memphis beat the Bulls 80-71 on Monday night.

”I thought it was huge what they did,” Grizzlies guard Mike Conley said of the second-period play by the reserves. ”They came in and changed the game, changed the tempo. They got it going up and down a little bit. Got the ball movement where we like it to be.” …

Conley led Memphis with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting and four assists, while Zach Randolph added 10 points and 15 rebounds.

Rudy Gay had 12 points for Memphis but shot 5 of 13, continuing his slump. Wayne Ellington scored all 11 of his points in the second quarter, when the Grizzlies’ reserves provided the lift after a sluggish first period, when Memphis managed only 11 points for its lowest output in the opening quarter this season.

Carlos Boozer led the Bulls with 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Marco Belinelli finished with 13 points. Luol Deng and Joakim Noah had 11 points apiece for the Bulls, but Deng was 4 of 17 from the field…

Both teams shot just better than 37 percent. But Memphis was 6 of 11 from 3-point range compared to the Bulls hitting only 2 of 11 long-range shots. The Memphis frontline of Gay, Randolph and Marc Gasol were a combined 10 of 34, while the Bulls starting frontline of Deng, Boozer and Noah made 16 of 42.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Grizzlies assign Josh Selby to D-League and recall Tony Wroten

The Memphis Grizzlies assigned guard Josh Selby to the NBA Development League’s Reno Bighorns and recalled guard Tony Wroten, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.

Selby (6-2, 183) will be assigned to Reno, the Grizzlies’ D-League affiliate, for the first time this season. The 21-year-old enjoyed great success with the Bighorns during the 2011-12 season, posting 25.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists on .475 shooting in 34.1 minutes in eight games (four starts) over three assignments in Reno as an NBA rookie.

Selby will be with the Bighorns for their next game on Dec. 20 at Rio Grande Valley. Drafted by Memphis in the second round (49th overall) of the 2011 NBA Draft, the Baltimore native has logged a total of 15 minutes over five appearances for the Grizzlies this season.

Wroten (6-6, 208) recorded 13.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists on .370 shooting (.438 three-point shooting) in 22.8 minutes in six games for Reno after being assigned on Nov. 27. The 19-year-old scored a D-League season-high 21 points in his Bighorns debut on Dec. 2 at Santa Cruz and matched that total in his next game on Dec. 7 vs. Bakersfield.

Drafted by Memphis in the first round (25th overall) of the 2012 NBA Draft, the Seattle native has logged a total of eight minutes in three appearances for the Grizzlies during his rookie season.

Memphis hosts the Chicago Bulls at 7 p.m. tonight at FedExForum to tip off a three-game home stand that will also feature matchups on Wednesday, Dec. 19 vs. Milwaukee and Friday, Dec. 21 vs. Dallas.

Shawne Williams arrested in Raleigh on drug charges

Former Memphis Tigers basketball star and NBA player Shawne Williams was arrested Thursday in Raleigh after police reported finding marijuana and codeine cough syrup in his car.

An officer was on routine patrol outside a Cricket wireless store in the 3400 block of Austin Peay near the Raleigh Springs Mall. The officer approached Williams in his nearby Porsche Panamera after smelling marijuana, according to a police affidavit, and the 26-year-old Williams was asked to exit his vehicle.

Williams then said, “Officer I ain’t gonna lie to you, there’s a blunt in the car and some syrup,” according to the affidavit.

Police reported finding inside the car a partially smoked marijuana blunt, another blunt that had not been smoked, and a bottle containing 83 grams of codeine cough syrup, for which Williams did not have a prescription.

— Reported by Scott Carroll of the Memphis Commercial Appeal

Memphis Grizzlies hire John Hollinger of ESPN

The Memphis Grizzlies announced today the hiring of John Hollinger as Vice President of Basketball Operations and Stu Lash as Director of Player Personnel and Basketball Development. Hollinger and Lash will work with General Manager Chris Wallace on basketball-related matters.

“We are thrilled to have John and Stu join the Grizzlies,” Grizzlies CEO & Managing Partner Jason Levien said. “Both of these individuals will provide innovative and unique perspectives that bolster the organization’s future.”

Hollinger joins the Grizzlies organization by way of ESPN, where he was best known as an NBA Insider columnist on ESPN.com at the forefront of basketball’s analytics movement. He is the inventor of advanced statistics such as Player Efficiency Rating (PER), Offensive Efficiency, Defensive Efficiency and Pace Factor, as well as several other tools that analyze and forecast team and player performance.

Before joining ESPN, Hollinger covered the NBA for SI.com, Oregonlive.com and The New York Sun. He also authored four annual editions of the Pro Basketball Forecast. He first gained notoriety nearly 20 years ago as the creator of Alleyoop.com, a Web site devoted to basketball analytics. Hollinger is a native of New Jersey, where he played on his high school basketball team, and graduated from the University of Virginia with degrees in Economics and Environmental Science.

“It is clear to me that this is an organization that is focused on building thoughtful decision-making processes and establishing a forward-thinking culture of sustained success,” Hollinger said. “Working in Memphis and being part of the new vision and leadership was an opportunity I just could not pass up.”

Lash comes to the Grizzlies after serving as Vice President of Basketball for Lagardere Unlimited since 2009. Lash spent five NBA seasons with the Denver Nuggets where he worked with the front office and coaching staffs, including serving as the scouting and video coordinator. He was responsible for draft analysis, scouting efforts, scouting schedules and upcoming game preparation. Lash graduated from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

In addition, the Grizzlies announced that longtime Grizzlies’ employee Chantal Hassard will assume the expanded role of Director of Team Operations. Hassard, now in her 18th season, will manage the team’s administration systems and development while working closely with the coaching staff. In addition, Hassard will serve as the team’s player development representative providing Grizzlies players with educational programs and critical support services.