Grizzlies 103, Knicks 82: "Good workmanlike tanking game"

The Knicks came home for their second game in as many nights only to find the most grueling opponent in the league waiting for them. On top of that, New York only dressed nine players total. That certainly played a role in this slugfest. The Knicks were somehow able to keep pace through two quarters. Eventually the Grizzly bigs commanded too much attention and from there the shooters started to have the extra space they needed.

Oh man it's been such a painful year. Toby Flenderson summed up tonight pretty nicely in the game thread, it was just some good clean work. We're getting very close to single digit games left, though! Let's bury another fart in this flea-ridden couch with some notations...

- Marc Gasol was much too much for Andrea Bargnani. Drawing fouls early relegated the Knicks' stretch of a forward to the bench. Gasol proceeded to pummel all comers. He also made some gorgeous high-low passes for buckets.

Phil Jackson was at the game, so I think it can be assumed that he took notice. Gasol finished the game with 21 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists. He never really seemed challenged.

Lit.

- Lance Thomas, coming off a very nice performance in Toronto, stepped out of bounds with the ball in his hands three different times in the first quarter! How is that possible? It's a perfectly good stealth tank move, but Lance was overdoing it. If you're gonna get 38 minutes, why not spread those stupid mistakes around a little bit? It's called subtlety, Lance, ever hear of it? 15 points, 5 turnovers for the Duke product.

- Langston Galloway seemed to be playing a little more freely. After some supremely dead-legged minutes last night, Langston showed some pop on the jumper, got after it on the glass and spread the wealth. 19 points, 7 bounds, 5 assists for the rookie.

Yesterday Jim Cleamons mentioned that Langston was playing tight and worrying too much about making an impression. Teams have had time to scout Langston at this point, and he can't rely on simply being the unpredictable new guy forever. Nice to see Langston bounce right back!

He even dove into the announcer's table at center court and took out of a few monitors. Mike Breen thought he had blood in his mouth, but Clyde thought it was something he was drinking. Red Gatorade, he wondered.  So I guess it's safe to say that Langston takes a gulp of juice that we whittles and sips away during the course of the game. That way he doesn't get too thirsty. That doesn't freak me out. I did get freaked out by this:

I'm good with computers. pic.twitter.com/rHq8VPyNr1

— Charlie Osborn (@charlestosborn) March 24, 2015

Congrats to Toney for signing with the Pelicans for the remainder of the season, by the way. DWTDD forever!

- Bargs, as noted, checked out of the game early due to foul trouble, but slapped together a dastardly second quarter of revenge! Swooping to the hoop, canning pull up jumpers, and even bonking home a lucky-bouncing triple. In the end 18 points on 18 shots, l'chaim. One lonely rebound.

- Lou Amundson didn't do too much. He did get in the books with a candidate for worst foul call of the century. It was offensive too. That's a turnover.

- I like what they're doing when they run the side pick and roll. Sometimes they run it, then reverse and run it again. Most teams are doing this type of action at the top of the key with everybody dotting the three point arc. This maintains Triangularity while allowing some dribble penetrators the leverage to do what they do best. If only the Knicks had someone who could reliably score on the dive, or with the ball in their hands.

- Kosta Koufos looks like a cartoon vulture. He had one of the ugliest bricks I've seen in months, and I watch the Knicks.

- Zach Randolph was up to his old tricks, just bumping and bruising his way to the hoop before dropping in little flip shots. 23/7/5 assists. Didn't matter who guarded him. My favorite part of the night for Ga-Z-bo was him tossing a monstrously bad alley oop from 28 feet away. The coolest calamity.

Vince Carter was spraying threes in the second half and he helped jumpstart this game for Memphis. Once they got it running, they stepped on the gas and called it a night. Take a day off, come back Wednesday night. We'll be playing Boston. They are fighting for a playoff spot, and just knocked off Brooklyn. 11 more games, gals and guys.