NBA: Memphis Grizzlies Prey on Michael Beasley and the Minnesota Timberwolves
Despite shooting almost 50 percent from the floor, Minnesota continued to feel Kevin Love’s absence as it fell 106-89 to Memphis Saturday night.
Michael Beasley led the pack with 20 points and Luke Ridnour added 17 points and three assists.
Besides being without Love (strained left groin), the Timberwolves’ second big man was sidelined as well. Darko Milicic was listed as inactive due to an ankle sprain. With a slighted lineup, head coach Kurt Rambis moved Beasley to the power forward position.
While Beasley put forth a decent overall performance, Rambis said postgame that his decision to move Beasley ultimately hurt the team’s rebounding and defense under the basket.
Without Love and Milicic, Minnesota grabbed only 34 boards for the evening.
Unfortunately for Minnesota, the Timberwolves gave up a startling 26 turnovers, returning to habits of old. Beasley, Nikola Pekovich, Jonny Flynn and Anthony Randolph each committed four turnovers apiece and Memphis capitalized on 17 steals.
“We played really hard and gave a good effort, considering how short-handed we were,” Rambis said, according to NBA.com.
“[But] when you give up 33 points off of turnovers, it’s too big of a hole to dig yourselves out of. You have to do something extraordinary if you’re going to give up that many points."
For the Grizzlies, Zach Randolph came in as leading scorer with 22 points and eight rebounds. The energetic forward played just over 30 minutes and went 9-of-14 from the hardwood.
O.J. Mayo, although criticized some for his performance thus far, tallied 20 points off the bench to aid in the Memphis victory.
“We kind of came out a little lethargic and a little slow when the game began, but we picked our energy up,” Randolph commented postgame.
“Guys came off the bench and played well. O.J. had a great game and other guys chipped in and contributed."
While Minnesota falls to 17-60, Memphis advances to 44-33 and sits at seventh place in the Western Conference standings.
