Grizzly business

The big news here was supposed to have been the return of Pau Gasol, and indeed he rolled up 15 points in the first half, though the Hornets squeaked out a 45-40 lead. In the third, though, the Grizzlies found another weapon: the 3-ball, which they wielded with wild abandon, outscoring the Bees 30-20 in the quarter. With barely a minute left, it was tied; Tyson Chandler, who had wangled 17 rebounds, fouled out; Marc Jackson got a clutch rebound, Chris Paul dropped it through at the 0:06 mark, but Gasol answered at 0:009, and lo, there was a 90-90 tie and overtime.

And then Gasol, having amassed 28 points, left the floor halfway through the overtime and clambered into his warmups — the Grizzlies, inexplicably, decided to pull him lest he reinjure himself — and the Hornets finished them off, 100-97.

The new kid got some minutes: Devin Brown missed four shots, but did snag a rebound. And six Hornets scored in double figures, with three double-doubles in the mix: Marc Jackson, off the bench, got 19 points (a season high) and 10 rebounds; Desmond Mason had 17 and 12 boards; Chris Paul scored 15 and dropped 12 dimes. Hilton Armstrong, starting at power forward, had a good night with 14 points.

But what gave the Hornets fits were all those Memphis 3-balls — ten of 'em, four by Mike Miller. The Grizzlies were also way better at the charity stripe, missing only four of them. (The Bees bobbled nine.)

With San Antonio losing to Houston tonight, the Spurs should be in a foul mood tomorrow.

Posted at 9:50 PM to Net Proceeds