The Pistons came into Tuesday night’s contest against the Grizzlies having lost 10 straight, and it looked as though they were on their way to 11 as Memphis built a second-quarter lead of as many as 17 points.
But Detroit came out strong in the second half, shooting 61 percent from the field and outscoring the Grizzlies by 25 points over the final two periods to come away with a 10-point victory over the team sitting at second place in the Western Conference standings.
Predictably, none of the Grizzlies were pleased afterward. But Zach Randolph was especially upset by his team’s performance.
From Ronald Tillery of the Commercial Appeal:Zach Randolph stomped around the visitors’ locker room, wearing a scowl and delivering a twofold rant about the Grizzlies’ latest debacle.
“Ten in a row?” the veteran power forward said. “Ten in a row?” ...
“We’ve got to get tough,” Randolph said before nearly pushing the locker room door off its hinges upon his exit. “It’s not just one thing. It’s a lot. We were soft, and we didn’t stick to what we were doing. It’s a disappointing loss, especially with what we’re talking about doing. We’ve got to do something to fix this.”
The Grizzlies are just 8-7 since the All-Star break, and despite their position in the standings, there will be no easy outs in the West once the playoffs get started.
If the postseason began today, Memphis would face the defending champion Spurs in the first round. But really, any of the teams in the two-through-seven spots could change places before then, as they’re all only separated by a total of three-and-a-half games.
There are problems in Memphis that go well beyond this one game -- which is why Randolph was so expressive.