Last season the Memphis Grizzlies finished up their 2011-2012 run as the fourth best team in the Western Conference, posting a record of 41-25. This lead them to have home-court advantage for the first time in franchise history. That playoff run ended in a devastating game 7 loss at home in the first round to the Los Angeles Clippers.
To celebrate that season, the NBA has released the top 10 best and most exciting plays from the Grizzlies last season including fancy dunks, clutch jumpers and nice passes from the team. Here they are:
10. This play shows what we already know: Marc Gasol is a fantastic passer for a 7 footer and Rudy Gay is an amazing dunker. Combine those two factors and you get a 2-hand dunk and-1 from Gay against the Indiana Pacers.
9. Showing his “range”, Gay hits a half-court jump shot against the Clippers at the end of the first quarter. I wonder if he called glass.
8. This is one of the best dunks of the year from Tony Allen. Add the fact that Josh Smith is a terrific shot blocker and you get a fantastic facial on Smith.
7. Former Grizzlies player Jeremy Pargo shows Kevin Seraphin of the Washington Wizards that point guards can dunk to by putting him in a poster. This may end up being the highlight of Pargo’s career.
6. The Mikey Conley-Rudy Gay connection has been apart of the Grizzlies offense for the past 3-4 years and this off-the-backboard reverse dunk may have been the best one yet.
5. Here is another clear showing of how great a passer Gasol is and how great a dunker Gay is. The only difference between the 10th play and this play is that there is a defender under the basket as Gay assaults the rim with his one-handed jam.
4. As the best player on the team, Gay shows he is taking strides of becoming the player that can guard the premier scorer on the other team. His length blocks a jumper from Wesley Matthews of the Portland Trailblazers that would have been a game winner.
3. This is turning into the Rudy Gay show. This time he shows his clutch gene as he drains a three pointer at the buzzer to take the game into overtime.
2. When Rudy can’t come up with the game winner against the Golden State Warriors, his teammate Tony Allen saves the day with an offensive putback to win the game.
1. The number one play is the exact same situation as the number two play. This time instead of Allen saving the day, former Grizzly Dante Cunningham tips the ball in the basket with .2 seconds on the clock to defeat the Denver Nuggets.
