The Memphis Grizzlies held off the Portland Trail Blazers in a 115-109 road victory. The Blazers refused to give up in the final minute despite being down by seven points.
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(Video) Memphis Grizzlies PG Mike Conley leaves game with eye injury
(Video) Memphis Grizzlies SF Jeff Green makes unbelievable shot while falling over
They committed seven intentional fouls over that span, but the Grizzlies made all but one of their free throws to seal the win.
The Blazers had kept it close in the first quarter as they only trailed by five points at the end of it.
However, the Grizzlies exploded with 38 points in the second quarter and took a 62-49 lead at halftime.
Power forward LaMarcus Aldridge struggled greatly in the first half for the Blazers as he shot 1-for-8.
Aldridge heated up in the third quarter though as he scored eight points on 4-of-5 shooting in that span.
The Blazers went on a 16-9 run to start the fourth quarter, and they trimmed the Grizzlies’ lead to three points with 2:23 remaining.
Blazers small forward Nicolas Batum led the way with eight points during that run, and he capped it off with a three-pointer.
The Grizzlies subsequently went on a 6-0 run. Shooting guard Tony Allen made two key shots, including a dunk.
After Blazers point guard Damian Lillard made one free throw with 1:02 remaining to make it a seven-point game, the barrage of intentional fouls began.
Grizzlies center Marc Gasol made four free throws to start it off while the Blazers responded with layups.
Blazers shooting guard C.J. McCollum made it a five-point game with 28 seconds left after converting a three-point play.
Gasol then made two free throws before shooting guard Courtney Lee closed it out behind the charity stripe twice for the Grizzlies. McCollum ended the game on a buzzer-beating three-pointer.
The Grizzlies executed an extremely well-balanced and high-scoring offense as five of their players scored in double digits, and two of them scored at least 20.
Gasol led the Grizzlies with 25 points, seven rebounds and four assists while shooting 13-for-14 from the free throw line.
Lee added 20 points while shooting a perfect 9-for-9 on his free throws. Even small forward Jeff Green, who shot 2-for-9 with nine points, joined in on the fun with this insane, highlight-worthy shot.
Despite the Grizzlies’ excellent free throw shooting, which stood at 90.7 percent, they suffered what may be a major loss down the road.
Point guard Mike Conley, who scored 14 points, left the game in the third quarter after taking McCollum’s elbow to the eye and may not return in the near future.
For the Blazers, Batum scored 27 points while shooting 6-for-12 from downtown and adding six rebounds and four assists.
Lillard added 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting, which marked what was easily his best performance of this series.
McCollum also experienced a dramatic turnaround in his performance as he scored 26 points on 8-of-14 shooting in 27 minutes off the bench.
Aldridge put his first-half struggles behind him and finished relatively strongly with 21 points on 6-of-18 shooting.
The Grizzlies will have a chance to sweep the Blazers in Portland in Game 4 on Monday, but it will be difficult if Conley’s injury is as serious as it seemed on the court.
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