Third-year Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay is considered to be "the man" for the Grizzlies ever since Pau Gasol was traded last winter to the Lakers. Gay has had chances before in the clutch to prove that, but never did until Friday night when he nailed the 18-foot game-winner in an 86-84 win over the Magic.
The most notable thing was how the Grizzlies tried to ride Gay down the stretch. Almost every play was designed for him, and he said he would have it no other way. "Of course, I wanted the ball down the stretch," Gay said. "We have some other people who can knock down shots, but that's the competitor in me. If I could shoot every shot, I would.
"But that wouldn't make me a very good teammate, would it?"
Grizzlies coach Marc Iavaroni wouldn't mind that.
"There was one guy in the building I wanted to have that shot and it was Rudy Gay," Iavaroni said. "It was 'The Rudy Gay Show.' He made some incredible shots."
GRIZZLIES 86, MAGIC 84: Rudy Gay's 18-foot fall-away jumper at the buzzer gave the Grizzlies their first win in a home opener since the franchise moved to Memphis prior to the 2001-02 season. Gay finished with 29 points, and was the go-to-guy on virtually every big play down the stretch. But he had some help in other areas, such as center Marc Gasol making a huge blocked shot on Orlando's Keith Bogans with 49 seconds left, or point guard Kyle Lowry stealing away a too-high lob pass from Dwight Howard with 1.9 seconds left that gave the Grizzlies their final shot at a victory.
