Rudy Gay got 24 points the hard way in Friday's 101-96 overtime loss to Milwaukee. He scored just seven points in the first three quarters before scoring 10 points in the fourth quarter and seven points in overtime.
Hopefully, the late-game outburst is a sign that Gay is shaking a mini-slump, but he understands his role and the attention of the opposing defense has changed now that he's the main focus of the Grizzlies' attack. "Defenses are keying on me, and the biggest thing about it is that I have to learn how to pick out my spots," Gay said. "I have to learn how to make my teammates better when teams come at me. My problem is shot selection."
Grizzlies coach Marc Iavaroni thinks Gay has been pressing too much.
"He just has to let the game come to him a little bit," Iavaroni said. "He's putting a little bit too much pressure on himself to score."
BUCKS 101, GRIZZLIES 96 (OT): The Grizzlies led by 16 points at one point and looked like they had this one in the bag. Then, Milwaukee, pardon the pun, went buck wild on the offensive boards, grabbing 23 of them and scoring 28 second-chance points to bring the Bucks back in overtime. Memphis had actually rallied back in the fourth quarter, and held an 87-84 lead with 20 seconds left in regulation. But the Grizzlies couldn't get the needed defensive stop at the end of regulation, giving up the game-tying three-pointer to the Bucks' Ramon Sessions that sent the game to overtime. There, Memphis continued to get pounded on the boards.
