Memphis Loses 108-103 in Overtime; Grizzlies Eliminated from Playoff Hunt, Bad Calls Sour Close Game

The last way you want a close game to end is by the decisions of the officiating crew; both Bucks and Grizzlies fans will agree on that after today's game. This game should have been a thriller, but the refs didn't help matters, seemingly making all the wrong calls at all the wrong times.

Just to name a few: Brandon Jennings received a phantom foul call for barely even defending a Mike Conley miss in the lane, which let the Grizz into overtime. Andrew Bogut, with neither foot set, drew a offensive foul on Rudy Gay in OT. Then the Bucks got a kick ball off a forced pass, not normally a big call, but it reset their shot clock to be about the same 14 seconds as the game clock.

O.J. Mayo tried to pull out the win, despite the calls. He let Luke Ridinour fly by off a pump, then drained a three to pull the Grizzlies within one possession. On the next trip down, again isolated against Ridinour, O.J. ripped, getting Lovely Luke's hands out, then pulled up to shoot through the Buck's arms. He missed the three badly but didn't care, because that's always a foul, right? No. Grizzlies lose.

Of course for Tim Duncan and Paul Pierce, the wily vets Juice was copying, it's always a call. But for O.J., I guess not.

Andrew Bogut and Marc Gasol both returned, though Bogut was clearly less rusty, scoring 18 points with 11 boards and 4 blocks. Zach Randolph led all scorers with 31 points, but Rudy Gay and John Salmons went at each other, too. Rudy dropped 20, while Salmons got 25 to just edge out the matchup.

Mike Conley and Brandon Jennings was quite the matchup, too. Mike put up a decent game, scoring 18 with 10 assists and 4 steals in the double-double effort. Jennings nailed down 29 of his own, nearly triple-doubling with 7 rebounds and 8 assists.

And not only was it sad to see this great game ended by the officials, but the Grizzlies season was sealed as well. While the Grizz have been effectively out of the playoff hunt for awhile, they're now mathematically eliminated from the postseason. It was a hell of a run this season but, in the end, the Grizz were just like Mayo - too young to get the call.