Suns Score: Grizzlies pull away from Suns in OT, 108-98

With less than a minute to go, the Suns secured a rebound and called a timeout down a point. Out of the timeout, the Suns run their offense and Luis Scola finishes off a beautiful spin and right hook off the glass to give the Suns the lead with 37 seconds left.

On the next play, Scola hedges hard on a screen and knocks the ball away from Mike Conley. Goran Dragic recovers the ball and is fouled by Marc Gasol (Gasol's sixth foul). With 26 seconds left and holding a one-point lead, Goran Dragic steps to the line with the chance to out his team up three points.

Clank.

Dragic sank the second shot, but the damage was already done as the Grizzlies only needed a 2-pointer to tie the game. And that missed free throw turned out to be the game.

Rudy Gay hit a tough shot over P.J. Tucker and Luis Scola to tie the game with 15.9 seconds. After a timeout, the Suns came out with a chance to win the game, and failed miserably. Whether it was a bad play call by Gentry, poor execution by the players or a bad decision by Dragic, the Suns barely even got a shot off. Dragic dribbled out the clock up top, waited to long to go, for some reason unbeknownst to me picked up the ball, and then found Jermaine O'Neal for a crazy fadeaway 17-footer. Awful.

The overtime period was all Memphis as the Grizzlies outscored the Suns 14-4 behind three tough buckets by Zach Ranolph. Z-Bo was clearly the best player on the court all night, but even more so in OT. He was the difference.

It's a real shame the Suns blew what was otherwise a tremendous effort. Phoenix built a lead as large as 16 in the first half behind excellent defense and lackadaisical play by the Grizzlies. The Suns forced 12 turnovers and held the Grizzlies to 39 percent shooting. However, the Grizz woke up and made a late run to cut the Suns' lead to 52-45 at the break. For the rest of the night the Suns fought to hold onto the lead, but still let it slip away.

Standout Stats

• 50-32 edge in rebounding for Memphis; time and time again, the Suns played good defense and forced a miss, but couldn't secure the board as either the Grizzlies were able to get a hand on it and tip it around or Zach Randolph just beat everyone to the ball. Speaking of Z-Bo...
• Randolph torched the Suns for 38 points and 22 rebounds, and single-handedly outscored the Suns 6-4 in OT; Z-Bo was the best player on the floor, worked harder than everyone else and had everything fall for him, not a good recipe for his opponents
• Goran Dragic played 43 total minutes tonight, 38 in regulation; those who were calling for Dragic to play extended minutes got their wish with Sebastian Telfair missing the game, and Dragic responded with 19 points and seven assists; however, he also missed that free throw
• Marcin Gortat only took four shots and made three of them; he also shot 5-6 from the free-throw line; why didn't he get more looks?
• 46-24 edge in bench points for the Suns; however, the starters were outscored 84-52
  
• Spotlight on Garrett: Diante Garrett played less than 10 minutes, but he finished with one point, three assists, one rebound, one steal, two turnovers and was +2; that's the kind of player Garrett is - a do-it-all guard and a willing passer
• Tweet by Suns stat guru Vince Kozar: "@SunsStats #Suns coming home with seven wins, three losses by four points or less, two losses in overtime. #keepthefaith #longseason"

BOXSCORE

For more, visit Straight Outta Vancouver