Damn you, Jesus Shuttlesworth!!!!

So, we've learned something about our Memphis Grizzlies over the last week. They appear to be for real. I'm not saying they will make the playoffs. That's tough to do when you start in a hole the way the Grizz did this year. I'm sticking with my mid thirties win expectation.

Having said that, they are for real. How do I know this? Well, first of all, Sunday night they went into Miami and completely embarrassed the Heat on their home court. If I was Dwayne Wade I would have been ashamed of that effort. But since I'm not Dwayne Wade and I am Evil, I was happy as a clam to be a Grizzlies fan. They shut down the Heat. They couldn't be stopped on offense. It was great.

That's not really showed me that the Grizz were for real. Games like that happen in the NBA. It's a long season and sometimes one team gets hot and another doesn't show up. The Knicks game at home last year comes to mind. That stuff just happens over a long season.

Something else happens over the course of a season. Sometimes a team has to play a game in Miami one night and the next night they have to go home and play the Boston Celtics who got into town a night early. Now, anyone who watches some NBA knows what happens. The team on the second half of a back to back doesn't play well. The Celtics get an easy night and Brian Scalabrine gets a lot of minutes.

That's just what happens. You don't get mad about it. You accept it and hope that you can beat the Pacers later in the week. That's just how things work.

Well, that's how things work if you don't have a team that is for real. A team that must be respected. Were they tired? Clearly. Rudy Gay had no legs in the second half. Were they going to give in to that? Nope. They played together and fought through being tired. They showed they were a real NBA basketball team.

That was the most impressive game I have seen out of the Grizz this year. It was more impressive than the Cavs game because the schedule was stacked against them. It was better because the Celtics are better than the Cavs. It was better because the Celtics came in on a 10 game winning streak and needed a miracle to beat the youngest team in the league. It was better because the Celtics got after the Grizz in the second half and the Grizz didn't back down.

They were tired and they were playing a team with three future hall of famers and the put their heads down and went to work. OJ Mayo hit big shots. Rudy Gay hit big shots. They played team defense. They did all these things and it came down to one play. The Celtics were running Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett on a pick and roll every time down the court. It's hard to stop two hall of famers down the stretch on a pick and roll. That's why they run it. Well, Rudy got a finger on the ball and it tipped it away from Pierce. The ball goes out top. Ray Allen picks it up with 1 second on the shot clock. He slings it at the goal. Nothing but net.

That was it. Game over.

The Celtics won. And they deserved to. They are really damn good. I mean really really good. They bring Rasheed Wallace off the bench. I mean, they are the team that can compete with the Lakers for the title. But here's the thing, they had to give it everything they had and won on a miracle shot. I'm not a big fan of moral victories, but I was happy with how well this Grizz team played and I'm looking forward to the game tonight against the Hawks.

Go Grizz!!!!

Oh... and DAMN YOU, JESUS SHUTTLESWORTH!!!!