Grizzlies 115, Raptors 107 posted by Brad Hurt
This just in : Zach Randolph is a beast. Everyone who has said he would be a cancer and wouldn't play hard and is the same thug he was in Portland isn't looking very smart right now. Randolph can single-handedly dominate the post for the Grizzlies this season. He proved as much last night against the Toronto Raptors as the Grizz earned their first win of the season 115-107 on Friday. Randolph led the Grizzlies with 30 points and seven rebounds.
Chris Bosh led all scorers with 37 points. Sure, that is a high number, but the Grizzlies forced him to try to beat them single-handedly, focusing their defense on Hedo Turkoglu, who burned them in the past as a member of the Sacramento Kings. Turkoglu managed only 14 points on 4-of-10 shooting.
The Grizzlies showed some of their youth with an inability to close the Raptors out when they built a double-digit lead in the first half, and lost the third quarter scoring battle as usual, but they outscored the visitors 39-28 in the fourth quarter to snuff out any hope of a comeback.
Along with Randolph, the Grizzlies got double figures from the other four starters, as well as 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench from rookie Demarre Carroll, who looks like he could be a stud. Who needs DeJuan Blair when you can get a guy who will sacrifice his body for a loose ball, snatch rebounds out of nowhere and knock down a shot in the clutch? Carroll earned a reputation as a scorer at Missouri, but he has shown there is little he can't do on the professional level, and he doesn't appear rattled yet in his first two appearances. I'm sure his day will come, though. It's a long season, and it drags down every rookie sooner or later.
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