So it’s kind of ironic that another number 41 helped the Memphis Grizzlies overcome the Dallas Mavericks and a 17-point halftime deficit at American Airlines Center on Sunday night in route to handing the Mavs a shocking 104-103 defeat. Dirk Nowitzki tried to save the Mavs, but his jump shot with 3.1 seconds to go, was sandwiched between a Shane Battier reverse layup and the winning jump shot angled just right by Zach Randolph, who finished with 27 points.
That 41 represents the number of points Memphis scored in the third quarter. The total was more than the Mavs allowed in the entire first half. It turned a 55-38 lead on its head and left the Mavs staring unbelievably at the wrong end of a 79-78 score. It still looks deceivably close, but the team with the eight-game winning streak was outscored by 17. The quarter necessitated a precipitous drop in the field goal defense and opponent points per game categories. Randolph, who averages a double-double per game, led the charge with 12 points in the third after scoring a pedestrian six in the first two quarters. Mike Conley also banked a dozen.
Head coach Rick Carlisle balks at allowing a 30-point quarter. In a postgame press conference on FS Southwest, a stoic but agitated Carlisle had this to say regarding the crooked number:
"The whole game was the third quarter. You give up 41 points and turn it over six times and basically don’t take the challenge, I mean, you get what you deserve.”
-Rick Carlisle
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