Randolph had 17 of his 31 points in the final quarter with 11 rebounds, and the Grizzlies put off visiting San Antonio Spurs 99-91 on Friday night to close their first-round Western Conference series, 4-2.
"I would like to touch the ball every time down the court," he said. "I did take the initiative to try to take over the game." Grizzlies were 0-12 in three previous post-season appearance. However, they have etched their names into the record books by becoming only the second eighth seed to knock off top seed in the seven-game series the way to victory in the first playoff series in franchise history.
"Not many people knew much about us coming in, but we certainly made some noise, turned some heads and got some attention, that probably would not have given us if we lost this series," Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said.
"I'm pleased with where we are, but I'm not satisfied with the view that this is a great opportunity to do something really special." Memphis moves in the conference semifinals against fourth-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder on the road since Sunday. Grizzlies took three of four regular meetings of the season against Northwest Division champions.
Spaniard Marc Gasol had 12 points with 13 rebounds, while Tony Allen and Venezuelan rookie Greivis Vasquez had 11 off the bench for the Grizzlies, who outplayed their opponents throughout the physically demanding series.
Frenchman Tony Parker scored 23 points, Manu Ginobili of Argentina ace was 16, and Tim Duncan finished with 12 and 10 boards for the Spurs, who posted a league best 61-21 regular season record, but failed to do so from the first round.
"It's very frustrating," said Parker. "We played well all season, but this does not mean anything if you do not play well in the playoffs. In general, Memphis played better than we give them credit." Dove close game five to escape, the Grizzlies came out on fire, quickly Racing on a 14-point advantage over their wild applause of 18,119 towel-rejection of the fans at the sold out FedEx Forum.
"We came out with a chip on our shoulders," said Randolph. "We thought we could win this game." Spurs chipped away and took a brief 80-79 lead on a jumper by Antonio McDyess with 4:39 left. Randolph, a self-described "blue-collar worker, went to work.
"We have grown to one with five minutes to go, but we did not make plays that we needed to win the game, and we could not stop Zach," Parker said.
"He made all the aces in the fourth quarter. That's what you need if you want to win the series;. Your best player makes the big shots, and he certainly delivered a big win for them," "From the press-me-up, we just they got back, and we drove it, he was an English war-horse, "Hollins said Randolph.
"He was really taking us in the fourth quarter." Burly forward scored 10 of the Grizzlies' next 14 points to the range of birds left the bridge and actuators to open a 91-82 lead with 1:01 remaining.
After the Spurs pulled out a 95-89, Randolph sank one of two free throws with 9.8 ticks to go. He sat on a bench to watch history being made and the celebrations begin
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