Grizzlies 101, Kings 96
Zach Randolph had 27 points and 15 rebounds, and the Memphis Grizzlies avoided a late collapse Friday to clinch a playoff berth with a 101-96 victory over the visiting Sacramento Kings.
Marc Gasol had 18 points and four blocks for the Grizzlies (45-34), who wrapped up the eighth and final spot in the Western Conference. It’s the club’s first postseason trip since the 2005-06 campaign.
After Darrell Arthur’s dunk with 5:45 left in the fourth put the Grizzlies up 92-82, the Kings responded with a 10-2 run to pull within a bucket as Memphis went scoreless for nearly 2½ minutes.
A layup by Sacramento’s Marcus Thornton with 39 seconds left cut it to 97-96. Randolph then spilt a pair of free throws with 19 ticks to go and blocked Tyreke Evans’ layup attempt on the other end.
Sam Young’s free throw made it 99-96 and Thornton missed a 3-pointer with 6 seconds remaining as Memphis held on.
Thornton led the Kings (23-56) with 18 points while Samuel Dalembert notched 17 points and 16 rebounds.