The Memphis Grizzlies have a magic number when it comes to m

[linhe]

ORLANDO, Fla. Eliaquim Mangala France Jersey . -- The Memphis Grizzlies have a magic number when it comes to making the playoffs -- and they hit it on Wednesday night. Zach Randolph had 20 points, Courtney Lee added 17 and the Memphis Grizzlies held off the Orlando Magic 86-81 for their 29th win of the season. The Grizzlies have made the playoffs every season when they win 29 or more games before the All-Star break. Theyve also never made the post-season when winning fewer than 29 games before the seasons midpoint. The Grizzlies led by as many as 13 points in the second half before having to fight off several Magic runs down the stretch. They survived, but did lose centre Marc Gasol in the third quarter when he limped off the court after aggravating a left knee injury. "We just stuck with it was the most important thing," Grizzlies forward Tayshaun Prince said. "When Marc went out, everybody was kind of hurt by it. ... But this is definitely a good win going into the break." Gasol didnt appear to be in a lot of pain, but he will have an MRI on the knee as a precaution. Grizzlies coach David Joerger said afterward that he is optimistic. "Im really proud of our first half of the season, and then to come out and lose Marc for a little bit -- hopefully not a lot," he said. Memphis beat the Magic for the sixth straight time and enters the break having won eight of its last 11. Nik Vucevic had 13 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Magic. Tobias Harris added 13 points. But they committed 14 turnovers that led to 19 Memphis points. Orlando had won three straight and five in a row at home. "It was our game, I thought, right there. We let one slip away," Harris said. Following the Grizzlies win over Washington on Tuesday, Joerger acknowledged his team was mentally tired. It showed as the game wore on Wednesday against Orlando. First they lost Gasol, then after leading by as many as 13 points in the first half, the Magic stormed back and briefly took the lead in the third quarter. Orlando trailed by three entering the final period. Magic coach Jacque Vaughn began the fourth with the young, quick lineup of Harris, Victor Oladipo, ETwaun Moore, Maurice Harkless and Kyle OQuinn that had been so effective in back-to-back wins, over Oklahoma City and Indiana Orlando surged at the outset, but Memphis weathered the rally and got two free-throws from Randolph that put the Grizzlies up 78-77 with 4 minutes to play. Memphis was leading 80-79 when Jameer Nelsons 3-pointer bounced off the back of the rim and was rebounded by the Grizzlies. Lee got it and raced into the front court before a clear-path foul was called on Arron Afflalo with 35.7 seconds left. The call was upheld after an official review. Lee connected on both free throws to make it 82-79. Memphis retained possession and wound down the clock before getting Randolph free in the paint for a layup to stretch the lead to five. The Magic called timeout, but they could only muster a long 3-pointer on the other end by Oladipo that caromed off the backboard and was rebounded by Memphis. The final review was one of three in the final 1:26 of the game. "The refs did the right thing in going back and looking at a couple of them so if it happens, Id rather have them go back and look at it than just make the call and stick with it," Lee said. "One of them, they gave us the ball and another one was a clear-path foul. So it was 2 for 3. Ill take it." Vaughn said hes looking forward to seeing how his team responds with six of their first seven on the road after the break. "I think we get an immediate test," Vaughn said. "Back to the grind we go and a great challenge for our group to see if we can take some of the things we learned at home ... and see if we can kind of duplicate it on the road." Joerger said the break is coming at the perfect time. "Were exhausted. Were making mistakes toward the ends of games that are just mental mistakes ... those are exhaustion mistakes," he said. "It was a slugfest, I thought at halftime maybe wed get to 84. We got 86 so Im fired up." NOTES: The Grizzlies improved to 6-4 this season in the second night of a back-to-back. ... Memphis G Mike Conley missed his seventh straight game with a sprained right ankle. Fabian Orellana Chile Jersey . Trouba injured himself in Winnipegs 4-3 shootout victory on Friday. The 19-year-old crashed into the boards in the second period as he missed a hit on St. Louis Blues defenceman Jordan Leopold. Brad Guzan USA Jersey . General manager David Poile called signing Ribeiro a great opportunity to add a talented, experienced and creative centre Tuesday when he introduced the veteran at a news conference. Ribeiros contract is worth $1.05 million after being bought out of the final three years of a $22 million contract by the Coyotes recently.TORONTO -- Brendan Shanahan was brought in to change the culture of the Toronto Maple Leafs. How the new team president plans to do that remains a mystery. In introducing Shanahan on Monday, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment president Tim Leiweke made it clear that he wasnt happy with the "character" and "culture" of the team. "Im not sure the Leafs have (the right culture)," Leiweke said. "I definitely sense that we lack an identity, and right now were a team that lacks a direction and we want to change that." Its up to Shanahan and general manager Dave Nonis to do it, but no clear direction for the organization was spelled out on Shanahans "first day at work." The 45-year-old Hall of Famer has a plan, and though he and Leiweke didnt get into specifics, plenty of changes are expected. "I have some ideas in my head about direction, but I think that at the same time ... those are subject to change," Shanahan said. "I think that its very important for people, especially in sports, to have the ability to evolve and to make changes." Change could come in the form of firing coach Randy Carlyle, whose vision for winning hockey didnt seem to fit with the Toronto roster. And it could come in the form of many different players being on the ice opening night this fall than were around for Mondays locker clean-out. But Shanahan and Nonis insist the immediate job is to step back and make an assessment of where the organization is as a whole. Even though each man called Carlyle a "good coach," its difficult to point to things like identity, culture and character without at least considering the next step. "You all saw the team this year, I think we didnt have the identity," Leiweke said. "I think Randy tried to create the identity. To the guys credit last year, they bought into that, and they took on Randys identity, I dont think that happened this year." Shanahan, who grew up in the Toronto neighbourhood of Mimico and previously worked for the NHL as the director of player safety, is expected to shape this teams identity. Its just not clear how he intends to do that. "Dave and I are going to talk about this thing or were going to talk about our team, were going to talk about how we see the best way to play for our team going forward," Shanahan said. "I think that its important for us to assess what we have here, what we have coming up, and I think thats an organizational thing. It would be presumptuous, it would be premature for me to tell you right now where were going to go." Leiweke would like Shanahan to have the same kind of success Masai Ujiri has enjoyed in his first season re-shaping the NBAs Raptors. Hell be given total authority to not only put his fingerprints on the team but completely revamp, if necessary. "This is Brendans team, its his culture, and at the end of the day he makes all the decisions, and were going to support that 100 per cent," Leiweke said. Of course with Shanahan as president, the Leafs power structure is different. All three men at Mondays news conference insisted the working relationship between Nonis and his new boss would go smoothly. "They will work well together and if we have disagreements, the disagreements will be resolved very quickly within the organization," Leiweke said. Bryan Cristante AC Milan Jersey. . "This isnt going to tear the organization apart. This is going to make the organization a better place." While Shanahan has the final say, it remains to be seen how the decision-making process will be handled. "Your boss has the final say," Nonis said. "Thats just common sense and its the way things have worked. This isnt a relationship thats going to work that way. This is going to work the way it should work, which is were going to work together to try to find the right answers together." Nonis made sure to point out that, at the end of the day, Shanahan is the boss. And Leiweke made sure to point out that this move was first agreed to last summer and not a "knee-jerk" reaction to the Leafs eight-game slide that caused them to miss the playoffs. This is Shanahans team. And while hes a Hall of Famer with three Stanley Cup rings who spent the past five years working in the league office, its difficult to pin down his philosophy, other than to figure general managers like Ken Holland of the Detroit Red Wings and Lou Lamoriello of the New Jersey Devils have influenced him over the years. Shanahan sounded like a Holland disciple on Monday. "You have to hire good people and you have to let them do their job," he said. "I think you need to step in and help them when they need help. ... Its a great feeling to be a player and be a part of a team, I view management as the same thing. Youve got your hierarchy and your leadership and things like that, but its certainly a team." The team Shanahan is taking over finished the season 2-12-0 to go from a playoff shoo-in to locker clean-out two days after a final loss in Ottawa. Major changes could be coming, but Shanahan wasnt tipping his hand. "I do like a lot about this group," he said. "From an outsider looking in, theres some really good pieces that a lot of teams would covet. ... You start by looking for ways to improve in small increments, and if you have an opportunity to make improvements, you make them." That seems to be Noniss philosophy, too, even while saying the team isnt where it needs to be. Last years trip to the playoffs may have masked some bigger issues, but falling apart so spectacularly isnt likely to lead to blowing up the roster. "When you look back if were taking the appropriate time, were going to see some things that were happy with in this group, too, and you dont want to throw the baby out with the bath water," Nonis said. "Theres quality people and quality players here, and if we want to get better, were going to do a good job of assessing those pieces and keeping the ones that we think can help us long-term." Building a contending team for the long-term seems to be the goal for Shanahan and the Leafs. Leiweke, whose earlier talk about a Stanley Cup parade drew plenty of criticism, talked instead Monday about building a group thatll be in the mix. "To me the most outstanding statistic, if you look at (Shanahans) career, is not the three Stanley Cup rings but in 21 years he made the playoffs 18 times," Leiweke said. "He is a guy thats not just a student of the game and a fan of the game, but hes an architect of the game, and thats what we needed here." cheap jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '