The question of whether Memphis can recover is pretty significant. There's a history in the NBA playoffs of teams blowing huge leads and then bouncing back and winning the series. Greg Anthony mentions in the video above the Knicks team that allowed Reggie Miller's eight points in nine seconds. The Nets similarly lost a huge lead to Boston in 2002 and then won three straight to close out the series.
But Memphis is not a tested team in the truest sense. They've never had the pressure of being the favorites, of being a near contender. The reaction to blowing a lead like that on a younger team is going to be massive.
Lost in the comeback was the reality that Memphis had played above its own typical ceiling for three quarters. The Grizzlies are not a great jumpshooting team, yet shot the lights out for three quarters. A crash back to reality was inevitable... just maybe not so dramatically in the fourth.
But on the flip side, if you tell the Grizzlies that the Clippers will have to continually win behind Nick Young and Reggie Evans, they're going to take those odds. Credit the Clippers for stepping up, but the only thing Game 1 really told us about this series is that it's going to be a wild one.
