Grizzlies "Grit-n-Grind" themselves to Round 2.

In a battle of two contrasting styles, the "Grit-n-Grind" fifth seeded Memphis Grizzlies advance to the second round after knocking out the team that knocked them out of the first round last season, the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers as a second team playing at the Staples Center bows out of the first round this season.

Photos ©NBA

The Clippers finished a franchise season as they won the Pacific Division title for the first time in franchise history and had their best winning season in franchise history. Led by the Lob City duo of Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, the Clippers were poised on following up their nice playoff run from last season. Joining the duo are Jamal Crawford, DeAndre Jordan, Caron Butler, Chauncey Billups, Matt Barnes, Ryan Hollins and Eric Bledsoe to name some. The Clippers looked good when they won the first two games at home including a Paul game winner in Game 2. However, the series went down for them afterwards as they lost the next four games (including one at home) to drop the series and ending a promising season for these men from Lob City.

The Grizzlies haven't missed a beat, even after trading away their star forward in Rudy Gay to the Raptors during the season. In fact, they have played better without Gay as the main focus went to their big men in Zach Randolph who had an All-Star worthy season for the Grizzlies and Marc Gasol who won the Defensive Player of the Year this season and putting up All-star numbers. They also had a big spark from Mike Conley who has been vital in running the "Grit-n-Grind" offense. The players the got in the Gay trade like veteran Tayshaun Prince and Ed Davis made their impact on this Grizzlies team. As well as players like Tony Allen, Jerryd Bayless, Darrell Arthur and Quincy Pondexter. Now, these "Grit-n'-Grind" Grizzlies continue their chase for a shot at the championship this season.

The Grizzlies will face the top seeded team in the West, the Oklahoma City Thunder who survived against the eight seeded Houston Rockets after being up 3-0 in the series and allowing the Rockets to take two games afterwards before the Thunder finally wrapped them up in six games. Thus, it sets up a rematch of their 2nd round battle in 2011.

As for the Clippers, it was a bitter finish to a promising year. In one of those seasons where they came up better than their Staples co-tentants. The spotlight will be on their head coach Vinny del Negro, whether or not he'll continue to coach the Clippers or someone else would come and coach these men from Lob City.

Here are the scores from all games of the series:

Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Grizzlies 91-112 Clippers

Grizzlies leaders:

Points: Bayless 19, Gasol 16, Randolph 13

Rebounds: Davis 6, Randolph 4, Prince 4

Assists: Gasol 7, Conley 5, Bayless 3, Prince 3

Clippers leaders:

Points: Paul 23, Billups 14, Crawford 13, Butler 13

Rebounds: Jordan 8, Butler 7, Odom 7, Griffin 5

Assists: Paul 7, Bledsoe 4, Griffin 3, Odom 3

Game 2 @ Los Angeles: Grizzlies 91-93 Clippers

Grizzlies leaders:
Points: Conley 28, Gasol 17, Allen 16

Rebounds: Allen 10, Randolph 8, Gasol 7

Assists: Conley 9, Gasol 2, Bayless 2

Clippers leaders:
Points: Paul 24, Griffin 21, Crawford 15

Rebounds: Griffin 8, Jordan 8, Odom 5

Assists: Paul 9, Griffin 4, Odom 2

Game 3 @ Memphis: Clippers 82-94 Grizzlies

Clippers leaders:

Points: Griffin 16, Barnes 12, Billups 11

Rebounds: Jordan 8, Paul 6, Hollins 4

Assists: Paul 4, Crawford 3, Bledsoe 3

Grizzlies leaders:
Points: Randolph 27, Gasol 16, Allen 13, Pondexter 13

Rebounds: Randolph 11, Allen 9, Gasol 8

Assists: Conley 10, Randolph 2, Gasol 2

Game 4 @ Memphis: Clippers 83-104 Grizzlies

Clippers leaders:

Points: Paul 19, Griffin 19, Crawford 12

Rebounds: Griffin 10, Odom 3

Assists: Paul 6, Bledsoe 5, Griffin 2

Grizzlies leaders:
Points: Randolph 24, Gasol 24, Prince 15, Conley 15

Rebounds: Gasol 13, Randolph 9, Prince 6

Assists: Conley 13, Gasol 4, Prince 3

Game 5 @ Los Angeles: Grizzlies 103-93 Clippers

Grizzlies leaders:
Points: Randolph 25, Gasol 21, Conley 20

Rebounds: Randolph 11, Gasol 8, Allen 8

Assists: Conley 6, Allen 4, Gasol 4

Clippers leaders:

Points: Paul 35, Crawford 15, Bledsoe 7

Rebounds: Barnes 9, Jordan 8, Paul 5

Assists: Griffin 5, Paul 4, Crawford 3

Game 6 @ Memphis: Clippers 105-118 Grizzlies

Clippers leaders:
Points: Barnes 30, Paul 28, Butler 14

Rebounds: Barnes 10, Jordan 4, Paul 4, Hill 4

Assists: Paul 8, Bledsoe 3

Grizzlies leaders:

Points: Randolph 23, Conley 23, Allen 19

Rebounds: Gasol 7, Allen 7, Prince 6
Assists: Conley 7, Allen 6, Prince 5

Grizzlies win series 4-2

K-Smoove