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

Streak-busters: Bobcats snap losing streak. Nuggets snap Clippers win streak at 17. Award winners for December.

The year 2013 has arrived, a brand new year, and streaks came to an end this week across the association. Here are the highlights from Week 10 in the NBA.

Bobcats snap losing streak in Chicago.

Photo ©NBA/Bobcats.com

For the team who had the roughest year in 2012, they ended the year on a high note. As the Charlotte Bobcats snap their 18-game losing streak with a 91-81 victory against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center. The Bobcats with the win, surpass their win total from last season where they finished 7-59 making history as the worst winning percentage in NBA history.

Sophomore guard Kemba Walker led the Bobcats with a great all-around game, 18 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks on 6-13 shooting from the field, Gerald Henderson scored 16 points, while Ramon Sessions and Ben Gordon came off the bench and scored 15 points each. Bismack Biyombo grabbed 11 rebounds.

Luol Deng led the Bulls with a double-double 20 points and 12 rebounds with 4 assists and 3 steals. Carlos Boozer also finished with a double-double 19 points and 14 rebounds. Rip Hamilton scored 11 points.

Bobcats head coach Mike Dunlap has been preaching patience to all the people who are on watch with the team. Who knows in 2013, maybe the Bobcats will make some noise in the East.

Nuggets snap Clippers 17 game win streak.

Photo ©NBA/Nuggets.com

A losing streak came to an end out East, while in the West, a winning streak came to an end, as the Denver Nuggets snap the 17 game winning streak the Los Angeles Clippers held, as well as getting a measure of revenge from their Christmas Day defeat in Los Angeles as they take a 92-78 victory at the Pepsi Center.

Danilo Gallinari led the Nuggets with 17 points and 6 rebounds. Kenneth Faried finished with a double-double 14 points and 11 rebounds. Andre Iguodala and Andre Miller each scored 12 points, Miller also dished out 12 assists, while Igouldala dished 8 assists. JaVale McGee off the bench added 11 points and 7 rebounds including his first career 3 pointer. Corey Brewer scored 10 points.

Blake Griffin and Eric Bledsoe led the Clippers with 12 points each. Griffin added 9 rebounds. DeAndre Jordan finished with a double-double 11 points and 11 rebounds with 3 blocks. Chris Paul added 10 points and 6 assists. Jamal Crawford and Matt Barnes each scored 9 points.

The Clippers are now in second place in the Western Conference behind the Oklahoma City Thunder. With a tight race in the West, who knows who will coach in the NBA All-Star Game in Houston for the West? 

Meanwhile in Week 9, Monta Ellis becomes the second Milwaukee Bucks player after Brandon Jennings and the sixth player to receive the Eastern Conference Player of the Week Award this season. While Greivis Vasquez of the New Orleans Hornets becomes the eighth receipient of the Western Conference Player of the Week Award.

LeBron James of the Miami Heat wins his second straight Eastern Conference Player of the Month Award for the month of December, while Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers won the Western Conference Player of the Month in December.

Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers wins his second straight Western Conference Rookie of the Month in December, while Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards won the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month in December.

Vinny Del Negro of the Los Angeles Clippers wins the Western Conference Coach of the Month after leading the Clippers to a perfect December (16-0). While Larry Drew of the Atlanta Hawks won in the Eastern Conference after leading the Hawks to a 10-5 record in December and see them competing in the Top 3 of the Eastern Conference.

Now, here are the standings from around the association:

Western Conference:

1. Thunder (25-7), 2. Clippers (27-8), 3. Spurs (27-9), 4. Grizzlies (20-10), 5. Warriors (22-11), 6. Rockets (20-14), 7. Trail Blazers (18-15), 8. Nuggets (19-16), 9. Timberwolves (15-15), 10. Jazz (17-18), 11. Lakers (15-17), 12. Mavericks (13-21), 13. Kings (13-21), 14. Suns (12-22), 15. Hornets (8-25)

Eastern Conference:

1. Heat (22-9), 2. Knicks (23-10), 3. Hawks (20-12), 4. Pacers (20-14), 5. Bulls (18-13), 6. Nets (19-15), 7. Bucks (16-16), 8. Celtics (16-17), 9. 76ers (15-20), 10. Pistons (13-22), 11. Raptors (12-21), 12. Magic (12-21), 13. Bobcats (8-24), 14. Cavaliers (8-27), 15. Wizards (4-27)

Stay tuned as the next NBA weekly blog comes your way next week.

K-Smoove

Clipper win streak up to 16, Hawks contending in the East, Avery Johnson relieved of coaching duties in Brooklyn.

On the 150th blog entry of this blog, for the last time for the year 2012, here are the highlights of Week 9 in the NBA.

Clippers win streak now at 16!

Photo ©NBA/Clippers.com

The win streak for the Western Conference leaders the Los Angeles Clippers continues as it currently stands at 16. In their last win, they had to battle from behind all game long, but they manage to pick up a huge road victory against the Utah Jazz at the EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City. With this winning streak, we could see Clippers head coach Vinny Del Negro coach the Western Conference in the 2013 NBA All Star Game in Houston, unless the Oklahoma City Thunder or the San Antonio Spurs have anything to say about it and keep contending for the top spot in the Western Conference. Then again, who knows when the streak will come to an end? But these guys from Tinseltown are playing their best basketball not only this year, but also in franchise history after all the heartbreak and struggles that the franchise had gone through in it's existence.

Hawks contending in the East.

Photo ©NBA/Hawks.com

In the Eastern Conference, the Atlanta Hawks have made a lot of headway this season and have shocked the NBA world as they currently sit in third place in the East and are right on the heels of both the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks. Their star Josh Smith have been putting up all-star numbers for the Hawks and is in serious contention to make his first All-Star Game appearance this season, after being snubbed in previous years. Smith has also been getting a lot of help this season from players like Al Horford, Lou Williams, Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver. Head coach Larry Drew has done a pretty good job in Atlanta, keeping them a competitive team every season, as well as playing well on their first season without last season's leading scorer in Joe Johnson who moved to the Nets this season. These Hawks are making some noise in the East, and their chances of sneaking to the top of the Eastern Conference are very high.

Avery Johnson relieved of coaching duties in Brooklyn.

Photo ©CBSNews.com

After 2 1/2 seasons as head coach of the Nets, the curtain has closed for the "Little General", as Avery Johnson was relieved of coaching duties by the Brooklyn Nets organization. His firing came after the Nets have gone 3-10 in December, after they started the season at 11-4 and in the Top 3 of the Eastern Conference and giving him the Coach of the Month Award  for the month of October-November. Johnson finishes his tenure with the Nets with a overall record of 60-116 (.341) which spans 2 1/2 season. Assistant coach P.J. Carlesimo has taken over the coaching reins on a interim basis for the Nets, as the organization searches for a permanent replacement for Johnson. So another coach gets the boot this season, the question now is how will the Nets continue their promising inaugural season in Brooklyn? That we will have to see in the days to come.

Meanwhile in Week 8, LeBron James of the Miami Heat has won his third Eastern Conference Player of the Week award of the season. While Chris Paul becomes the second Los Angeles Clippers player after Blake Griffin and the seventh player to receive the Western Conference Player of the Week award.

Here are the standings across the association after Week 9:

Western Conference:

1. Clippers (24-6), 2. Thunder (23-6), 3. Spurs (24-8), 4. Grizzlies (19-8), 5. Warriors (21-10), 6. Rockets (16-14), 7. Nuggets (17-15), 8. Timberwolves (14-13), 9. Trail Blazers (15-14), 10. Lakers (15-15), 11. Jazz (15-16), 12. Mavericks (12-18), 13. Suns (11-20), 14. Kings (10-19), 15. Hornets (7-23)

Eastern Conference: 

1. Heat (20-8), 2. Knicks (21-9), 3. Hawks (19-9), 4. Bucks (16-12), 5. Bulls (16-12), 6. Pacers (17-13), 7. Nets (16-14), 8. Celtics (14-15), 9. 76ers (14-17), 10. Magic (12-18), 11. Raptors (11-20), 12. Pistons (10-22), 13. Bobcats (7-23), 14. Cavaliers (7-25), 15. Wizards (4-24)

Only four teams have less than 10 wins so far with 9 weeks of the season thru, it's a five-way race in the Western Conference while it's a three-way race in the Eastern Conference on top of the standings.

Stay tuned as the first NBA weekly blog of 2013, comes to you next week!

K-Smoove