HOOPSWORLD | Basketball News & NBA Rumors

When the Memphis Grizzlies announced that Rudy Gay would have season-ending surgery on his partially dislocated left shoulder, the team’s playoff hopes seemed to be crushed. Without their leading scorer, it was hard to imagine the Grizzlies holding off the surging Houston Rockets.

But since Gay’s injury, Memphis has been playing some of their best basketball of the season. They’re 12-7 during the stretch and currently on a three-game winning streak. They have beaten contenders such as the Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder. Not to mention the two games they won against the San Antonio Spurs, who they would draw if the playoffs started today.

The Grizzlies hold a three game lead over the Rockets and are on the verge of making the playoffs for the first time in five years. One of the biggest contributors for the Grizzlies during this stretch has been Tony Allen. His numbers are up across the board and he’s making the most of his opportunity.

"I’m just getting the minutes," Allen told HOOPSWORLD in a phone interview. "At first, I wasn’t getting any minutes. Now that I am getting on the court, I’m taking advantage of it. That’s the case around the league. If your guys go down, you need to have guys that are ready to step up. It’s just hard work paying off with guys working on their craft and then being able to showcase it when given the minutes."

Not only is Allen bringing the defensive intensity and energy that Memphis was hoping for when they signed him last summer, he’s also emerged as one of the team’s most consistent scorers. Since replacing Gay in the starting lineup, Allen has scored 20 or more points on six different occasions and is averaging 14.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game. The guard has been able to make such huge strides because of all the hard work he has put into improving his game.

"I’m working hard," Allen said. "I’m in the gym and the weight room, strengthening and conditioning my body every day. I’m working hard as often as I can. Whenever there’s access to a gym, you best believe it’s going to be long time before I leap up out of there."

"The biggest difference is just the minutes," he added. "When I played more minutes in Boston, I think I played well. I had good numbers there as well if you look back over the history of my career. The more I played, the better my numbers were all around. But it’s not just about scoring with me. I want to make that clear. I try to do a lot of things to help my team win games and I just take what the defense gives me."

Allen is once again looking like the player that filled the stat sheet at Oklahoma State and during his early years in Boston. That’s because he is completely healthy and no longer feeling the side effects of his torn ACL, which he suffered in 2007.

"I feel like I’m back where I was before I hurt myself," Allen said. "If you look at my production before I tore my ACL in Boston, I was in a groove before the injury. I just think I’m back to being healthy again and that’s the key right now."

Many of Allen’s NBA memories come from his time in Boston, but he doesn’t want anyone to think that his recent comments about being a Celtic for life suggest that he’s not focused being a member of the Grizzlies.

"I said, ‘I’m a Celtic for life, but I’m in a Grizzlies uniform.’ I’m part of their tradition. I helped put one of those banners up in those rafters. Whenever you’re part of something big like that, you pretty much put your foundation and reputation there. I think I’ve pretty much earned my name from being a Celtic, but right now this is a new chapter in my book. Trust and believe that the Grizzlies organization is always going to get 110 percent from Tony Allen. Believe that," he said.

During much of his time in Boston, Allen was just a young man who was trying to make it in the league. Today, he’s 29 years old with a daughter and a much different outlook on life. Rather than being the young player learning the ropes and adjusting to the NBA lifestyle, he’s now the veteran that’s teaching others.

"Being a veteran is just spreading the knowledge that you have," Allen said. "It’s just speaking about certain situations and being helpful. As much as I can throughout the game, I try to give to give out advice. If a guy is not sinking on a baseline drive when a guard is beat or if a big isn’t stepping up to the guard on a pick and roll, I just try to tell them. I let everyone know when we’re playing flat and when we need to pick up the energy. It’s pretty much just talking about what’s going on throughout the game and making sure they see the things that I’m seeing. It’s just calling it how I see it, and the best part is that everyone has really come together and listens to each other."

When Allen talks, his teammates listen. After all, he has the playoff experience and championship ring. He has brought a winning attitude to Memphis, and it’s no coincidence that the Grizzlies have made huge strides this season with Allen as the team’s significant offseason addition.

"That’s what they signed me for, to try to get them over the edge," Allen said. "Last year, they won 40 games and now we’re three games over that with plenty more to come. We just have to know that going into these playoffs, we’re the eighth seed, but we have to play much better than what we’ve been displaying."

He believes that Memphis can pull off an upset in the first round, even with Gay sidelined.

"All of the guys feel that way. We’re all confident and all of the guys love playing with each other. I like that there’s no big guys and little guys. Everybody has a level of respect for each other and we all know that in order to get these wins, we have to play hard and play together for 48 minutes," he said.

If the Grizzlies are able to surprise a team in the first round, Allen will likely be one of the main reasons. He is doing everything the Grizzlies had hoped for when they signed him, and then some.

Howard Preparing for Playoffs: Dwight Howard is the only center on the Orlando Magic’s active roster. Brandon Bass and Ryan Anderson have played some minutes at the five this season, but the team has lacked a true backup for Howard since trading Marcin Gortat to the Phoenix Suns in December.

Since the All-Star break, Howard is playing 41 minutes per game and the number has increased even more in recent weeks. When asked if he’s prepared to play that many minutes – or possibly entire games – during the playoffs, Howard didn’t seem to think there was any alternative.

{AUTHOR_BOX}"It’s either 48 [minutes] or go home," Howard said before a long pause. "It’s play or go home. There’s no time to be tired in the playoffs."

He jokes that he feels fine because he has stocked up on the proper food for his body, especially "50 cent honey buns from Walgreens." The superstar understands that there aren’t many options behind him so he’s prepared to do whatever Stan Van Gundy asks of him.

"I feel pretty good. Coach plays me a lot, but we don’t have a lot of guys so I have to play. We’re still trying to win games so it’s fine with me. I just have to make sure I take care of my body while I’m out there and I’ll be fine," Howard said.

Even though he’s logging more minutes, Howard feels great compared to how he felt entering the playoffs two years ago.

"I feel a little bit better than I did when we went to the Finals," he said. "By the time we got the Finals, we were exhausted. We had put so much in that I don’t think we had anything left. That’s no excuse for why we lost, but we were exhausted. We’ve been there once, and now we want to get back."

If the Magic want to get back to that level, they’ll have to pick up some momentum in these next few weeks. Orlando continues to struggle from night to night and Howard believes it’s because the team has to balance playing hard and winning with staying healthy and making sure the group is rested for the postseason.

"We have to take these games seriously," Howard said. "We can’t take them lightly. We just have to play and we have to understand that we want to have a successful season and win over 50 games. That’s one of the goals for the team. We need to play hard every night and finish the season on a good note. But at the same time, we want to make sure we get our rest. We don’t have a lot of guys out there so we have to play hard, but also get rested."

Having another big man on the team would provide Howard with some rest, but adding a center doesn’t appear to be in the team’s plans. Maybe it’s time to stock up on honey buns.

Barnes Serves Suspension: Matt Barnes was suspended for last night’s game against the Utah Jazz for his role in Thursday’s scuffle between Steve Blake and Jason Terry.

The league ruled that Barnes escalated the on-court altercation and he was also punished for his actions following his ejection. The incident occurred with 9:23 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Lakers’ 110-82 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, and Barnes was also ejected from the game at the time of the confrontation.

When Terry committed a hard foul on Blake and began to trash talk, Barnes stepped in to defend his teammate and pushed off those who tried to restrain him.

As long as Barnes’ has been in the league, he has displaying this same passion and loyalty to his teammates, who he considers his extended family. If someone is pushing and taunting one of his teammates, he’s not going to sit back and watch. This has earned him a reputation as an enforcer or bad boy, but is that really the case?

He was suspended for one game without pay for pushing and shoving, but that punishment seems a bit excessive.

John Wall received the exact same punishment for punching Zydrunas Ilgauskas earlier this week. Shawne Williams was also suspended for one game when he connected one punch during his altercation with Marvin Williams in January. When Joey Dorsey swung at Brian Scalabrine’s head in October, he also received a one-game suspension.

Barnes didn’t throw a punch and he was the only player to receive a punishment of any kind out of the five players – Brendan Haywood, Shannon Brown, Terry, Blake and Barnes – that were ejected from Thursday’s game. In fact¸ Terry had his Flagrant Foul, Penalty Two downgraded so he didn’t even receive a fine.

The veteran took the punishment in stride, and tweeted his thoughts to his fans.

"I get an extra day of rest for my knee," Barnes wrote. "I’ll be watching the game tonight with the rest of the Laker fans, on TV. All good, team will keep it rolling tonight versus the Jazz. I’ll be back Sunday. Appreciate the support from all the Lake Show fans. RESPECT!"

Barnes will play tomorrow against the Denver Nuggets.

HOOPSWORLD Chats: There is one chat on today’s schedule. Susan Bible, who covers the Oklahoma City Thunder and NBA for HOOPSWORLD, will be taking your questions at 11am EST. As always you can check out our entire upcoming chat schedule.