Good evening and welcome to FedExForum, where the Memphis Grizzlies will take on the Washington Wizards, and I will take on the task of trying to keep up with the action and have fun with your comments.

Game time is 18 minutes away. The pregame notes are read, the pregame meal is digested — sort of — and it’s time to go.

William, a Wizards fan, asks how the injury to Kyle Lowry will affect the Griz tonight against his team. William, kind of like taking the engine out of your car. He’s what gives them the momentum, the energy. The loss is tough to take, especially since he’d been playing so well before the injury. But they’ve got to carry on. Eddie Jones is active again. We’ll see if he plays and how well he holds up.

T-minus 12 minutes before the festivities begin. Feel free to click the comment button if you have a question about the game, a comment about same or just something to say in general. I need all the help I can get. Jim Masilak did this live blogging gig at a couple of Tiger football games and had a great time.

Starting lineups: Wizards go with Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison, Etan Thomas, DeShawn Stevenson and Gilbert Arenas. For the Griz, it’s Mike Miller, Mike Miller, Stromile Swift, Rudy Gay and Chucky Atkins.

From the Just Wondering file: Wouldn’t it have been easier on all considered if Etan Thomas turned his first name around? Nate Thomas. Has a basketball ring to it, doesn’t it?

4:47 before tip and we have a bit of a dispute between two posters to my earlier blog:

Carl wrote: “Grizzlies? Yawn… way too much media time including call in radio programs for a team that few care about.. I personally wouldn’t walk across the street to watch them.. and judging from the number of season tickets sold, I’m not alone.. They’ll be gone in 3 years…”

Responded BryRob: “I hate to disagree, but everytime I’ve been to a Griz game, it’s been enjoyable. I’m not the biggest of sports fans, but I know a good time when I experience one. And you can’t beat BBQ nachos.”

If the hoops don’t keep your attention, the food will.

We’re about to hear the National Anthem. Hope it’s one of the faster versions. People love to draw that song out for four minutes. And you can always tell within the first 10 notes.

Dahntay Jones welcomes the crowd. And he didn’t even try a shot! The anthem was short and well done. It’s intro time, then it’s hoops time.

7:04 p.m.: Lights go out, Griz video plays. The excitement in this half-filled forum is … well, half-filled.

7:07: Craig wonders: So is Mike Miller starting at the 3 and the 4? No wonder the Griz lose to much. They only go with four players. Oooooops. That’s Miller, Hakim Warrick, Swift, Gay, Atkins. First turnover of the night.

From now on, time stamps will be time remaining in a period.

11:40 first: Wiz win tip, Jamison scores. 2-0 Wiz

11:23 first: Atkins answers with a jumper.

10:05 first: Nate, I mean, Etan Thomas with an offensive foul. Play is sloppy so far, still tied at 2-2.

9:15 first: Hakim Warrick has four, Griz up 6-4. Rudy Gay looks like he can really do what he wants. But right now he’s trying to figure out exactly what that should be.

8:40 first: The Stro Show just got cancelled by Etan Thomas’ block. Yikes. Too much turkey to jump?

5:40 first: Not much scoring — Griz 10-8 — but a Wiz steal was just negated by a big-time block by Gay. Man, the guy has mad skills.

Timeout: Craig, who enjoys pointing out MY mistakes, now focuses on the Griz: With Hakim and Gay doing so well why is Stro touching the ball? he asks. Good question. But I gotta think they like the Stro-Etan Thomas matchup. Who knows. I’ll walk over and ask Fratello.

5:02: Dick Bavetta, who has called more games than anyone, makes his presence felt with a traveling call that keeps the Griz from going up 6. Just hope I can move like that when I’m his age.

4:12 first: Teams are a combined 9-28. What a roaring start. Damon Stoudamire gets Chucky Atkins at the point.

3:45 first: Antawn Jamison picks up his THIRD foul, after the Wiz get three shots at it on one possession. The Griz need to take advantage of his departure.

3:00 first: Accomplished public speaker Dahntay Jones and Lawrence Roberts report for duty. Would love to tell you about all the scoring, but there ain’t none. Timeout with 2:34 left in the first, it’s 12-10, Griz. 10-35 between the two squads. One good note for the Griz. The Wizards’ two big guns, Gilbert Arenas and Jamison have four points and we won’t see Jamison til the third quarter, I suspect.

Still 2:34 first: The crowd has filled in, just in time to see the Griz Dance Team work some magic on the floor with a new number. Meanwhile, back to the game.

2:12 first: Keith checks in with a report from other media. Take it away, Keith: I think the comments of Royce Webb, NBA writer for ESPN.com, in yesterday’s “Daily Dime” speak for themselves, “Only two categories of people aren’t excited about dynamic youngsters Hakim Warrick, Lawrence Roberts, Rudy Gay and Kyle Lowry — (1) people who aren’t watching the Grizzlies play and (2) folks named Mike Fratello. The Memphis coach is wary of youngsters, wary of losing control and wary of losing, period. Which means he’s more likely to coach his way (slowing the game down, keeping every game close) than to keep his job for much longer.” I gotta agree overall, Keith. WIth Lowry coming on, it seemed like there was a change. The next couple of games will be interesting to see if he backs off. Thanks, Keith!

2 minutes even, first: Warrick hits double figures with two free throws. Griz up 16-13. and Miller scores at 1:22 to make it 18-13. Warrick doesn’t have a rebound yet, but the rebounding battle is about even so far.

28 seconds: Roberts is a smart rebounder. Wiz shot goes up, there are three Grizzlies and Washington’s Brendan Haywood underneath. Roberts boxes out Haywood so a teammate grabs the ball.

0:6.8 first: Roberts makes two FT for a 20-13 lead. Wiz retaliate on a Jarvis Hayes basket, quarter ends, 20-15.

Quarter intermission: They’re passing turkeys in the stands for some reason. No mashed potatoes that I can see.

SECOND QUARTER
1109 second: Roberts can fill up a stat line. He’s played 7 minutes, missed his only shot, hit all four of his FTs, gotten 3 rebs, 1 assist and 1 foul.

10:54 second: Oooops, make that 1 of 2 from the field. Griz 24-16.

9:45 second: Brian Cardinal, who hit his first jumper, pump fakes and then misses a jumper. Note to Brian: Nobody thinks you’re going to drive. Go ahead and shoot it.

9:15 second: Swift replaces the rebounding machine known as Lawrence Roberts. Dahntay hits two FTs to make it a 10 point lead, 28-18.

8:58 second: Stoudamire just jukes a Wizard out of his jock, drives for a layup. He’s rewarded with a palming call from Dick Bavetta and the Grizzlies’ fifth turnover. The Wizards are now 8 for 28,meaning that if they fell out of a boat, there’s a good chance they would NOT hit water.

8:18 second: Gay called for traveling as two people in turkey suits emerge from the entry way. There’s got to be a joke in there somewhere.

7:58 second: Etan Thomas bricks up a free throw that hits the backboard and the back support of the rim, stops momentarily, and drops in. Tony Luftman, the Griz halftime host, says “Like a plug going into a socket.” Tony’s a funny guy.

6;53 second: EGADS. Timeout. Two Griz fans are going to chug gravy. The winner gets tickets and medical support, we hope. One contestant is holding his nose while he drinks. The winner chugged 9 cups of grazy in a minute. Instead of the score, the scoreboard should be flashing 9-1-1.

5:57 second: Atkins beats the shot clock with a running teardrop in the lane. Griz 33-25. Arenas is now 0 for 6.

335 second: Jones strips Arenas and heads down court. Gets the pass back for a slam. 37-28 Griz.

250 second: Two Griz go up for a defensive rebound with no Wizards around, but in the ensuing melee, the ball gets raked away, leading to a Wiz layup. Mike Fratello paces the sideline and mutters something that doesn’t seem like a holiday prayer of thanks.

219 second: Arenas is cold. How cold is he? Well … he just missed a technical foul shot for illegal defense. On the ensuing possession,he’s fouled again, misses the first AND the second. Sheesh!

52.7 second: Etan Thomas is man-mountain. Eight points, six rebounds. Griz up 41-34 after a Stro reverse can-opener, as Don Poier would have said. Stro has a season high 8 rebounds, and we’re still in the first half.

HALFTIME: Griz up 41-37. I’ll be back to start the second half. Send me something to munch on, intellectually!!

Halftime stats are brought to you by … well, me.
Warrick is the only Griz in doubles with 12 points. Swift has 8 boards. Caron Butler has 12 points and eight rebounds for the Wiz.

THIRD QUARTER
1115 third: Warrick backs down Jamison, just back in after a long foul-induced rest, but misfires.

9:48 third: Griz offense is moving like I did an hour after turkey yesterday. Gay picks up his dribble on the wing and waits for a cutting teammate. Nobody cut. He finally found Swift to pass to.

9:39 third: William the Wiz fan checks back in: “Arenas needs to light it up. We shouldn’t be trailing to the Grizzlies at all (no offense) :). Washington is doing a lot better job rebounding than usual and hopefully Caron aka “Tough Juice” can use his defense to get the Wizards back in it in the second half.” William, this game seems to have no form. They ALL need some tough juice, on both sides.

9:33 third: During a timeout (Griz up 45-39), Eddie Jones tries to palm Dahntay Jones’ head. With a big grin, Dahntay brushes him away. No harm, no foul, I guess.

800 third: Mike Miller buries a jumper to make it 51-41, prompting a Washington timeout.

ARENAS UPDATE: Coming in averaging 28+ a game,Gilbert Arenas is 0-8 from the field and 0-3 from the field. He DOES have 6 assists, so it’s better than nothing, but barely.

640 third: Wiz cut it to 53-45. Tired of me making fun of him, Etan Thomas has put together 10 points and 11 boards so far. Beat reporter Ron Tillery stops by to discuss the phenomenon of the Griz leading most of the game. He hasn’t seen much of it this year. Of course it’s still just the third quarter.

5:46 third: Quick story. Former Griz VP for biz ops Mike Golub and I used to have a running joke, stemming from a Griz-Laker game played when Hubie Brown was coach. Chris Mihm had a great first half and at halftime, Mike and I were laughing about what Hubie must have been telling them at halftime. “It’s Chris Mihm, for (gosh) sakes”, Hubie must have growled. After that, whenever a non-scorer would have a big game against the Griz, we’d insert his name into the joke. So Mike, if you’re reading, it’s Etan Thomas, for (gosh) sakes.

4:24 third: A Wiz run has them back in it, trailing 57-53, but Arenas, he’s still scoreless.

405 third: Roberts returns for the Griz, now we’ll see some rebounding.

3:35 third: You can’t stop him, you can only hope to get him in foul trouble. Etan Thomas picks up his fifth foul. Jamison still has four.

2:59 third: William the Wiz fan checks in, on his man Arenas: “Yeah, Arenas is still scoreless, but at least Hayes and Butler are picking up the slack. It’s kinda of like when the Wizards faced the Cavs in the first game of the season, Arenas had only 7 points in a similar shooting night, but he was able to find his teammates wide open for easy points and scoring opportunities. As long as Arenas is distributing effectively, his teammates will do the job.” Etan Thomas is certainly doing the job, William.

Timeout is over. Miller makes 1 of 2 from the line, Griz up 59-55.

151 third: Gay just backed Jamison down,turned and swished a jumper over him. Flash of brilliance. Griz up 63-57 with 125.

1 minute third: From faithful reader Craig W. “The Grizzlies make habit of making also-rans look like All-stars: the Nugs’ Earl Boykins, the Suns’ Boris Diaw, etc. etc.” well, Boykins is HALF an also-ran, anyway, Craig.

20 seconds, third: Griz fans reject the notion that Rudy Gay’s block of a Brendan Haywood shot was goaltending. Replays disagree.

End of third: Griz lead, 68-59. Who ARE these guys?

We’ve gone from Turkey passing, to Gravy drinking to Turkey bowling. That reminds me, I haven’t seen the Gravy drinking winner in awhile. I’d rather not think about what’s happened.

FOURTH QUARTER

A pair of Antawn Jamison field goals, one of them a trey, brings the Wiz back to 68-64 and brings a timeout from Fratello. The run also elicits cheers from a Wiz fan behind me. But it’s not William the Wiz fan.

1048 fourth: ARENAS UPDATE: Still missing, but not in action. He’s on the bench. Cardinal jumper takes it back to 6.

1020 fourth: Griz fans, smelling success, hit the thunder sticks harder. Who invented the thunder stick, anyway? I hope he’s home chugging gravy.

8:45 fourth: We’re now in the back and forth portion of our game. Mike Miller stops a Wiz run with a 3-pointer, then takes the charge from Antonio Daniels on the next possession. NOw if he just had a new hair style. (did i type that?)

7:40 fourth: Craig, now sporting the pessimist look, writes: Don’t the Griz know that ever win is one less ping-pong ball in the Greg Oden lottery. A win takes them out of sole possession of the NBA cellar. Craig, it’ll take more than a good night to make THAT dream disappear.

Also over the transom, Keith is back to boost the spirits of Dahntay Jones: Dahntay is playing really well. I’m especially impressed at the efficient way in which he has scored over the last 3 games. Keith, Dahntay just made an acrobatic move a bit ago and converted a 3-point play. He has a season high 12.

6:06 fourth: Experience doesn’t always help. Dick Bavetta, lovable ol’ Dick Bavetta, just blew a call. Arenas bulled his way past Brian Cardinal. Bavetta called the foul on Cardinal, who can even pick up fouls at halftime, it seems.

Timeout at 5:57 fourth. Griz up by 6. The Lenny’s t-shirt-shooting gun is out, with Griz doing the shooting. Pass the gravy.

5:17 fourth, Griz up 83-74. Ooooops, somehow in this mayhem, Arenas made a shot. he’s 1 for 12, 2 points.

And for Keith, Dahntay nails two more FTs to go up 11 and give him 14.

426 fourth: Official attendance announced at 15,067. Building must hold 24,000.

345 fourth: Looks like Stromile Swift lost a contact lens. He’s trying to get it back in during a Washington free throw. That’s no optical illusion. But he just scores, so maybe this is better anyway.

2:47 fourth: Atkins buries a right-corner 3 and in a rare burst of emotion, laughs his way back down the court. The Wiz call time and as Atkins passes former teammate Jamison, they both grin.

2:35 fourth: Griz up 91-79. Swift now has a double double, 11 points, 10 boards. Butler is better at 22-13.

2 minutes, fourth: Arenas turns it over with a bad pass.

1:42 fourth, Griz up 93-79, Atkins draws the foul. This one is just about over, especially after the Wiz send in the scrubs, and Chucky hits both. Guys named Blatche and Mason now are in the fray for the Wiz.

Arenas will end the night with 3 big points.

Less than a minute, fourth quarter. Looks like a Griz win. Even the crowd is filing out, sure of this one.

Folks, thanks for hanging in and reading. Hope you enjoyed it. Final score:
GRIZZLIES 95, WIZARDS 80

Good night, everybody. If you enjoyed the blog, I’m Gary Robinson. If you didn’t, I’m Ike Austin. Be sure to tip your waitresses.