MEMPHIS, Tenn. _ When the Memphis Grizzlies fired Minnesota's own Dave Joerger last spring and replaced him with David Fizdale, the longtime Miami assistant coach vowed to modernize his new team's smash-mouth style with a quickened playing pace and floor-spreading space.
He has done both and yet still some things never change.
On Saturday, the Grizzlies won for the fifth time in six games, beating the Wolves 93-71 in the third meeting between the teams already the season.
They did so not with a new pace-and-space look, particularly not on a night when they made just 2 of 18 three-point attempts. They did so instead with the same kind of grit that has gotten them to a winning record and the playoffs each of the last six seasons.
"It's still The Grindhouse," Wolves guard Zach LaVine said before the game, referring to an arena otherwise known as FedEx Forum.
On Friday, the Grizzlies held the Mavericks to just 64 points � the fewest the franchise ever allowed in a road game � during a 16-point victory in Dallas.
On Saturday, they held a Wolves team that has scored 60 points in the first half seven times already this season to a season-low 39 points before intermission and by 21 points their season low for points.
Yet the Wolves only trailed by four points by halftime.
Bringing it all back to where it started, the Wolves' third-quarter woes continued Saturday when the Grizzlies used a 14-0 run to outscore them 22-13 in another third quarter that once again proved decisive.
Their season-long, third-quarter troubles started right there in Memphis, where on opening night nearly a month ago the Wolves squandered an early 20-3 and lost 102-98 after getting outscored 26-16 in the third quarter alone.
Playing without resting free-agent signee Chandler Parsons, the Grizzlies went on their third-quarter burst while Wolves star big man Karl-Anthony Towns sat on the bench after he picked up his fourth foul in the third quarter's opening minute.
The score was tied at 48 with 7:22 still remaining in the third quarter when Memphis star guard Mike Conley led his team off on that 14-0 run by making two free throws.
Before the run was over, the Wolves had missed repeated jump shots while the Grizzlies muscled their way to the free-throw line and scored eight of those 14 points there at the foul line.
By the time Wolves big man Gorgui Dieng finally scored with 1:24 left in the third quarter, the Grizzlies had led 62-48 on their way to building a 20-point, fourth-quarter lead.
The Grizzlies made 15 three-pointers and beat the NBA-leading Clippers in Los Angeles to end 3-1 a four-game road trip that also included a victory at Utah. They've also this season established star center Marc Gasol as a viable three-point threat, to go along with all the many other things he does so well.
But when he considers the Grizzlies, Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau still thinks of the grit and grind that Gasol, Conley, Zach Randolph, Tony Allen and Vince Carter have provided these many seasons and did so again on Saturday.
"The strength and weaknesses of their club doesn't really change," Thibodeau said before the game. "Those guys have been around. That experience is huge. They've had a lot of success here, winning close games. You have to play well against them. They're not going to beat themselves.
"It's a team with a lot of weapons. This team, when they're healthy, they've won 50 games for a lot of years now. They're one of the best teams in the league."
The first time these teams met for real this season, the Grizzlies won in Memphis on opening night, overcoming an opening 20-3 deficit to win 102-98.
The second time, the Wolves led by as many as 40 points and won by 36 at Target Center on a night when the Grizzlies rested both Gasol and Conley for the first part of back-to-back games.
This time, the Grizzlies had no early 17-point deficit to overcome and still won easily on a night when they shot just 11 percent from three-point range and 38.2 percent from the field.
