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MEMPHIS, Tennessee – It's been a year since the day David Fizdale was sacked as a coach of the Memphis Grizzlies. The wounds are healed, but with his return to FedExForum for the first time on Sunday, there were still some things to settle.
It was the first time that Marc Gasol, star of Fizdale and the Grizzlies, was in the same place after their breakup had led to the firing of Fizdale. And there was a simple logistics to settle as he entered the arena for the first time as an opposing coach.
"It's strange, I'm not going to lie," said Fizdale. "It's strange. I arrived and, OK, I did not park in my place. J.B. [Bickerstaff] is in my damn place. Seeing everyone, I did not even know which metal detector to walk on. Everything was upside down for me. . . I felt as if everything was at peace with relationships. So I feel really good to come back here.
Fizdale felt much better – if it was colder – coming out of the arena. When he entered the locker room after the match, his players greeted him with water and ice, soaking him to celebrate a 103-98 win over the Grizzlies. He moved the coach to tears.
"You make me emotional. I can not say it in words, "he said. "I really did not want this game to talk about me because they were just starting to play good basketball and I did not want to be sidelined by cutting our tree. The efforts they made for me and what they told me after the match were: I love these kids.
"They immersed me in water. My costume is ruined. Emmanuel [Mudiay] came to me, he and Tim [Hardaway Jr.] both of them took me in my arms and told me that it was for me. And then they all came in and I lost it. Because it's just a few good kids in this locker room who are playing hard and trying to get better, which means a lot to me, they've put that effort into thinking about me. "
It was the third consecutive unlikely win for the Knicks, who beat the Celtics in Boston, the Pelicans at the Garden and now the Grizzlies. They turned a 13-point deficit into a seven-point lead with a 23-3 record in the third.
With the Knicks up 94-93, Trey Burke stole a pass near Garrett Temple and fed Mudiay for a quick dunk. He flew over Temple, threw him to the ground, made a mistake on the game and pushed the Knicks forward to 97-93, while he had left the game 1:35 .
"It was fierce," Fizdale said. "It was the stamp on it, the point of exclamation. He just wanted to take him home so badly. "
Hardaway finished with 22 points. Enes Kanter had 21 points, including 14 in the third quarter and 26 career rebounds, and Mudiay added 17 points. Gasol earned 27 points and Mike Conley Jr. added 23 points and 11 assists for the Grizzlies, who recorded a franchise record of 19 blocks, including seven by Jaren Jackson Jr. and five by Gasol.
Time has passed and Fizdale is in a better place – at least mentally, if not in the standings.
"People are exchanged, cut, coaches are hired, re-engaged, all of this is happening, it can not be the determining factor in your relationship," he said. "I have invested a lot in these guys, I just feel like I deserve to have relationships with these guys, I paid them and they sent them back to me and I became a better coach because of that. That's why I feel so good and I'm at peace.
"It did not take a lot of time," he said. "I had lost my job for a while. But the idea of being angry or anything else, it quickly disappeared. The other thing is that J.B. is basically my blood. All that happens to him is more important than anything that concerns me. So I'm really happy for him. He was a guy who feared being a head coach and he deserves to be one of the 30's. "
Bickerstaff, who took over when Fizdale was sacked, was questioned about what he had learned from Fizdale when he was an assistant on the team and joked about the word "absolutely nothing" until he was dismissed. add: they go on business every day. "
Before the match, Gasol had never approached Fizdale. Conley trotted and hugged him. At the end of the match, Gasol kissed Fizdale in the field.
Fizdale is convinced that the gap that separates him from Gasol is a thing of the past. "It was a hug we had needed for a long time," Fizdale said. "I'm really proud of the man he's getting. He's a hell of a player, obviously. It's hard to get an answer for him tonight. And he's a great team he's leading. We just exchanged really nice words and love each other's family. I wish him good luck. "
A little earlier, he said, "It will not be a story for you guys anymore." He and I. He took a migrant out of the ocean this summer, it's much more important than it was. A basketball beef He and I know it and we were like, man, we'll see each other too often, our wives love it.He has a nice family and I think it's rather cool that in a time when we all live when people are so angry and we are two guys and we crushed and we are cool. "
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