Dallas Mavericks earn third-straight road win with victory over the Memphis Grizzlies
The Dallas Mavericks (5-2) pushed their road record to 3-0 on Wednesday 10 November with an easy 106-91 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies (4-5) at the FedExForum in Memphis.
The Mavericks were led by former Sixth Man of the Year Jason Terry, who scored 25 points and nabbed three steals in 31 minutes off the bench. Former MVP Dirk Nowitzki, averaging 23.7 points
this season, suffered an ankle injury but still managed 12 points and 10 rebounds while Shawn Marion scored 20 on 10-15 shooting. Tyson Chandler and DeShawn Stevenson chipped in with 11 points apiece while starting point guard Jason Kidd, second in the league
in assists, recorded 12 helpers.
The Grizzlies were led by Zach Randolph, who scored 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds while Rudy g*y posted 18 points and nine boards. Marc Gasol added 10 points for Memphis while point
guard Mike Conley had nine points, four rebounds, and five assists.
The Mavericks did a much better job than the Grizzlies at sharing the ball, posting 30 assists to the Grizzlies’ 20, which helped Dallas shoot 54 per cent from the floor compared to 45
per cent for Memphis.
Thanks to 15 first-half points from Terry, Dallas went up 13 points in the second quarter and entered the break up 55-50. And the Mavericks essentially put the game away in the third quarter,
going on an 18-5 run to put them up 73-55 midway through the quarter. They would enter the fourth quarter with an almost insurmountable lead at 86-69, pushing their advantage as high as 21 points in the final frame.
What they said
Nowitzki showed his toughness when he returned to start the second half after suffering an ankle injury with four minutes left in the second quarter, and his coach was impressed.
"This guy is so tough, it is ridiculous," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said to reporters after the game of his star player. "Not many guys would come back in and try to play after rolling
an ankle like that. But it really helped us. His presence on the floor changes the geometry of the game, even if he is not touching the ball."
As for Nowitzki, he said the pain was mild enough for him to re-enter the game.
"It's usually the initial pain that hurts a little bit," he said. "But as soon as I walked off, it got better. I got re-taped, and it was all right in the second half. It wasn't great,
but it was loose enough to play."
Memphis coach Lionel Hollins was disgusted by his team’s defence and hopes to see a better effort next time.
"It's just one in 82 [games]," he said. "You try to win as many as you can. You try not to have a whole lot of these stinkers. That's what this was. A stinker."
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