Memphis Grizzlies beat Denver Nuggets 116-108
Zach Randolph scored 12 of his 14 points in the final quarter to help the Memphis Grizzlies squeak out a 116-108 win over Denver Nuggets at the FedEx Forum on Sunday night.
Darrell Arthur notched a career-high 24 points in a reserve role, while Rudy g*y chipped in with 23 points for the Grizzlies, who have won three games in a row. Meanwhile, Randolph collected a game-high 16 boards, and Mike Conley poured in 17 points and
five assists for the victors. Marc Gasol also had 15 points which all came in the first half.
Carmelo Anthony, who averages 32.8 points a game in February, scored a game-high 28 points and pulled down five rebounds for the Nuggets, who have lost three of their last four games. Nene, Ty Lawson and J.R. Smith each tallied14 points in the defeat, while
Chauncey Billups finished with 13 points and seven assists.
Denver Guard Chauncey Billups expressed his frustration after the game. He said, “This is very disappointing. First game of the trip a team that is a pretty good team actually, but I feel like we should have beaten them. It’s frustrating.”
Memphis took a 31-26 lead inside the opening 12 minutes when Arthur tallied 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field in the first period.
Denver opened the second quarter on a 16-3 run, and outscored Memphis 42-34 after Smith made a driving reverse layup in the ninth minute. Smith notched six points in the run, as the Nuggets’ lead remained around eight, until a Smith slam with less than two
minutes left extended it to 11 points at 62-51.
After trading baskets down the stretch, Smith made a fade away jumper to make it 67-55 at the break.
Denver then extended their lead to as many as 17 points, 86-69, in the fourth minute of the third quarter. The Grizzlies, who had six turnovers in the third quarter, made a bit of a run in the final minutes to cut the deficit to 86-77.
With less than 21 seconds left in the third stanza, Smith made a jumper to give Denver a 90-82 lead.
Trailing 90-82 entering the final stanza, Memphis turned up its defensive pressure and used the opening minutes of the fourth quarter to trim the deficit. Memphis tied it at 96 on a pair of Conley free throws with eight minutes remaining in the final quarter.
Less than three minutes later, Memphis took a 102-100 lead on two free throws from Arthur.
Memphis coach Lionel Hollins praised his team after the game. He said, “In the third quarter we were coming. In the fourth, we just exploded. We were much more aggressive and much more intense defensively.”
A Randolph layup and Conley jumper made it 112-104 for Memphis with two minutes left. Memphis maintained that lead down the stretch to snap a three-game skid against Denver.
Tags: