NBA News Wire
Trail Blazers 109, Grizzlies 99
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Center Marc Gasol scored 19 points with nine rebounds and seven assists and power forward Zach Randolph scored 18 points with 12 rebounds as the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 109-99 Tuesday night at FedExForum.
The Grizzlies (37-26) won their third straight and have won eight off 11 games since the All-Star break.
Portland (42-22) lost its third game in a row despite a game-high 32 points and seven assists from point guard Damian Lillard; he scored 21 in the second half.
Shooting guard Courtney Lee (16 points) scored 13 of the Grizzlies’ 24 third-quarter points. Memphis led 78-69 at the start of the fourth after having stretched the lead to as many as 15 points in the third quarter.
The Grizzlies got the lead back to 15 points several times and Portland never got closer than nine points in the fourth quarter, the last time at the 1:14 mark when center Robin Lopez made a free throw.
Memphis shot 56 percent from the floor (47-for-84). Point guard Mike Conley finished with 17 points and back-up point guard Nick Calathes had seven points with a career-high nine assists. Mike Miller chipped in 14 points off the bench.
Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds and forward Nicolas Batum had 15 points and eight rebounds.
Memphis led by as many as 12 in the first half and carried a 54-47 advantage into the break. Gasol led all scorers with 13 points and had seven rebounds. Randolph had 10 points and six rebounds. Calathes had four points with seven assists.
The Grizzlies shot 57.5 percent from the floor and owned a 32-24 edge on points in the paint.
The Blazers shot 41.3 percent through the first two quarters; Lillard scored 11 points and Aldridge had 10.
NOTES: Not normally known for 3-point shooting, the Grizzlies were first in the NBA since the All-Star break at 44.6 percent. Veteran G/F Mike Miller was shooting 44.6 percent from 3-point range for the season (fifth in the NBA) and 60.6 percent from beyond the arc since the All-Star break. … Portland G Wesley Matthews, G Damian Lillard and F Nicolas Batum have combined for 432 3-pointers this season, more than eight NBA teams have made all season. That includes the Grizzlies (315). … The Trail Blazers had the same starting lineup through the first 53 games this season, tied for the sixth longest streak in a season in NBA history. Portland has had only two different starting lineups during the course of the season. … Memphis SF Tayshaun Prince had started 821 games since the start of the 2003-04 season, second in the NBA behind LeBron James.
