Memphis (17-10) at Portland (10-18) 10:00 pm EST
PORTLAND, Oregon (Ticker) -- In addition to their stingy defense,
the Memphis Grizzlies have shown a knack for not backing down.
The Grizzlies look for their fourth victory in five contests
Friday when they continue their four-game western road trip
against the Portland Trail Blazers.
The league's top defensive team, Memphis rallied from a 10-point
deficit to win for the second time in 20 road meetings against
the Los Angeles Lakers in Wednesday's 100-99 overtime triumph.
Damon Stoudamire scored 25 points and Pau Gasol added 24 and 13
rebounds for the Grizzlies, who never led in regulation and
never trailed in overtime. Memphis held the Lakers to 34 points
in the second half and 11 points in the extra period.
Memphis persevered despite having Mike Miller and Shane Battier
foul out and Eddie Jones ejected in the fourth quarter for
arguing.
Portland can record its first four-game winning streak of the
season after Wednesday's 95-91 victory over the Philadelphia
76ers. Zach Randolph led the Trail Blazers with 28 points and
14 rebounds.
Despite recent improvements, Portland is still dealing with
injuries. Sebastian Telfair has missed six games with a
sprained thumb, Joel Pryzbilla sat out with a sore knee and
Darius Miles continues to recover from knee surgery.
After Portland won the initial meeting against Memphis on
November 22, the Grizzlies evened the season series with an
89-79 victory on December 21. Gasol had 26 points and 12
rebounds.





