Trail Blazers-Grizzlies Preview

By JEFF BARTL
Posted Jan 03 2013 1:59PM

The Memphis Grizzlies and Portland Trail Blazers both rely heavily on their starting lineups for scoring more than almost every other NBA team.

Memphis' league-best defense, though, seemingly gets contributions from its entire roster.

The Grizzlies seek another solid defensive effort Friday night against visiting Portland, which looks to regroup from one of its worst offensive performances of the season.

Offense hasn't been a strong point for Memphis (20-9), as its 94.6 points per game rank in the bottom third of the league. It gets only an average of 25.4 points from its bench, which has been outscored by the opposition's reserves 19 times.

That again was the case Wednesday, but starting point guard Mike Conley scored a season-high 23 points in a 93-83 win at Boston. Fellow starters and frontcourt players Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol combined for only 11 points while shooting 4 of 15 from the field.

"It speaks to that we're a good team and we don't just count on those guys when we struggled trying to pound the ball into them," coach Lionel Hollins said. "Zach just didn't have it, but we went up for it and we got a win."

Randolph will look to bounce back from his season-low six-point effort versus Portland, the franchise for which he played his first six seasons. His 21.3 points and 11.2 rebounds per game versus his former team are his best averages against any club.

Memphis' defense, though, likely will play another major role after improving its NBA-best points-against average to 89.8. The Grizzlies also are giving up only 86.8 points per game at home, which doesn't bode well for a Blazers team coming off a 102-79 loss at Toronto on Wednesday.

Portland (16-15), which scored its second-fewest points of the season, dropped to 1-9 when scoring 90 or fewer points and its bench was outscored 59-23.

The Blazers are receiving 17.7 points per game from their reserves - by far the worst in the league. Since 1986, no team has scored fewer points per game off the bench than the 1996-97 Atlanta Hawks (18.0).

Rookie Damian Lillard scored a team-high 18 points but also committed a season-worst seven turnovers.

"Just one of those nights," Lillard said.

He'll look to protect the ball better against Memphis, which holds the NBA's longest active streak by forcing at least 10 turnovers in 132 consecutive games.

Prior to Wednesday, the Grizzlies had dropped three of their previous four and shot 39.1 percent over the final three while averaging 84.3 points. Hollins has stressed more movement on the offensive end, and his team may have a solid chance for an offensive breakout versus a Portland team that ranks near the bottom of the league in defensive field goal percentage (46.6).

"That's one thing that Coach has in his pocket. He always shows the film and he doesn't try to be hard on us, he just lets us know," guard Tony Allen said in regards to the offense.

The Blazers have allowed four of their last six opponents to crack 100 points after holding the previous seven under the century mark.

"Not where we need it to be and not where it's been," coach Terry Stotts said of his team's defense. "Over the past six weeks (it) has been pretty good."

Memphis had lost five of the previous six meetings before its 93-89 home victory in the most recent meeting April 21.

Matthews scores 21 to lead Blazers past Grizzlies

By CLAY BAILEY
Posted Jan 05 2013 12:27AM

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) The Portland Trail Blazers turned up the defense down the stretch to turn back the Grizzlies.

Wesley Matthews scored 21 points, J.J. Hickson added 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Portland beat Memphis 86-84 on Friday night.

Rudy Gay's jumper from near the top of the key was off the mark as time expired, allowing the Trail Blazers to escape a closely played game that saw nine ties and 21 lead changes.

"I thought we played very good team defense," said LaMarcus Aldridge, who had 15 points and 12 rebounds for Portland. "We played their tendencies very well down the stretch. We had talked about it all game, about knowing what guys were going to do, and I thought down the stretch we guarded that."

Nicolas Batum and Damian Lillard added 11 points apiece for the Trail Blazers, Lillard also handing out eight assists, as Portland won for the ninth time in its last 12 games.

Marreese Speights had a season-high 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Grizzlies in place of Zach Randolph, who missed the game with flu-like symptoms. Gay had 19 points, but was 8 of 21 from the field.

Marc Gasol scored 12 points and had a career-best eight blocks. Darrell Arthur contributed 10 points off the Memphis bench.

"We didn't play like we wanted to," Gasol said. "We let them set their defense and shoot their shots. I think it was more on us than on them."

Randolph, the Grizzlies' leading rebounder and second-leading scorer, missed his first game of the season. Speights made up the difference, particularly in carrying the Grizzlies offensively in the third quarter. But it didn't help Memphis in the fourth.

"We went to Marc and we went to Rudy down in the post, but obviously Z-Bo is the guy that we rely on in the post down the stretch," Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said. "Anybody who loses one of their best players is going to feel it, and we felt it at a crucial part of the game."

The teams were tied at 80 with 4:05 left, the ninth tie of the game, when Hickson hit one of two free throws. Batum's 3-pointer with 3:28 remaining put Portland, which never led by more than four, ahead for good.

"We have to be resilient," Matthews said. "We have players that have been through the fire. .We are full of resilient players."

Memphis was within 85-84, but Mike Conley missed a layup with 7.9 seconds left, and the Trail Blazers were able to secure possession and the victory as Aldridge split a pair of free throws with 2.1 seconds to go.

Conley's miss was part of Memphis shooting 23 percent in the fourth quarter, while the Trail Blazers connected on only 19 percent of their shots. The teams were a combined 9 of 43 in the final 12 minutes, the biggest difference coming from Portland hitting a pair of 3-pointers, while the Grizzlies missed their only one from outside the arc.

"The game never really got away until we lost it," Hollins said, adding that neither team shot well in the second half. "We just could not get a bucket to go in. Three or four attempts at the end when we were down one to take the lead, and we just couldn't get them to go."

Memphis carried a 50-47 lead into halftime behind 17 points from Gay, who was 7 of 13 from the field. Gasol had eight points, but already had surpassed his career best with seven blocks in the half.

Memphis had the lead to eight points in the half, but could never extend it to double digits as Batum, Hickson and Matthews were a combined 11 of 18 from the field.

The Grizzlies missed eight of their first nine shots in the game, but finished the half shooting 51 percent, while Portland was at 46 percent.

Speights picked up the offensive pace for Memphis in the third quarter, scoring 16 of the Grizzlies' 22 points.

"I just tried to go out there and play hard and attack the goal when my teammates threw me the ball," Speights said.

But Portland was getting its offensive production from several sources. Matthews connected on a trio of 3-pointers, while Hickson and Aldridge helped with the scoring. That allowed the Trail Blazers to enter the fourth tied at 72.

Portland coach Terry Stotts noted Batum's and Matthews' work on Gay, holding the Grizzlies' leading scorer to only two points, missing seven of his eight shots, after intermission.

"We let them penetrate too much in the first half. They got in the paint far too often," Stotts said, then adding that Batum and Matthews took it upon themselves to hinder those opportunities in the second half.

"Both those guys really took the challenge to guard (Gay) on every possession. They made it tough on him," Stotts said.

NOTES: Memphis G Jerryd Bayless returned after leaving Wednesday's game at Boston with a left ankle sprain. .The Trail Blazers, whose bench averages only 17.7 points a game, the worst in the league, contributed only nine points against Memphis. . Aldridge made five free throws in the game, putting him past Kevin Duckworth for 10th place on franchise list in that category. . Gasol's previous career high was six blocks at Phoenix on Dec. 12. ... Former Memphis Tiger Will Barton got a nice round of applause when he entered the game for Portland. He ended night with four points.

Notebook: Trail Blazers 86, Grizzlies 84

Marlon W. Morgan, For NBA.com
Posted Fri Jan 04, 2013 11:55 PM - Updated Fri Jan 04, 2013 11:55 PM

THE FACTS: Rudy Gay has hit his share of game-tying and game-winning shots during his career with the Memphis Grizzlies. Credit Portland's Nicolas Batum for studying those shots. Batum was well aware that Gay likes to go to his right in crunch-time moments. So, with 2.1 seconds left in Friday night's game, Batum forced Gay to go to his left as he launched a jumper that clanged off the rim to seal the Trail Blazers' 86-84 win at FedExForum. Portland has now won eight of its last 11 games after starting the year 9-12.

QUOTABLE: "When [Gay] goes right, he makes it almost every time. I tried to push him left for a better chance for him to miss."

-- Portland's Nicolas Batum on guarding Rudy Gay on the final shot

THE STAT: After the Grizzlies' bench gave regained the lead at 78-77, coach Lionel Hollins had all of his starters back in at the 6:34 mark of the fourth quarter. From that time on, the Grizzlies made just two of their final 15 shots from the floor.

TURNING POINT: The Grizzlies had a golden chance to take a one-point lead with 6.6 seconds left when point guard Mike Conley got free on a drive to the basket. But he inexplicably missed the layup with his team trailing 85-84. Portland (17-15) got the rebound and LaMarcus Aldridge made 1 of his 2 free throws with 2.1 seconds left, providing the final margin.

HOT: Portland guard Wesley Matthews proved to be a difficult matchup for Grizzlies' defensive stopper Tony Allen. Matthews scored a team-high 21 points, connecting of 5 of his 8 3-point attempts. He was 3-for-4 from long range in the second half for Memphis (20-10).

NOT: After scoring 17 points in the first half on 7-for-13 shooting, Gay struggled from all over the court in the second half. He was just 1-for-8 from the floor after intermission, scoring two points. Gay missed three of the team's final four shot attempts.

QUOTABLE II: "If you can't make buckets, you can't score. We got shots. We got to the basket. We did things that we've been trying to do. We just didn't make anything. That happens sometimes. Struggles are struggles."

-- Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins

NOTABLE: Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph missed the game against the team that drafted him with flu-like symptoms. His replacement, Marreese Speights, did his best imitation of the double-double machine with game-highs of 23 points and 13 rebounds. His 23 points were a season-high. ... The Trail Blazers have now won two of their first three road games during their four-game trip, bouncing back from a tough loss at Toronto on Wednesday. The trip concludes Saturday night at Minnesota. ... The Grizzlies have lost four of their last six games, including two of their last three at home. ... Memphis center Marc Gasol had a career-high eight blocked shots which tied the franchise record. Six of those came in the first quarter. He also had 12 points and six rebounds. ... J.J. Hickson had 19 points and 11 rebounds for Portland, while Aldridge added 15 points, 12 boards and five blocked shots. ... The Grizzlies will now hit the road for a three-game road trip which begins Sunday at Phoenix. The other stops are Sacramento and Golden State. ... The fourth quarter was about as ugly as it gets, with Portland outscoring Memphis 14-12. The Trail Blazers shot 19 percent (4-for-21) in the quarter, while the Grizzlies were much better at 22.7 percent (5-for-22). ... Portland did manage to make 10 3-pointers. ... The Grizzlies scored a season-low 34 points in the second half after scoring 50 in the first half.

UP NEXT: For the Trail Blazers, Saturday @ Minnesota, Monday vs. Orlando, Thursday vs. Miami. For the Grizzlies, Sunday @ Phoenix, Monday @ Sacramento, Wednesday @ Golden State.

• Trail Blazers: Leonard, Williams
• Grizzlies: Pondexter

• Trail Blazers: --
• Grizzlies: --

• Lead Changes: 21
• Times Tied: 9

• Arena: FedExForum, Memphis, TN
• Officials: #33 Sean Corbin, #55 Bill Kennedy, #70 Brent Barnaky
• Attendance: 15823
• Duration: 2:16