In a battle of the two best teams in the NBA, the Grizzlies came away victorious 119-93 Monday night at FedExForum, handing the Houston Rockets their first road loss of the season, while claiming the top spot in the NBA.
Houston came into tonight’s matchup with the first-ranked defense in the NBA, holding opponents to just 88.9 points per game. Memphis proved to be an exception to the fact, scoring a season-high 119 points.
The Grizzlies converted early in the first quarter, scoring 18 points off 10 Rockets’ turnovers - setting the tone for the night with their highest first-half scoring output of 65 points on 26-of-45 shooting (.578) to the Rockets’ 42 points, tying their season-low in first-half scoring.
Mike Conley (19 points, six assists) led the Grizzlies in scoring for the fifth time in 11 games. Seven Grizzlies scored in double-digits tonight, including Zach Randolph (14 points, seven rebounds), who has scored double-digits in every matchup this season.
Quincy Pondexter provided an early spark off the bench for the Grizzlies, scoring all of his season-high 13 points (5-of-14 FG) in the first half, including nine points from beyond the arc. Jon Leuer also notched a season-high 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting (.625). Courtney Lee (15 points), Beno Udrih (13 points) and Kosta Koufos (10 points) all added to the onslaught of Grizzlies offense throughout the night, with the Grizzlies’ second unit providing 56 total points.
Rookie big man Jarnell Stokes (four points in six minutes) made his NBA presence felt, sinking a six-foot hook shot for his first career field goal. Jordan Adams also scored his first NBA point via a one-of-two effort from the charity stripe with 4:35 remaining in the final period.
Trevor Ariza led all Rockets scorers with 16 points on 4-of-13 shooting.
The Grizzlies are an NBA-best 10-1 while remaining undefeated at home (6-0) in 2014-15 and extended their 20-game home regular season winning streak spanning back to Feb. 11 of last season. Memphis will head to the Air Canada Centre to take on the Toronto Raptors Wednesday night at 6:30 (CT).
Photos
Key Stat of the Night
- The Grizzlies forced the Rockets to 21 turnovers giving Memphis 31 points total off of their miscues, including 18 points off of 10 giveaways in the first quarter.
Key Run of the Night
- With the score tied at 15 with 4:21 remaining in the first quarter, the Grizzlies followed with a 26-5 run spanning through the end of first and beginning of the second period to establish a 41-20 lead that would set the tone for remainder of the game.
Highlights
Quotes
Player Notes
- Mike Conley led all scorers with 19 points on 6-of-10 (.600) shooting, including a perfect 6-of-6 effort from the free-throw line.
- Jon Leuer (5-of-8 FG) and Quincy Pondexter (5-of-14 FG) both recorded a season-highs with 13 points.
- Rookie Jarnell Stokes played his first NBA game, recoding four points and notching two rebounds.
- Seven Grizzlies scored in double-digits (Randolph, Lee, Conley, Pondexter, Koufos, Udrih, Leuer)… This is the first time seven Grizzlies have scored in double figures in the same game since Dec. 3, 2013 vs. Phoenix.
- Zach Randolph (14 points) has now scored in double-digits in every Grizzlies game this season.
- Courtney Lee (15 points, three rebounds) has scored in double-digits in all nine games played this season.