Grizzlies hold off Hawks in Summer League action

Posted Tuesday July 13, 2010 1:16AM

LAS VEGAS -- The Memphis Grizzlies (1-0) staved off a pesky Atlanta Hawks (0-1) squad in an 89-85 contest Monday night in the 2010 NBA Summer League from the Thomas & Mack Center. The Grizzlies, who built a 17-point lead midway through the second quarter, needed to fend off the Hawks after seeing the lead dissipate through the fourth quarter. Atlanta tied the game on two occasions in the waning minutes, but Memphis was able to get four points from O.J. Mayo and two from DeMarre Carroll to guide them to victory down the stretch.

Memphis never relinquished the lead after taking control with under a minute remaining in the first quarter. The Grizzlies used an 11-0 run in over 4:46 span between the first and second quarters to put some breathing room between their opponent.

Five different players contributed to the 11-0 run for the Grizzlies with Darrel Arthur chipping in four points, while Sam Young, Chris McCray and O.J. Mayo had two apiece. Hasheem Thabeet broke the 13-13 tie with his only point in the run off a made free throw.

The Grizzlies jumped out to as much as a 17-point lead with 1:27 left in the second quarter on a running jumper by O.J. Mayo, who had a game-high 20 points. Mayo chipped in six more points to put what was probably deemed an insurmountable lead at the time.

Memphis went into half time ahead 40-28. The 12-point lead was maintained through the third quarter, as the teams each notched 26 points.

Atlanta reengaged in the fourth quarter by outscoring Memphis 25-13 over the first 6:52 of the stanza to knot the game up at 79-79. The Grizzlies went back ahead by four only to see the Hawks even the score at 83-83 for the last time.

Richard Hendrix was the main instigator for Atlanta's come-from-behind effort scoring seven of his 11 points in the fourth quarter. Jordan Crawford and Luke Jackson chipped in five apiece and Jeff Teague had four in the final 10 minutes of action.

Back-to-back layups by Mayo and Carroll pushed the lead to four before Mayo connected on two free throws with 13.6 remaining.

The Grizzlies had four other players reach double-digits besides Mayo's 20. Young had 19, while Arthur had 17. Carroll added 12 to Thabeet's 11.

The Hawks were paced by 16 apiece by Teague and Crawford. Alade Aminu had 14, as well.

Memphis returns to action on Tuesday against the Milwaukee Bucks at 5:00 pm in the Cox Pavilion. Atlanta takes on San Antonio Wednesday at 3:30 pm in the Thomas & Mack Center.

• Grizzlies: --
• Hawks: --

• Grizzlies: --
• Hawks: --

• Lead Changes: 4
• Times Tied: 8

• Arena: Thomas and Mack Arena, Las Vegas, NV
• Officials: #66 Haywoode Workman, #44 Jenneta Graham, #0 Blake Mico
• Attendance: -
• Duration: 1:47