GAME THREAD: NBA: MEMPHIS (4-9) at NEW JERSEY (7-7)

[SportsTicker]

NBA: MEMPHIS at NEW JERSEY

<div class="pre">MEMPHIS (110)

fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
D Stoudamire 24:26 5-9 0-1 0-0 6 1 13
J Navarro 38:10 4-12 5-6 0-11 4 2 16
M Miller 42:08 6-8 4-5 0-3 9 4 19
R Gay 26:44 3-9 1-2 1-6 4 6 7
P Gasol 37:45 9-15 4-4 2-6 5 3 22
K Lowry 23:57 3-9 4-7 1-6 2 1 10
H Warrick 17:53 4-7 1-3 0-2 0 3 9
C Jacobsen 15:34 2-3 2-2 0-2 2 3 8
S Swift 13:23 2-4 2-2 0-3 0 3 6
B Cardinal DNP - COACH'S DECISION
A Brown DNP - COACH'S DECISION
T Kinsey DNP - COACH'S DECISION

______________________________________________________
TOTALS 240:00 38-76 23-32 4-39 32 26 110
______________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.500, FT-.719. 3-Point Goals:
11-22, .500 (D Stoudamire 3-5, J Navarro 3-8,
M Miller 3-4, R Gay 0-1, K Lowry 0-1, C
Jacobsen 2-3). Team Rebounds: 9. Blocked
Shots:3 (S Swift 3). Turnovers:10 (M Miller
4, J Navarro 3, P Gasol 2, S Swift). Steals:
4 (D Stoudamire, M Miller, R Gay, J Navarro).


NEW JERSEY (103)

fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
J Kidd 41:48 5-14 0-0 2-15 12 4 12
V Carter 40:17 11-23 8-9 1-9 7 3 32
R Jefferson 41:31 10-21 7-9 1-4 5 4 27
A Wright 41:28 5-9 2-3 0-0 2 3 13
J Collins 31:39 3-3 0-0 1-4 2 3 6
B Nachbar 15:40 2-8 0-0 1-4 0 3 6
S Williams 14:03 2-2 3-5 2-5 0 4 7
J Boone 7:22 0-2 0-0 0-2 0 2 0
E Gill 6:12 0-2 0-0 0-2 1 1 0
J Magloire DNP - COACH'S DECISION
M Allen DNP - COACH'S DECISION
N Krstic DNP - COACH'S DECISION

______________________________________________________
TOTALS 240:00 38-84 20-26 8-45 29 27 103
______________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.452, FT-.769. 3-Point Goals:
7-24, .292 (J Kidd 2-6, V Carter 2-7, R
Jefferson 0-3, A Wright 1-3, B Nachbar 2-4, E
Gill 0-1). Team Rebounds: 6. Blocked Shots:3
(S Williams 2, R Jefferson). Turnovers:10 (R
Jefferson 4, J Kidd 3, S Williams 2, V
Carter). Steals: 5 (R Jefferson 2, V Carter,
J Collins, A Wright).

--------------------------------------------
MEMPHIS 28 30 23 29 - 110
NEW JERSEY 25 20 31 27 - 103
--------------------------------------------

Technical fouls: New Jersey - 1 (Defensive
Three, 7:48 3rd).
Flagrant fouls: None. A: 12,092. T: 2:22.
Officials: Luis Grillo, Phil Robinson, Tom
Washington.</div>

 

[SportsTicker]

By Carl Dispoto
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) - The Memphis Grizzlieswere finally on the winning side of a nail-biter.


Pau Gasol led a balanced offensive attack with 22 points as theMemphis Grizzlies held on for a 110-103 victory over the NewJersey Nets.


The Grizzlies are one of only two NBA teams to lose four gamesthis season by three points or less and were in danger of losinganother close contest after squandering an 18-point leadagainst the Nets.


The Grizzlies never trailed and appeared to put away the gamewhen Gasol buried a jumper for a 95-87 cushion with just oversix minutes to go. But the Nets scored seven of the next ninepoints and Richard Jefferson's three-point play made it 97-94with 3:16 left.


Jefferson sank a pair of free throws to bring New Jersey within99-98 at 2:05, but Kyle Lowry made a reverse layup at the otherend and was fouled. Lowry missed the free throw, but Jeffersonmisfired on a wide-open 3-pointer at the other end and the Netscould not secure the rebound.


Rookie Juan Carlos Navarro and Mike Miller combined for eightfree throws in the final 75 seconds as Memphis secured its firstwinning streak of the season. The Grizzlies did not winconsecutive games last season until March 29.


"That's something we set as a milestone," Memphis coach MarcIavaroni said of the winning streak. "We wanted to have a goodweek on the road and this was a good start. Hopefully, we'llhave much higher goals."


Miller scored 19 points and Navarro finished with 16 and aseason-high 11 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who shot 50 percent(38-of-76) overall and made 11-of-22 3-pointers.


"Being in a lot of close games this year and not being verysuccessful I think when it comes down to it, we're going to growand we're going to improve and we're going to get better inthose situations," Gasol said. "We're finally getting confidentin what we're doing out there and feeling confident aboutwinning."


Vince Carter scored a season-high 32 points and Jefferson had 27for New Jersey, which lost in its return home after winning thefinal three games of a four-game Western Conference road trip.

"It's disappointing, especially because we thought we had foundsomething we could start building on coming off the road," NewJersey point guard Jason Kidd said. "We put ourselves in thehole and we just could never get a stop when we had to."

Kidd collected 12 points, 12 assists and 15 rebounds for hisfourth triple-double of the season and the 91st of his career,but the Nets dropped their fourth consecutive home game.

"We've always played well here and we've always had some kind ofhome court advantage for the last five or six years," Kiddsaid. "But right now it's been a disadvantage and we have to fixthat."


The Grizzlies' high-powered offense overwhelmed the Nets in thefirst half, when they shot 51 percent (21-of-41) from the floorand 6-of-9 from the arc. Gasol and Miller combined for 30 pointson 11-of-17 shooting in the half


Memphis pulled away with a 17-3 run midway through the secondquarter, making 6-of-8 shots during a span of 4:18. The Nets<div class="pre">shot just 1-of-7 during the stretch including a pair of</div><div class="pre">airballs from Kidd and the Grizzlies took their largest lead</div>at 51-33 on a runner by Gay with five minutes to go.

But the Nets rallied in the third quarter behind 13 points fromCarter, who led the team in scoring for the first time thisseason. He made 3-of-7 shots and 6-of-6 free throws in theperiod, nailing a fallaway 3-pointer in the final seconds tobring New Jersey within 80-76.


Jefferson and Carter combined for 21 points in the fourth andBostjan Nachbar nailed a pair of 3-pointers, but New Jerseycould not slow Memphis, which made 8-of-16 shots and 12-of-16free throws in the final period.