Grizzlies halt Golden State winning streak

Memphis put an end to a long Golden State winning streak on Tuesday.

Marc Gasol scored 24 points and Mike Conley and Zach Randolph added 17 each as the Grizzlies won 105-98 at FedEx Forum.

The loss snapped Golden State’s franchise-record 16-game winning streak, handing the NBA’s top team its first defeat since November 11. Meanwhile, Memphis won its fifth straight and moved within one game of the Warriors for the top spot at 20-4.

“This was huge, obviously (Golden State is) a great team right there,” said Conley. “For us to play that way against a great team, it says a lot.”

Memphis, which improved to a league-best 12-1 at home, led by as much as 14 points, but the Warriors fought back. It was just a two-point deficit on two occasions in the fourth quarter, including at 90-88 on an alley-oop lay-in by Shaun Livingston at the 5:15 mark. Tayshaun Prince picked up his only points of the night on a 3-pointer, Conley had a strong drive for a lay up and Andre Iguodala and Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr were each hit with a technical foul, leading to a pair of free throws from Courtney Lee and the Grizzlies led 97-88 with about three minutes to go.

Golden State got to within three points late on Marreese Speights’ foul line jumper with 25 seconds to play. Stephen Curry, who had 19 points, but was just 9-of-25 from the field, missed two chances at a 3-pointer with less than 15 seconds to go that would’ve made it a one-possession game. Klay Thompson scored 22 points to lead Golden State, which lost for just the second time in 15 road contests.

Harrison Barnes had a nice floater at the first-quarter buzzer that gave the Warriors a 30-24 lead, but things turned in Memphis favor at the start of the second.

Memphis began the quarter on a 20-0 run - Vince Carter drained three 3-pointers as part of the spurt - and the hosts led 44-30. Speights finally put an end to Golden State’s scoring drought and picked up the visitors’ first points of the quarter at the 6:57 mark.

Golden State got it down to a 50-46 game with just under two minutes to go in the half when Thompson hit a three and was fouled, turning it into a four-point play. Gasol and Conley scored 12 straight Memphis points, helping the Grizzlies build the lead back up to double-digits through the first three minutes of the fourth. Golden State’s 14-2 run, aided by a pair of baskets from both Thompson and Livingston, made it an 88-86 game with 6:44 left.

There were 11 lead changes in the opening quarter as neither team could get any separation until the Warriors snapped a 22-22 tie and scored eight of the last 10 points of the opening period, capped by Barnes eight-footer.

Speights and Livingston combined for 30 points off Golden State’s bench, while Carter poured in a season-high 16 points, part of a 40-point night for the Grizzlies’ reserves.

A look at the rest of Tuesday’s NBA action.

Washington 109, Minnesota 95

John Wall had 21 points and 17 assists and the Wizards led for all but 1:43 of the game.

Wall tied a career-high in assists and hit 9-of-17 shots from the field, helping Washington (18-6) win its fifth straight. Six other players were in double figures for the Wizards, now an Eastern Conference-best 13-2 at home, including reserve Rasual Butler, who tied a season high with 23 points.

For Minnesota, which fell to 5-19, Thaddeus Young led all scorers with 29 points.

Dallas 107, New York 87

Dirk Nowitzki scored 16 points to lead five in double figures for the Mavericks.

Dallas (18-8) shot 45 percent (15-of-33) on its 3-pointers and had 30 assists in handing the woeful Knicks (5-22) their fifth consecutive home loss. Carmelo Anthony scored a game-high 26 points, his 12th game with at least 25 points.

Miami 95, Brooklyn 91

Dwyane Wade scored 28 points to lead the Heat to a road win.

Wade wasn’t alone as Luol Deng contributed 18 points and Mario Chalmers had 10 points and five assists off the bench for Miami, which improved to 12-13 overall and won in Brooklyn (10-13) for the second time this season.

Mason Plumlee scored 21 points and Deron Williams scored 15 points to go along with 11 assists for the Nets.

Oklahoma City 104, Sacramento 92

The host Kings led by a point with about eight minutes left in the game, but the Thunder closed strong to win their seventh straight.

Sacramento (11-14), losers of four consecutive games and playing their first game for interim coach Tyrone Corbin, capped a 13-2 run to open the fourth with Carl Landry’s jumper at the 8:04 mark. Landry made another bucket 27 seconds later that allowed the Kings to retake the lead at 86-85, but Oklahoma City dominated the remainder of the contest.

Starting with Kevin Durant’s jumper with 7:54 to play, the Thunder (12-13) closed the game on a 19-6 run and won in Sacramento for the fifth consecutive time.

Russell Westbrook torched the Kings for a game-high 32 points, while Durant added 26. Rudy Gay had 22 points for Sacramento.

New Orleans 119, Utah 111

The Pelicans hit nearly 60 percent of their field goal attempts (47-of-79) in evening their record to 12-12.

Anthony Davis returned from a chest injury and poured in 31 points, while Ryan Anderson came off the bench to score 28, including hitting 6-of-10 from three-point range.

Davis, who sat out nearly two full games with the injury, was 12-of-15 from the field and added nine rebounds and three blocked shots. Utah (6-19), which lost its sixth straight on away from home, built a 14-point fourth quarter lead before New Orleans came all the way back, taking the lead for good at 105-104 with 3:16 left when Tyreke Evans converted consecutive lay ups.

Enes Kanter scored 29 points to lead seven in double figures for Utah, which went up 92-78 on Trevor Booker’s dunk 35 seconds into the fourth. The Jazz would only make six more shots the rest of the way.


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