Post Up: Grizzlies Bear Down

Grizzlies (12-2) 107, Clippers (7-5) 91

Memphis put the clamps down on Lob City early last night and never let go. They held Los Angeles to 40 first-half points, and opened up a comfortable 12-point lead at the break.

Marc Gasol was incredible on both ends, hitting 13/18 shots for 30 points to go with 12 boards and a pair of blocks. Zach Randolph chipped in his 10 and 8, and Mike Conley handed out 7 assists with just 1 turnover.

Chris Paul led the Clippers with 22 points, but Blake Griffin (5/17, 12 points, 4 boards) struggled to get anything going.

Memphis is now 8-0 at home.

Blazers (10-3) 94, Celtics (4-8) 88

Boston has played solid ball all season, and hung with one of the League’s best teams for a while last night. The game was tied at 72 after three quarters, but the Blazers pulled away with a 10-0 run to start the final period.

It wasn’t Portland’s cleanest offensive performance, but they got 20 and 14 from LaMarcus Aldridge and a nice 16 and 8 off the bench from Chris Kaman. Damian Lillard (4/14) scored just 12 points, but did tally 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals.

Jared Sullinger and Jeff Green each scored a team-high 19 for Boston. Rajon Rondo contributed across the board with 13 points, 6 boards, 8 assists and a pair of steals. The Celtics connected on just 5/23 three-point tries.

Heat (8-6) 94, Hornets (4-10) 93

Charlotte led 93-91 with 2:30 left before their offense shut down for good. The Heat managed only three points during that stretch themselves, but squeezed out a win.

Chris Bosh hit what proved to be the game-winner with 31 seconds left, and finished with 20 and 10. Luol Deng dropped a game-high 26 on sharp 10/14 shooting, and Mario Chalmers added 20 points and 10 assists.

Al Jefferson scored a team-high 22 for Charlotte, but was uncharacteristically quiet late in the game. Kemba Walker (16) and Lance Stephenson (17) were solid in the loss.

Warriors (10-2) 91, Thunder (3-12) 86

The short-handed Thunder battled last night, but came up just short. With eight seconds left, an Andre Roberson triple that would have tied the game at 89 missed the mark, and Klay Thompson iced the game at the line.

Marreese Speights led the Warriors with 28 after dropping 24 last Sunday. He hit 11/18 shots and snagged 7 boards. Thompson finished with 20 points, 8 boards and 5 assists, and Stephen Curry scored 15. Draymond Green struggled with his shot (3/11), but still managed to contribute in a big way, finishing with 10 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks and a steal in a game-high 40 minutes.

Reggie Jackson (22, 11 boards, 8 assists), Anthony Morrow (16 points, 12 rebounds) and Serge Ibaka (16, 8 and 5 blocks) had huge games for OKC, but they just don’t have enough to beat teams like Golden State. They shot poorly from the floor (36 percent), from deep (3/17) and from the line (19/27).

Nuggets (5-7) 101, Lakers (3-10) 94

At one point early in overtime, the Lakers’ booth announced that the Nuggets had missed nine of their last ten three-point attempts. A long Lakers rebound off of that ninth miss led to a Nick Young fadeaway from the left block, which he bricked. On the ensuing possession, Arron Afflalo drove to the lane and kicked the ball out right to Jeremy Lin, who was promptly fouled by Ty Lawson.

That’s probably the best way to sum up this game which, I guess, was won by Denver.

The teams combined for 80 first-half points before erupting for a huge third quarter (36-31, LA), and crumbling again in the fourth. Denver sucked less than the Lakers did in the extra period and hung on.

Lawson finished with 18 points and 16 assists, and has been playing well during the Nuggets’ recent resurgence. Wilson Chandler led the team with 19 points, and Timofey Mozgov double-doubled with 13 and 13.

Kobe Bryant dropped 27 for the Lakers but played horribly down the stretch. He had a chance to win the game late in regulation, but couldn’t connect on a tough baseline fadeaway.

Jordan Hill double-doubled with 14 and 11, and Jeremy Lin scored 17 in the losing effort.

The two teams combined to shoot 13/61 from deep.