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Gay, Mayo lead Grizzlies past Mavericks

Oct 30, 2010 - 6:15 AM DALLAS (AP) -- The Memphis Grizzlies finally earned an elusive win in Big D.

Rudy Gay scored 21 points, O.J. Mayo added 20, and each made a key defensive play in the final seconds to help the Grizzlies beat the Dallas Mavericks 91-90 on Friday night.

The Grizzlies ended a nine-game road losing streak to the Mavericks, winning in Dallas for the first time since Nov. 26, 2005.

"I've never won here, so it feels great," Mike Conley said. "We didn't buckle when it came down to the end. We made the plays defensively that we needed to make to win the game."

Marc Gasol added 10 points and 15 rebounds for Memphis, which split its first two games of the season. Dallas native Darrell Arthur contributed 14 points.

Gasol missed the opener with a sprained left ankle, but went through pregame warmups and decided his ankle was sound enough for him to play.

Dirk Nowitzki had 27 points and Caron Butler finished with 18 for the Mavericks, also 1-1 after two games.

Nowitzki's 18-footer gave Dallas a 90-89 lead, but Conley hit one of two free throws with 47 seconds remaining to tie it.

Gasol was fouled by Tyson Chandler during a scrap for a rebound with 6.7 left, and he made one of two free throws to give Memphis the lead.

Gay knocked Jason Terry's pass attempt out of bounds with 1.9 seconds left, and Mayo stole Jason Kidd's inbounds pass to seal the victory. Terry also missed a 21-foot jumper with 31 seconds to play.

"Bad execution down the stretch," Nowitzki said. "We had enough chances. We had the ball with 6 seconds left, that's plenty of time. But we didn't even get a look. It's a bad loss, a game we've got to win."

The Mavericks missed 12 of 18 shots and committed nine turnovers in the fourth quarter.

"That's too many," Terry said. "You can't do that and win. You've got to value every possession."

The Grizzlies were without starting forward Zach Randolph, who bruised his lower back in the first half of Wednesday night's loss to Atlanta. They also overcame 39 percent field-goal shooting and 11 missed free throws in 36 tries, helped by 20 Dallas turnovers that led to 19 points.

"(The Grizzlies) were scrappy defensively tonight," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "I think they had something to do with it. But we've got to do better."

Dallas used a 10-2 run over the final 1:22 of the third quarter, capped by Terry's layup with 0.2 left, to grab a 75-69 advantage.

The Mavericks built a 50-41 halftime lead behind Nowitzki's 14 points.

Dallas started 11 for 18 from the field and was ahead after one quarter, 29-24. But Carlisle could not have been pleased with Memphis' seven offensive rebounds, 11 in the first half and 14 for the game.

"Look, this is two games out of 82, so come back in two weeks and we'll see where we are," Carlisle said.

NOTES: Nowitzki had made 82 consecutive free throws during the regular season until he missed with 5:27 left in the second quarter. His previous regular-season miss was against Denver on March 29. The NBA record for consecutive free throws is 97 by Minnesota's Michael Williams from March 25-Nov. 9, 1993. Nowitzki missed two of four during one stretch in the second quarter. ... Dallas has gone 940 games with at least one successful 3-pointer. ... The Grizzlies are 11-49 against the Mavs.