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Gasol shines as Grizzlies get past Warriors

Nov 4, 2008 - 5:25 AM By Jason Smith PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MEMPHIS, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Marc Gasol scored 27 points to lead three players in double figures Monday as the Memphis Grizzlies snapped their seven-game losing streak against the Golden State Warriors with a 90-79 victory at FedEx Forum.

Gasol, a rookie center and the brother of Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol, added a team-high 16 rebounds for Memphis, which limited Golden State to just 12 fourth-quarter points.

Rudy Gay added 14 points and rookie guard O.J. Mayo had 13 for the Grizzlies, who improved to 2-0 at home for the first time in franchise history after limiting Golden State to just 34.4 percent (33-of-96) shooting.

"Well, it's only the fourth game. There's still 78 to go and we have to think about or next game at Sacramento," said Gasol, who added three blocked shots. "We're 2-2 and we have to look forward to winning some games on the road.

"I always think that defense gives you a lot of confidence on offense. That's the way I feel. It's hard for me to just come out and play offense and shoot and not play defense. I don't gain confidence like that."

Memphis entered the fourth with a 73-67 lead and outscored Golden State, 13-6, over the first 7:07 of the quarter, pushing its lead to 86-75 when Mayo threw down a one-handed dunk on an assist from point guard Mike Conley.

"We still have a lot of work to do," Mayo said. "We have two home wins and two losses on the road. We have the opportunity to now go on the road and win some games."

Center Andris Beidrins finished with 16 points and a game-high 22 rebounds for the Warriors.

Biedrins made a lay-up with 5:49 left in the third quarter that gave Golden State its first lead (61-60) since early in the first quarter.

Rookie guard DeMarcus Nelson followed with back-to-back buckets to cap a 9-0 Golden State scoring run and give the Warriors their biggest lead of the night at 65-60.

But the Grizzlies responded by scoring the final nine points of the third quarter to take a 73-67 lead. Memphis shot 48.3 percent from the field (28-of-58) over the game's first three quarters to Golden State's 40 percent (28-of-70).

"We didn't do much to help ourselves," Warriors coach Don Nelson said. "Biedrins and Nelson were the only two guys who had decent games as far as I was concerned."

Gay and Gasol combined to score Memphis' first 11 points. Gasol matched his previous season high with 12 first-quarter points to help the Grizzlies take a 29-24 advantage after one.

"I thought the key was getting off to a good start against a very dangerous team," Memphis coach Marc Iavaroni said. "They had Baron Davis last year, but they're capable of putting on a clinic. They did last year, so we wanted to get on a good start and we passed that test."

Memphis went on to lead by as many as nine points in the second quarter before Golden State used a 9-2 scoring run to pull within two. Stephen Jackson scored five of his team-high 17 points points during the spurt, helping Golden State slice Memphis' lead to 47-45.

But Gasol answered on the other end with a 21-footer to cap a 20-point first half performance and give Memphis a four-point lead at the break.

"We like Gasol. We think he's a good player," Nelson said. "No matter what our gameplan was, nothing was successful, but I thought Gasol was terrific."