• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Gasol, Grizzlies continue to dominate Lakers

Jan 10, 2007 - 5:39 AM MEMPHIS, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Despite their lowly record, the Memphis Grizzlies continued their impressive play against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Pau Gasol collected 26 points and 13 rebounds and Mike Miller added 25 points as the Grizzlies used a high-scoring third quarter en route to a 128-118 victory over the Lakers.

Damon Stoudamire scored 16 points for Memphis (9-25), which snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 3-3 under interim coach Tony Barone.

"I'm happy to get the wins, but I want these guys to be excited about it," Barone said. "Professional athletes like to win, and this is a good win for our guys."

The Grizzlies have had a lot of success against the Lakers in recent years, winning eight of their last nine contests, including six of seven at FedEx Forum.

"It's hard to point out any one thing that leads to success like this, but we'll always take any win we can get," Barone said. "Maybe it's seeing Kobe (Bryant) on the floor that gets guys up, maybe it's playing a hot team, maybe it's seeing purple jerseys in your home arena."

On Tuesday, Gasol showed glimpses of his All-Star form, dominating the paint with a variety of post moves. He shot 9-of-15 from the floor.

"We made some shots, got some stops and played agressive, and we were clicking," Gasol said. "We just took advantage of the momentum." Miller was the perfect perimeter compliment, nailing 9-of-19 shots.

"We got them out and running (in the second half) and started playing the way we were supposed to play from the start," Miller said. "We played a little different in the first half, but we got out running and made some easy buckets. We got some stops, and we were able to spread them out a little bit."

In a contest void of defense, Memphis outscored Los Angeles, 46-22, in the third quarter. Miller scored 14 points in the period on 6-of-8 shooting.

"Sometimes, when things go wrong, it's infectious," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "There was a sequence of them that just kept on coming (in the third). It's tough when you win three of four quarters, but still lose the game."

However, Barone pointed to the team's zone defense as a catalyst for their success in the third.

"The zone helped us a lot," Barone said. "I don't know that we played a great zone, but it allowed us to get the ball out and run. I was absolutely thrilled with the tempo. I thought we really attacked, and that was a goal of ours in the pregame."

Kobe Bryant scored 25 points for Los Angeles, which shot just 42 percent (38-of-90) and had its season-high four-game winning streak snapped.

"We didn't execute. When we play against these types of teams, we have to execute," Bryant said. "A lot of these teams (with losing records) are athletic - more so than we are. We really have to execute, and we didn't do it like we needed to."