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Grizzlies down Mavs

Dec 22, 2012 - 8:21 AM Memphis, TN (Sports Network) - Rudy Gay had 26 points, five rebounds and four steals, helping the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Dallas Mavericks, 92-82, on Friday night.

Zach Randolph recorded his 20th double-double of the season with 17 points and 13 boards for the Grizzlies, who have won four in a row to improve to 18-6. Marc Gasol added 11 points and 11 rebounds.

"I treated it as a regular opponent, whether he was a Kobe (Bryant) or LeBron (James) or what have you," Memphis' Tony Allen said of covering O.J. Mayo, who made his return to Memphis after spending his first four seasons with the team. "I studied him. I had maybe 15 minutes worth of film on his last three games of all his buckets. I watched that. I sat here quiet and didn't really talk to my teammates. I was just focused on doing the task at hand."

Shawn Marion ended with 14 points and 11 boards for the Mavericks, who have lost two straight and five of six. Vince Carter also had 14 points.

"We were undermanned, coming off of a late-night back-to-back," Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle said. "The guys really hung in and gave what they could give."

The Grizzlies started the game on a 16-4 run and never looked back. After Dallas scored 10 straight points to get within two, Memphis went on a 9-0 spurt to take a 25-14 lead with 1:17 to go.

Dominique Jones stopped the flurry with a layup to get Dallas within nine, 25-16, after 12 minutes of action.

Trailing by 11, 38-27, with 3:07 remaining in the first half, the Mavericks closed out the second quarter on a 12-2 run. Jones' layup with 1.3 seconds left cut the gap to 40-39.

With the score tied at 49 with 9:16 to go in the third stanza, Memphis went on a 14-0 run. Gay tallied eight points during the surge that Allen capped with a layup for a 63-49 lead.

The Grizzlies outscored Dallas by a 29-18 margin in the third period to take a 69-57 margin into the fourth.

Trailing by eight, 76-68, with 7:58 to play, the Mavericks put together a 5-0 flurry. Jones' three-point play and Marion's layup cut the gap to 76-73.

However, Memphis responded with an 8-0 run to create some distance. Gay tallied five points during the burst, including a slam with 4:37 left to make it an 84-73 contest.

It remained a two-possession game the rest of the way.

Game Notes

Memphis guard Mike Conley had 11 assists to become the franchise leader with 2,079. He surpassed Jason William, who had 2,069 ... Dallas' Brandan Wright returned to the lineup after missing Thursday's game against Miami with a sprained right ankle ... Elton Brand missed his third straight game with a right groin strain for Dallas ... Mavericks guard Darren Collison left the game with an illness.