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Grizzlies, Kings collide out west

Nov 30, 2014 - 3:51 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The NBA-best Memphis Grizzlies aim to stay hot on their road trip when they visit the Sacramento Kings Sunday night.

It will be a matchup of big men, as the Grizzlies feature two of the best in Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph, while the Kings have DeMarcus Cousins.

The Grizzlies are 2-0 on the four-game junket and have won four in a row and eight of their last nine games, including Friday's 112-99 victory over the red-hot Portland Trail Blazers. The Blazers had their nine-game win streak stopped, as Gasol led the way with 26 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.

Mike Conley scored 21 points to go with 10 rebounds and nine assists, Randolph had his 10th double-double with 14 points and 13 boards, and Courtney Lee netted 13 points for Memphis, which has the best record in the league at 14-2 and improved to 6-2 away from home.

Memphis shot 53.6 percent and is 50-17 in the calendar year of 2014. It will close the trip Wednesday against the Houston Rockets.

The Grizzlies are third in opponents' scoring at 92.8 ppg and are making 46.3 percent of their shots on offense.

Sacramento has lost two in a row since winning three straight and will start a five-game homestand Sunday versus Memphis, Toronto, Indiana, Orlando and Utah.

The Kings went 2-2 on a recent trek and dropped a 112-104 decision to the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs on Friday. Tony Parker finished with a game-high 27 points and eight assists to lead the hosts.

Rudy Gay paced the Kings with 23 points, eight assists and eight rebounds and Ryan Hollins and Darren Collison each chipped in 15 points apiece for the Kings, who defeated the Spurs, 94-91, on Nov. 15. Gay and Collison missed the previous two games.

"We weren't in a position where we needed to be most of the time as far as our rotation," Collison said. "You can't do that against a team like the San Antonio Spurs. We weren't good last game against Houston and this game against San Antonio we were worse than we were last game."

Ben McLemore had 14 points and Carl Landry recorded his first double-double of the season with 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Sacramento, which outrebounded the Spurs by a 46-33 margin, shot well at 50.7 percent, but committed 15 turnovers. Leading scorer and rebounder Cousins did not play because of an illness and is listed as questionable Sunday. He is posting an average of 23.5 points and 12.6 rebounds, and has scored 20 or more points in seven straight games.

Cousins has recorded double-doubles in each of the last eight games and is second in the league with 12 on the season. Orlando's Nikola Vucevic has 13.

The Kings are 9-7 this season and dropped a controversial 111-110 decision in Memphis on Nov. 13. Lee made a layup at the buzzer after catching Vince Carter's inbounds feed. The play was reviewed for several minutes before being upheld.

The Kings protested the game, but NBA commissioner Adam Silver denied the request on Friday.

Memphis has won eight in a row and 15 of the last 17 meetings with Sacramento, and is unbeaten in the last four trips to California's capital.