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Grizzlies hold on to beat Lakers

Jan 3, 2015 - 6:49 AM Los Angeles, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Mike Conley scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half as the Memphis Grizzlies climbed out of a hole, then held on down the stretch for a 109-106 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night.

Kobe Bryant scored his only points of the fourth quarter on a 3 that got the Lakers within 106-105 with 24.2 seconds left. He nearly sent the game to overtime with an off-balance 3 from near the left sideline with just 0.6 ticks remaining, but ball hit off the far side of the rim as time expired.

"In the second half we started getting stops and hitting shots," Conley said. "We've been in a lot of situations when we've been behind but we have a lot of confidence we can win.

"When Kobe shoots at the end, you hold your breath."

Marc Gasol added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Southwest Division-leading Grizzlies, who have won three in a row on the heels of a season-long four-game losing streak. Beno Udrih scored 16 off the bench and Conley had nine assists.

Jeremy Lin led the Lakers with 20 points off the bench, but also drew the ire of Bryant late in the game.

After knocking down his 3, Bryant shouted at Lin to foul Conley, who could have dribbled off all but 0.2 seconds of the remaining clock. Bryant raced from the baseline to the point to foul Conley himself and kept running past midcourt, flailing his arm in frustration.

Lakers coach Byron Scott said later he was worried about how many timeouts he had left and told Lin to wait until there were 10 seconds left to foul.

"I told Kobe that was my judgement," Scott said.

Lin said he asked Scott if he should foul.

"He said no," Lin recounted. "Then I asked like two or three more times and he said no. Then Kobe came out of nowhere."

Bryant had 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. He gave the ball up on the Lakers' second-to-last possession, driving the lane before passing to Ed Davis, who was hit hard enough under the basket that the officials reviewed the play to see if a flagrant foul should be called. It wasn't.

Davis, a 49-percent free throw shooter, made only one of the foul shots with a chance to tie the game. He scored a season-high 20 points.

"I thought he'd have dunk with Marc out of position and the defense behind him," Bryant explained. "Nine times out of 10, that's a three-point play."

Courtney Lee scored the last of his 14 points on two free throws at the other end, setting up the final play.

"That's a very good basketball team," Scott said. "They win games like this a lot. We played hard, we competed, we had a chance at the end."

The Lakers led by as many as 12 points in the second quarter and by seven in the third before a 9-1 Memphis run.

"I think the third quarter was the turning point," said Bryant. "We had a good lead and they chipped away. But we battled."

Game Notes

The Grizzlies were without leading rebounder and third-leading scorer Zach Randolph (knee) for a sixth consecutive game ... Jordan Hill and Carlos Boozer fouled out for the Lakers. Boozer and Nick Young each had 14 points off the bench ... Memphis has won five in a row against the Lakers, including all three meetings this season ... The Grizzlies remain on the road to play Denver on Saturday ... The Lakers host Indiana on Sunday.