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Grizzlies aim to bounce back in Big Easy

Jan 9, 2015 - 3:06 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Memphis Grizzlies will try and get a win on this brief road trip, which ends Friday night at the Smoothie King Center versus the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Grizz have dropped two of their last three, but are winners in four of their previous six. They opened this short trek with a 96-86 loss Wednesday against the steaming-hot Atlanta Hawks.

Mike Conley had 17 points and Marc Gasol scored 16 to lead the Grizzlies, who are battling for first place in the Southwest Division. Tayshaun Prince was the only other double-figure scorer for Memphis with 12.

"It was a little sloppy with 39 turnovers between the teams," said Grizzlies coach David Joerger, whose team had 21 of the turnovers, leading to 19 Atlanta points. "Our inability to play offense put us on the run for most of the game. But hats off to them. They're really good. They deserved to win tonight."

The Hawks, coming off a 3-0 road trip against Western Conference teams, took the lead for good on Al Horford's jumper with 2 1/2 minutes left. Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver followed with 3s from the left side and Teague's layup capped the 10-0 surge to make it 94-84.

Memphis' only field goal in the last three minutes came on Gasol's dunk with 13 seconds left.

In a bit of encouraging news for the Grizzlies, All-Star forward Zach Randolph practiced on Thursday and is questionable against the Pelicans. He's missed the last nine games with a sore knee and Memphis is 4-5 without him during that stretch.

The Pelicans lost two straight for the first time since early December. They fell a game under .500 with their second consecutive loss, a 98-94 setback Wednesday in Charlotte.

Kemba Walker had his third 30-point game in row to stymie the Pelicans.

Anthony Davis had 32 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks for the Pelicans, who have lost three of their last four. New Orleans led by as much as 13 in the second half but could not hang on.

The Pelicans also got 16 points, nine assists and six rebounds from Jrue Holiday, and Eric Gordon contributed 14 points. Tyreke Evans chipped in 10 points and seven boards, but committed five turnovers.

Coming out of a timeout with 23 seconds remaining, Walker hit a fadeaway jumper over Davis to put Charlotte up 94-92. Davis' layup tied the game on the other end, but that left too much time for Walker.

With seconds remaining, the Hornets went up again on an acrobatic shot from Walker. He drove to the basket, pulled up for a jumper and hit the shot despite contact from Holiday. His free throw completed the three-point play to give Charlotte a 97-94 lead with 1.4 seconds left.

The Hornets stole the inbounds pass to seal the win.

"We just fell apart," said Pelicans coach Monty Williams. "We didn't share the ball, the thing we've been talking about. Especially down the stretch, the ball just stuck."

The Grizzlies took the first meeting of the season with New Orleans, a 12- point victory in Memphis. The Grizz have taken two in a row versus New Orleans to snap a four-game series losing streak. The Pelicans have captured two of the last three in the Big Easy against Memphis.