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Miller, Warrick help Grizzlies snap nine-game skid

Mar 6, 2008 - 5:31 AM By Jason Smith PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MEMPHIS, Tennessee (Ticker) - Welcome back Mike Miller, the Memphis Grizzlies have missed you.

In his first game back since missing seven straight contests with a back injury, Miller scored 22 points and Hakim Warrick added a season-high 25 to lead the Grizzlies to a 100-93 victory over the New Jersey Nets at FedEx Forum.

"It's great to have him back," Warrick said of Miller. "He's one of the leaders of this team and we definitely missed him. He's a guy that can go out there and guard the Vince Carters and guys like that, and he gives us that offensive lift as well."

The victory snapped the NBA's longest active losing streak, as Memphis had dropped nine straight games since a home win over Sacramento on February 12.

"It's not fun losing one game, so just multiply that by nine," first-year Grizzlies coach Marc Iavaroni said. "The date February 12 was starting to stick out in my mind a little bit. I think the players and coaches as one team all felt the same way."

The Grizzlies, looking to avoid their ninth double-digit losing streak in club history, had not lost 10 straight games since starting the 2002-03 season with 13 consecutive losses.

Center Darko Milicic had 16 points and reserve point guard Kyle Lowry added 15 off the bench for Memphis, which rallied from a double-digit, third-quarter deficit in winning for just the second time since trading Pau Gasol to the Los Angeles Lakers.

"I'm just happy to get a win," Miller said. "We've been working and preparing way too hard to be losing games. It just feels good to win a game."

Miller showed very little rust early, scoring nine first-quarter points on 4-of-5 shooting.

"You've just got to bring energy when you come back, and I did that in the first quarter," he said. "I made some shots, which was key to getting things going, and we ran from there."

Richard Jefferson scored 22 points for New Jersey, which grabbed its largest lead of the game at the 7:08 mark of the third quarter, when forward Nenad Krstic nailed a 20-foot jumper to give the visitors a 68-58 advantage.

But the Nets connected on just 1-of-9 shots and committed five turnovers over the final seven minutes of the third, allowing the Grizzlies to climb back into the contest - tying it at 73-73 after three periods.

"Their run in the third quarter was the start of it," Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. "We scored five points in the last seven or eight minutes of that third quarter."

Warrick scored seven of Memphis' first nine points to start the fourth quarter, helping to build an 82-76 lead with 9:14 remaining.

Devin Harris scored 20 points and dished out eight assists for New Jersey, which shot just 38.5 percent (15-of-39) from the field in the second half after shooting 51 percent in the first half.