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Gay powers Grizzlies to rare road win

Mar 5, 2009 - 6:48 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Rudy Gay made sure the Memphis Grizzlies didn't leave Hollywood empty-handed.

Gay scored 20 of his 35 points in the third quarter, leading the Grizzlies to a 118-95 drubbing of the lowly Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday.

Rookie Marc Gasol had 20 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds while fellow first-year player O.J. Mayo added 18 points and five assists for Memphis, which suffered a 99-89 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center on Tuesday.

"It's such a great feeling. This is one we definitely needed," Gay said. "We've been playing a tough schedule and lost some tough games, but to finally get a win was big.

"It's been tough for me this year, I've been battling through injuries. For me to have a good game it is really good for my confidence."

This meeting was a far different story as the Grizzlies shot 56 percent (46-of-82) from the field, including 7-of-13 (54 percent) 3-pointers to snap an eight-game losing streak and earn their fourth win away from home this season.

"It's nice to get that monkey off our back," Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said. "I've been on some teams that lost a lot more. Eight in a row is a lot though. We have a young team and we are trying to build something here. When we can get a win and they can get rewarded for the win, it's good."

Al Thornton poured in 25 points and Baron Davis contributed 16 for the Clippers, who endured their fourth straight loss despite leading 53-52 at halftime after Thornton nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

"It was very frustrating," Thornton said. "We had leads, but there were too many careless turnovers. Everybody on their team was making shots. Once they got their momentum going, that was pretty much it."

Gay quickly turned the advantage in favor of Memphis by opening the third quarter with four straight points, giving his team a 56-53 lead.

A 10-2 run by the Clippers put them back on top by five, a lead they maintained until 4:33 remaining in the session.

Gay scored seven points during a 13-0 surge over the next 3:09 as the Grizzlies took an insurmountable 80-72 lead.

"Unfortunately for us in the third quarter, we had some careless turnovers," Los Angeles coach Mike Dunleavy said. "We missed free throws. Had we made our free throws the game would have been in range."

Adding insult to injury, the University of Connecticut product nailed a 3-pointer with two seconds left in the third that put Memphis up by 11 points.

"We played great basketball, we passed the ball around and got easy shots," Gay said. "Anybody who does that is going to win most of the time.

"We're fighting for every win we get. It is nice to see all of the hard work pay off."

Memphis kept its starters in for most of the fourth quarter, pushing its lead to as many as 21 points in the final period.