(The Sports Xchange) – Since the Grizzlies won a 2011 Western Conference series over the Spurs, San Antonio has been virtually perfect against Memphis.
They almost maintained the trend Monday night in FedEx Forum, but Mike Conley kissed the winning drive high off the backboard with 0.6 of a second left for a 92-90 Grizzlies victory. Conley had tied the score at 92 on a 3-pointer with 30.7 seconds left before Tony Parker’s drive rolled off the rim with Memphis getting possession and calling timeout with just more than six seconds left.
San Antonio’s defense allowed the left-handed Conley to go left to the bucket for the winning shot that extended the Grizzlies’ home win streak to 12 games, second best in franchise history.
Larry Sanders surpassed his career high for the second straight game, finishing with 24 points in the Bucks’ 131-102 victory over Charlotte. Sanders also set a career high by making 10 field goals while pulling down 13 rebounds. Monta Ellis had 19 points and 14 assists, while Brandon Jennings also scored 19 points, adding six assists.
Kemba Walker scored 27 points and Gerald Henderson added 17 to lead the Bobcats, who shot 50.7 percent from the field but turned the ball over 21 times, which Milwaukee converted into 31 points.
Despite the absence of their two leading scorers, the Houston Rockets earned a 111-103 win over the Orlando Magic.
It mattered little that guard James Harden (sore right foot) and forward Chandler Parsons (food poisoning) were unavailable against the Magic, whose active roster lacked the starting backcourt of Jameer Nelson (sprained right ankle) and Arron Afflalo (strained right hamstring).
Houston (41-33) rode the surprising productivity of big men Omer Asik and Greg Smith to a 25-point lead and then held on late.
Asik and Smith, starting in tandem for just the second time this season, connected on 10 of 11 shots in the first quarter, setting a dominant interior tone that the Rockets parlayed into 60 points in the paint. Asik recorded his 31st double-double, posting 22 points and 18 rebounds, while Smith overcame foul trouble and finished with 12 points.
The Minnesota Timberwolves took advantage of an injury-riddled Boston lineup to do something They hadn’t done in six years: Beat Boston.
With Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnett injured and Paul Pierce away from the team for personal reasons, the Wolves uses their bruising frontcourt to beat the Celtics 110-100.
Wolves center Nikola Pekovic, playing after missing a game with a sprained ankle, started strong and finished with a season-high 29 points and five rebounds.
Forward Dante Cunninham added 19 off the bench for Minnesota, which hadn’t beaten Boston since Feb. 11, 2007, a string of 11 straight losses. Forwards Andrei Kirilenko and Derrick Williams added 17 and 11 points, respectively.
The Atlanta Hawks turned back the Cleveland Cavaliers, overcoming multiple fouls to post a 102-94 win at Philips Arena.
Devin Harris scored the Hawks’ first seven points on his way to 11 first-quarter points. Scoring in the paint, at the foul line and beyond the 3-point arc, Harris racked up a season high 25 points. Jeff Teague augmented Harris with 19 points, including four 3-point shots. The Hawks (42-33) held off the Cavs essentially without Al Horford and Josh Smith in the first half.
Al Jefferson led the Utah Jazz to their fifth straight victory with 24 points and 10 rebounds in a 112-102 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Jefferson, the current Western Conference player of the week, hit 12 of 21 shots from the field and led six Jazz players in double figures in the rout.
Mo Williams scored 20 points on 6-of-7 shooting from 3-point range and had nine assists. Derrick Favors added 19 points and seven rebounds off the bench and Randy Foye, coming off of an 8 of 9 3-point outing, hit 3 of 6 3-pointers for 11 points.
Riding their longest winning streak of the season, the Jazz have improved to 39-36 and moved into sole possession of the eighth and final spot in the Western Conference playoffs, a half-game ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers (38-36).
