The Sports Xchange
Oct 26, 2017
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Center Marc Gasol scored 25 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as the Memphis Grizzlies held off a furious rally by the Dallas Mavericks for a 96-91 victory Thursday night at FedExForum.
The Grizzlies (4-1) got 22 points and four assists from point guard Mike Conley, who scored nine of his points in the fourth quarter.
Forward Harrison Barnes led Dallas with 22 points and 11 rebounds.
The Mavericks (1-5) almost beat the Grizzlies for the second time in a little more than 24 hours after winning by nine points Wednesday night at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
Training by 19 points at halftime Thursday night, the Mavericks finally caught and overtook the Grizzlies at the 3:56 mark in the fourth quarter when guard J.J. Barea (nine points, four assists) was fouled on a 3-point attempt and knocked down all three free throws for an 86-84 lead.
The advantage didn't last long. Conley hit a 3-pointer just before the shot clock expired to put Memphis up 87-86 with 3:31 left. Conley then made a driving layup to extend the lead to three points, and Dallas never was able to tie the game after that.
Memphis led by 54-35 at the break, but Dallas cut that down to 76-68 going into the fourth quarter. Guard Wesley Matthews (18 points) spurred the Mavericks' 33-point third quarter by hitting 4 of 6 3-point attempts for 12 points.
The Mavericks shot 34 percent from the floor and went 10-for-34 from 3-point range (29.4 percent). Memphis shot 41.1 percent from the field while also going 10-for-34 from long distance.
Memphis got 19 points off the bench from guard Tyreke Evans. Starting forward Jarell Martin had nine points, nine rebounds and five blocks.
Dirk Nowitzki chipped in 14 points and seven rebounds for the Mavericks.
NOTES: Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, G Wesley Matthews and F Dirk Nowitzki all picked up first-half technical fouls. ... Dallas G Devin Harris had missed three games following the death of a family member in a car accident, though he played Wednesday night in Dallas against the Grizzlies. He did not travel with the team to Memphis for the Thursday game. ... This was the Grizzlies' first set of 16 back-to-back games of the season. Memphis was 11-6 last season when playing on the second night of consecutive games. ... Grizzlies F Chandler Parsons played two seasons with the Mavericks from 2014-16 and averaged 14.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists. Parsons was rested Wednesday night in Dallas. He finished the Thursday game with three points in 16 minutes of action.