Grizzlies 85, Timberwolves 80
Rudy Gay scored 19 points and the Memphis Grizzlies halted a three-game losing streak with an 85-80 victory over the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night.
Quincy Pondexter added a season-high 17 points to help the Grizzlies beat Minnesota for the sixth consecutive time and improve to 9-1 in the last 10 meetings.
Reserve point guard J.J. Barea scored 17 points to lead the Timberwolves, who had their three-game winning streak snapped in their second game without leading scorer and rebounder Kevin Love.
Marreese Speights scored only six points but grabbed 15 rebounds as Memphis exploited Love's absence to dominate the backboards by a 59-47 margin that led to 54 points in the paint and 20 fast-break points.
The Grizzlies scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to build a 71-54 cushion, but Minnesota used a 10-0 surge to climb back into the game. It could get no closer than seven points until Barea's 3-pointer at the buzzer.
With Love serving the second of a two-game suspension, the Timberwolves resorted to long-range shooting but connected on only four of 19 3-point attempts and were denied their first four-game winning streak since February 2010.