Randolph, Conley power Grizzlies past Jazz
SALT LAKE CITY -- Zach Randolph scored 28 points and collected nine rebounds while Mike Conley added 23 points to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 102-95 victory over the Utah Jazz on Saturday night.
Marc Gasol added 18 points for the Grizzlies. Randolph, Conley and Gasol combined to shoot 61 percent from the field. Memphis (28-21) won the season series 3-1 over Utah.
Rodney Hood scored 20 points and George Hill added 16 to lead the Jazz. Alec Burks and Rudy Gobert chipped in 15 points apiece. Utah (30-19) lost for the third time in four games.
Hill provided Utah an early spark in the first quarter. Starting with a running dunk set up by a behind the back pass from Trey Lyles, Hill scored four baskets on four consecutive possessions to put Utah in front of Memphis. Joe Ingles and Alec built on what he started, nailing back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Jazz a 21-13 lead with 4:15 left in the first quarter.
Memphis answered with a 11-2 run to overtake Utah early in the second quarter. The Grizzlies went ahead 33-29 when Troy Daniels and Andrew Harrison scored back-to-back baskets to finish off the run.
Things didn't improve for the Jazz as the quarter progressed. Randolph had his way with every defender who tried to guard him. He totaled 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting and five rebounds before halftime. It helped Memphis built a comfortable second quarter lead.
Randolph drained a jumper and Gasol followed with a 3-pointer on the next possession to ignite an 11-3 run. Tony Allen drove for a layup to finish it off, giving the Grizzlies a 50-39 lead with 2:25 left in the half.
Utah cut the deficit to four points early in the third quarter after Joe Johnson drained a 3-pointer to trim the Memphis lead to 55-51.
Getting closer proved impossible. Gasol made five baskets over a five minute span to keep the Jazz at arm's length. His final one in that sequence, a 3-pointer, put the Grizzlies up 74-65 with 3:48 remaining in the quarter.
The Jazz rallied again behind Hood's hot outside shooting in the fourth quarter. Utah trimmed the deficit to 90-87 on a hammer dunk from Gobert.
Conley responded with baskets on three straight possessions to put Memphis back up 97-90 with 3:27 left.
NOTES: Jazz F Derrick Favors (rest) did not play, with F Trey Lyles starting in his place. ... Memphis G Chandler Parsons (rest), F Brandan Wright (ankle) and C Deytona Davis (personal reasons) all sat out. ... Jazz G Joe Ingles ranks in the Top 20 in the NBA in steal percentage (2.7), steal per turnover ratio (1.15) and defensive rating (103.3). ... Grizzlies G Mike Conley is one of eight players to rank as an all-time leader in points, assists and steals on an NBA team. Entering Saturday's game, Conley had totaled 9,304 points, 3,804 assists and 1,008 steals in 673 career regular-season games with Memphis. ... Utah is 10-0 when G George Hill scores 20-plus points this season. The Jazz are 22-7 when F Gordon Hayward totals 20 or more points.