Hornets at Grizzlies
The Charlotte Hornets are quietly making their way to the top of the Eastern Conference with wins in eight of their last 10 games. The Hornets will try to push their latest winning streak to four in a row when they visit the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday.
Charlotte is doing it on both ends of late and picked up a 99-81 win over the Miami Heat to run its winning streak to three on Wednesday. Nicolas Batum posted a triple-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in the win and is averaging 15.7 points, 9.7 rebounds and eight assists in the last three games. The up-and-down Grizzlies took a little positive momentum back home when Matt Barnes’ half-court heave at the buzzer gave them a 93-92 win at Detroit on Wednesday, one night after a 125-88 home loss to Oklahoma City. "It’s good. We had a tough game last night, Oklahoma City beat us down, and to come back and bounce back tonight when we didn’t have our best effort the whole game,” Barnes told reporters. “We turned it up in the fourth quarter and I hit a crazy, lucky halfcourt shot to win it.”
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Southeast (Charlotte, Memphis)
ABOUT THE HORNETS (13-8): Charlotte has done much of its damage at home (10-3) but is about to get a chance to prove it can win on the road with four of the next six away. The Hornets’ latest winning streak began with a 102-96 triumph at Chicago in which Batum scored 24 points, and the former Portland Trail Blazers forward is settling in nicely to a guard spot with the Hornets. The veteran Frenchman ranks first or second on the team in scoring (16.6 points), rebounds (6.8) and assists (five).
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (13-10): Memphis traded wins and losses over the last four games, with each of the two setbacks coming by 20 or more points. “I thought our defensive effort (against Detroit) was pretty good,” Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger told reporters. “We got after people. … To play defense through what we did to ourselves with the turnovers and the missed free throws, that’s just a heck of a defensive effort for us against a team that has given us problems.” The biggest difference at the offensive end came from Zach Randolph, who poured in 21 points on 10-of-18 shooting after shooting 35.8 percent in the previous five games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Grizzlies G Courtney Lee scored in double figures in each of the last three wins and failed to score at least 10 in the last two losses.
2. Injured Hornets C Al Jefferson (calf) was suspended five games for violating the league’s drug policy.
3. Memphis has taken three straight and six of seven in the series.