Suns at Grizzlies
The Memphis Grizzlies have been taking advantage of a soft portion of their schedule as they look to climb the ranks in the Western Conference, with one exception - a recent loss to the lowly Phoenix Suns. The Grizzlies will look to exact revenge before the schedule intensifies when they host the Suns on Sunday afternoon.
Memphis is 7-2 in a nine-game stretch that has featured just one winning team - Toronto, which knocked off the Grizzlies on Feb. 21 - and its one bad slip-up was a 111-106 setback at Phoenix on Feb. 27. The West's fifth-place team has recovered with three straight victories, the most recent a 94-88 triumph against Utah on Friday, as Zach Randolph scored 25 points to help the hosts claim a see-saw affair. The Suns snapped a 13-game slide with that upset at home last week and won by 18 points at Orlando on Friday to end a 17-game losing streak in the road. Alex Len erupted for a career-high 31 points and 15 rebounds in Phoenix's most lopsided win since Nov. 16.
TV: 4 p.m. ET, FSN Arizona (Phoenix), FSN Southeast (Memphis)
ABOUT THE SUNS (16-46): In the midst of their win in Orlando the Suns held the Magic scoreless for nearly eight minutes, an extremely positive sign for a young team that entered the weekend ranked 29th in scoring defense (107.5). "Everyone came in focused tonight, the level of concentration was high. Winning is winning," Len told reporters. "We had 14 stops in a row. That got us going." Veteran Ronnie Price, who had 12 points against Memphis last week, played a career-high 45 minutes versus Orlando and recorded a career-high five steals.
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (37-24): Defensive stalwart Tony Allen has missed seven straight games with left knee soreness and P.J. Hairston received his seventh straight start, but struggled again from the floor. Hairston, acquired from Charlotte before the trade deadline, is 3-of-14 from the floor and has missed all five of his 3-point tries in the last two games. Fellow newcomer Lance Stephenson has been much more productive on the offensive end and is averaging 12.4 points in just 22.7 minutes since joining the Grizzlies.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. After this contest, Memphis plays eight of its next 11 on the road, including visits to Cleveland, San Antonio, Boston and Atlanta.
2. Randolph's scoring average sits at 14.8, but he has produced at least 14 points in 11 consecutive games.
3. Len had 22 points and 16 rebounds last week against the Grizzlies, and he was 5-of-6 from the floor in the first meeting in December.