Grizzlies 103, Kings 89
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Forward Zach Randolph scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and the Memphis Grizzlies shook off the worst loss in franchise history to beat the Sacramento Kings 103-89 Tuesday at Sleep Train Arena.
Guard Courtney Lee added 14 points, and guard Mike Conley scored 14 points with six assists for Memphis, which was less than 24 hours removed from a 119-69 loss to the Golden State Warriors. The Grizzlies were outscored 72-27 in the middle two quarters of that contest.
Memphis reserve forward JaMychal Green finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds Tuesday, and forward Brendan Wright came off the bench to add 10 points.
Forward Marc Gasol sat out the entire second half with neck spasms but finished with eight points for Memphis. The Grizzlies didn't need him, as Randolph and Wright combined to score the first eight points of the second half, part of a 26-9 run spanning a 7:11 span bridging the second and third quarters that blew open the contest.
Forward Rudy Gay led Sacramento with 19 points, and guard Darren Collision added 18 points off the bench. However, the Kings once again failed in a bid to win without center DeMarcus Cousins. The sixth-year center sat out the game with a strain in his right Achilles tendon.
Without Cousins, the Kings started Kosta Koufos and rookie Willie Cauley-Stein in the frontcourt and used a 16-8 run to go up 29-25 after a quarter. Koufos, in his first game against the team he played with the previous two seasons, finished with 11 points and six rebounds, while Cauley-Stein added nine points and six rebounds.
The Kings, who were 6-17 a season ago when they played without Cousins, were held to six points during the first 7 1/2 minutes of the second quarter and saw their opening-quarter lead dissolve into a 35-35 tie with 4:25 left. One free throw from Lee and two from Randolph started Memphis on its run, and the Kings were never within single digits again.
The Grizzlies kept an opponent under 100 points for second time in their first five games and held the Kings to 39.2 percent shooting from the field. Opponents shot 48.9 percent against Memphis in the first four games before the Warriors torched them at a 51.2 percent clip Monday.
Memphis hit 48.2 percent of its field-goal attempts against Sacramento.
NOTES: The Kings won only 11 times in 44 tries without C DeMarcus Cousins in the lineup during his first five seasons. Cousins, now in his sixth campaign, missed a career-high 23 games last season, including the final six. Since Nov. 26, he has sat out 24 of Sacramento's past 70 contests. ... Grizzlies C Zach Randolph and F Marc Gasol combined to average 33.5 points and 15.3 rebounds in four contests against Sacramento last season, three of which Memphis won. Randolph played his 40th career game against Sacramento on Tuesday, and he entered with career averages against them of 16.9 points and 8.5 rebounds. ... Kings F Rudy Gay played his ninth game against the team that he debuted with in 2006. He was averaging 22 points and five rebounds against the Grizzlies since they traded him to the Toronto Raptors in January 2013. The Raptors dealt him to Sacramento 11 months later. ... Fourteen of Memphis' first 20 games this season are against playoff teams, including nine of the next 12.