The Grizzlies extended their current winning streak to four games, moved above .500 for the first time this season (to 7-6), and — in conjunction with the Dallas Mavericks loss to the Los Angeles Clippers and for the moment at least — moved up into Western Conference playoff seedings at 8th place.
But even though the Grizzlies never trailed in this second meeting with the New Orleans Hornets, it wasn’t easy, with the Hornets threatening for most of the second half. Marc Gasol and Mike Conley carried the team most of the way. Gasol had perhaps his most impressive stat-line of the season so far, notching 22 points (on 10-14 shooting), 12 rebounds, and 7 assists, and making physical plays late in help seal the game. Gasol has now notched double-digits rebounds every game in January, 10 in a row. Meanwhile, Conley continued his recent fine play with 18 points and 10 assists, including 4-7 shooting from three-point range. With the Grizzlies’ lead in constant jeopardy and with coach Lionel Hollins still not fully trusting his back-up point-guard options, Conley played 42 minutes, including the entire second half.
With the rest of the team lagging down the stretch — especially Rudy Gay (12 points on 5-11 shooting, 5 rebounds, 4 turnovers), who was very sluggish after a strong first quarter — O.J. Mayo became the closer, holding over the surging Hornets with a series of clutch jump shots, scoring 14 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter.
