MIAMI: Mike Conley scored 24 points, Marc Gasol added 22 points and 10 rebounds, and the Memphis Grizzlies never trailed on their way to beating the Miami Heat 103-95 on Saturday night.
Beno Udrih scored 11 for the Grizzlies, who led by 19 early in the second-half before Miami scored to get within one or two points on 11 different occasions in the final minutes.
But the Grizzlies always had an answer, putting six players in double figures and snapping a four-game losing streak.
Dwyane Wade scored 25 points for Miami, which fell to 6-11 at home. Danny Granger scored a season-high 18 off the bench
for the Heat, who got 16 from Luol Deng and 13 from Chris Andersen.
Tony Allen, Courtney Lee and Tayshaun Prince each scored 10 for Memphis.
The last few seconds before halftime couldn’t have gone more to Memphis’ liking.
Already up by 12, the Grizzlies got possession on a play where Wade dove to corral a loose ball near midcourt, his momentum taking him over the line for a backcourt violation. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra got a technical for arguing that Wade was fouled on the play, which led to a free throw from Conley.
And on the ensuing possession, Conley hit a 30-footer to beat the clock and send the Grizzlies into the break ahead 57-41.
Conley hit another 3 to open the second half and stretch the lead to 19, but the remainder of the quarter was all Miami.
Deng had 10 points in the period, Wade was 3 for 3 with four assists, and the Heat outscored Memphis 23-5 over a stretch of just under 6 minutes to cut it to 65-64 — starting the trend of Miami getting close, but never getting the lead.
Udrih scored the final five points of the third, and Memphis had a 72-66 cushion to take into the fourth.
In Los Angeles, Kyle Lowry scored 25 points and Greivis Vasquez sparked a key fourth-quarter run to power the Toronto Raptors over the Los Angeles Clippers 110-98.
Lithuanian center Jonas Valanciunas scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while Amir Johnson added 12 rebounds for the Raptors, who improved the best record in the Eastern Conference to 23-7.
JJ Redick scored 23 points while Blake Griffin added 22 and reserve Jamal Crawford contributed 20 for the Clippers, who fell to 20-11, sixth in the Western Conference.
Deadlocked 49-49 at half-time, the teams stayed close into the fourth quarter, which began with Toronto ahead 80-78 thanks
to a Valanciunas layup five seconds before the third quarter ended.
The Raptors then began the fourth quarter with a 13-2 run sparked by Venezuelan guard Vasquez, who made two 3-pointers and another basket for eight consecutive points in the pivotal spurt.
That put Toronto ahead 93-80 with nine minutes remaining and the Raptors held off the hosts from there for their seventh win in eight games.
Centre DeMarcus Cousins scored nine of his season-high 39 points in overtime as the Sacramento Kings held on to beat the New York Knicks 135-129.
Cousins scored 20 of Sacramento’s final 30 points, capping the night with a dunk, and the Kings posted a season high in points to send the Knicks to their 17th loss in 18 games.
Point guard Stephen Curry had 25 points and backcourt mate Klay Thompson 21 as the Golden State Warriors cruised to their ninth consecutive home win, a 110-97 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. AGENCIES
