Sam Young (left), who came off the bench against the Nets and scored 10 points, gets a nice assist on this play with a pass to DeMarre Carrol.

by Kelley Evans
Special to the Tri-State Defender

Kelley Evans

The Grizzlies ended their long home losing streak Monday night against the team with the worst record in the NBA, defeating New Jersey 107-101.    

The triumph was not without a challenge. Leading scorer Zach Randolph missed his first game since he’s been with the Grizz. Blame a stiff lower back.

Despite missing Randolph, Memphis still snatched the win and led by as many as 21 points. Rudy Gay and Mike Conley scored 21 points each. Logging a double-double night, Marc Gasol added 19 points and 13 rebounds.  

Former Memphis Tiger Chris Douglas-Roberts, now with New Jersey, returned to the place he once called home and scores over a trio of Grizzlies. It wasn’t enough as the Grizz ended their eight-game home slide with a ragged victory. (Photos by Warren Roseborough)

What a night for the Grizz bench, stepping up with 31 points and 21 rebounds.  Rookie DeMarre Carroll notched a career high with eight rebounds. His 10 points matched fellow rookie Sam Young, who grabbed 7 rebounds.

The Grizz win ended an eight (ouch!) game losing streak on the home court, as well as stopped a three-game, road-winning streak for the Nets.

Courtney Lee led the Nets with a career-high 30 points followed by Devin Harris who pitched in 28 points and four rebounds.

Memphis led in rebounds (52-45). They went into the fourth quarter with an 81-77 lead and closed the game with the last shot by Rudy Gay.

UPDATE:  

• Rudy Gay scored 28 as the Grizz beat the Celtics 111–91 in Boston Wednesday night.

• Center and 2009 No. 2 overall pick Hasheem Thabeet has returned from the Memphis Grizzlies’ Development League team, the Dakota Wizards, after being assigned there on Feb. 25.  He scored seven points in 26 minutes against the Celtics Wednesday night.