Mavericks 104, Grizzlies 83
DALLAS -- The Dallas Mavericks haven't won nearly as many games as they're accustomed to this season and especially wins of a blowout variety. So they'll take Saturday night's 104-83 rout of the Memphis Grizzlies and enjoy their first back-to-back victories in more than a month.
Dallas, now 15-23, started a crucial four-game homestand and now at least have a chance to build hope for a push back into playoff contention in this month leading into the All-Star break. Struggling Minnesota and Houston, combined losers of five in a row, come to the American Airlines Center next followed by Oklahoma City.
The Grizzlies (24-11) saw their four-game overall winning streak and four-game road winning streak come to an end. They never got their game in gear, gassed coming off Friday night's overtime home win against the San Antonio Spurs.
The Mavs put together about as good a first half as they could in taking a 54-39 lead into the locker room. Dallas shot close to 60 percent for much of the first two quarters against the league's second-best scoring defense to lead by as many as 18 points.
The margin would bulge to 30 points in the third quarter and Memphis, which shot just 38.1 percent for the game and was surprisingly outrebounded, 48-41, would made a game of it.
Six Dallas players scored in double figures, just the ninth time this season that they've managed to do that. Shawn Marion led the Mavs with a season-high 20 points. Dirk Nowitzki scored 17, Chris Kaman had 14 and former Memphis guard O.J. Mayo scored 11.
Elton Brand added 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
The Grizzlies got double-figure scoring from just Rudy Gay (12 points), Darrell Arthur (11 points) and Josh Selby had 10.
Zach Randolph, who averages 16.9 points and 12.0 rebounds, was held to just six points and four boards. Marc Gasol had just eight points and six rebounds.
NOTES: Dallas entered Saturday's game having lost four consecutive home games dating back to a Dec. 18 win against Philadelphia. They had not lost five in a row since losing seven straight from Dec. 6-26, 1997. ... The Grizzlies came in with a four-game road winning streak. The last time Memphis won five in a row on the road was a franchise-record seven-game streak from Feb. 17-March 10, 2010. ... Mavs guard Mike James made his home debut after signing a 10-day contract on Tuesday. ... Mavs forward Shawn Marion made a 3-pointer for the third consecutive game, only the second time he's done that since 2008. ... Mavs forward Dirk Nowitzki played in his 11th game back from arthroscopic knee surgery and is now 85 points away from passing Allen Iverson at No. 18 on the NBA's all-time scoring list.
