MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – Pau Gasol scored 29 points and grabbed 15 rebounds Tuesday night as the Memphis Grizzlies beat the New Orleans Hornets 89-73 for their sixth straight victory.

Gasol shot 7-of-13 from the field and also hit 15-of-19 free throws, tying a franchise mark for most attempts. He added three blocks.

Reserve guard Bobby Jackson scored 21 points and Eddie Jones added 11 for Memphis, which held a 21-point lead in the second half.

By the early stages of the fourth period, the Hornets’ starters left the game for good and watched from the bench as the reserves finished New Orleans’ second straight loss.

New Orleans shot 39 percent from the floor. P.J. Brown, leading scorer Chris Paul and reserve guard Speedy Claxton missed a combined 22 of 26 shots.

Desmond Mason and David West led New Orleans with 15 points apiece, while J.R. Smith and Kirk Snyder each scored 10.

Memphis, which struggled early from the field, eventually got untracked thanks to Jackson, building an 11-point lead in the second period and taking a 50-39 lead at the break as Lorenzen Wright hit an 10-footer at the horn.

New Orleans chose not to double-team Gasol down low, and the Memphis leading scorer had 17 points and eight rebounds in the first half. Mason scored 13 to lead the Hornets in the first half, and Smith added all 10 of his points.

Brown was only 1-of-6 for two points. Meanwhile, Paul missed all three of his shots in the first half, and was held scoreless until a layup with less than a minute left in the third period for his only points of the game.

By that time, Memphis had built the lead to 21 and carried a 70-53 advantage into the final period.

Notes: Memphis entered beating opponents by an average of 17.6 points during the five-game winning streak. … The Hornets’ Chris Andersen got into a bit of an exchange with a front-row fan, who suggested the center cut his long blond hair. Andersen glared at the fan long enough that the spectator said little more. … Paul had scored in double figures in 15 of the Hornets’ first 16 games. … The six-game winning streak matched the longest undefeated run for Memphis from last season.

AP-ES-12-06-05 2249EST


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