PHOENIX – Damon Stoudamire scored 12 of his 26 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the fourth quarter and the Memphis Grizzlies won their third in a row, 115-103 over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night.
Mike Miller, questionable before the game because of a bruised right knee, added 24 for the Grizzlies, who were swept by Phoenix in the first round of last season’s playoffs.
The Grizzlies took the lead for good in the second quarter and were up by as many as 18 in the fourth.
Miller, injured in the fourth quarter of Memphis’ victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night, scored 16 in the first half and finished 9-for-14 shooting, mostly from outside.
Shane Battier added 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Bobby Jackson 16 points for Memphis.
Phoenix fell to 1-4 at home, 1-3 on its five-game home stand.
Shawn Marion had 23 points and 11 rebounds and Steve Nash 17 points and 13 assists for Phoenix. Leandro Barbosa added 17 points and James Jones 14.
Eddie Jones’ 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter put Memphis up 88-70.
Phoenix cut it to 107-98 on Marion’s stuff with 3:21 to go. But Pau Gasol, who had 14 points and 10 rebounds, sank a 16-footer, then after Nash missed, Stoudamire made a pair of 3s to put Memphis comfortably up 115-98.
The Suns’ backups built a 42-35 lead on Eddie House’s three-point play with 8:52 left in the first half. But when Nash and Marion came back, the Grizzlies went on a 23-6 tear to go up 58-48 when Jackson sank his third 3-pointer 1:50 before the break.
Three-pointers by Nash and Barbosa cut the lead to 58-54 at the half.
Eddie Jones, who barely played in the first half because of foul trouble, sank consecutive 3-pointers to ignite a 16-4 Grizzlies’ run to start the second half. Stoudamire scored the last five, his 20-footer putting Memphis up 74-58 with 7:48 to play in the third quarter.
The Grizzlies led 86-70 entering the fourth.
Notes: Marion is the only NBA player with a double-double in every game this season. … Marion made his first 3-pointer of the season after going 0-for-10 in the first six games but he finished the game 1-for-5 on 3s. … Eddie Jones played just four minutes in the first half because of foul trouble and didn’t take a shot. … Memphis won at Phoenix only for the fourth time in 21 regular-season games. … The Suns’ Jim Jackson played for the first time in three games. … Memphis made 10-of-24, Phoenix 12-of-30.
AP-ES-11-16-05 2325EST
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.