Grizzlies try to slow down Rockets' long-range attack (Dec 23, 2016)
Reeling from three straight home losses, the Memphis Grizzlies put themselves of the shoulders of 7-foot center Marc Gasol on Tuesday night in Auburn Hills, Mich.
The Spaniard responded with a dominating offensive performance as he matched his career high with 38 points in the Grizzlies' 98-86 win over the Detroit Pistons.
The Grizzlies (19-12) hope to receive another big effort from Gasol when they host the Houston Rockets (22-8) on Friday at FedExForum.
Houston has won 11 of its last 12 games.
Meanwhile, Gasol performed well despite one of his shoulders being injured.
"It's good," Gasol told The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal after the game. Gasol was inadvertently kicked by Detroit center Andre Drummond after Drummond lost his balance after having a shot blocked by Gasol.
Gasol made 14 of his 17 shots against the Pistons.
Point guard Mike Conley, in his fifth game back from injury, had nine points, five rebounds and dished out four assists against Detroit. Conley knew he had to find Gasol on the offensive end.
"When you see a guy playing like that, you're just trying to get the ball in his hands," Conley said. "He made a lot of plays. It was fun to watch."
Memphis coach David Fizdale called out his team after an overtime loss on Tuesday night in Boston.
"My team always bounces back when I challenge them," Fizdale told The Commercial Appeal. "It's not an attack on anybody's character. But our leadership stunk the last three games, and that's just the truth."
"Winning is always good," Gasol added. "Winning solves and clears up a lot of things. It always does. It settles emotions."
The Rockets beat the Suns in Phoenix, 125-111 on Wednesday, one night after seeing their 10-game winning streak stopped in a 102-100 loss in San Antonio.
James Harden led the Rockets with 27 points and 14 assists. He was just shy of his 27.8-points-per-game average. Harden is fifth in the NBA in scoring average and leads the league in assists with 11.7 per game. As a team, the Rockets trail only Golden State in assists.
"We've been playing good basketball," Houston coach Mike D'Antoni said. "San Antonio is just a different animal. It's a good bounce-back win, back-to-back, and the guys showed some heart."
Rockets point guard Patrick Beverly just missed a triple-double with 18 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Eric Gordon came off the bench to score 24 and made seven of his 13 3-point attempts.
Friday's game, the first of four meetings between the teams, will feature contrasting styles.
Houston leads the NBA in 3-pointers made (14.7 per game), while Memphis ranks 25th.
"We're just kind of pushing the envelope as far as we can go," D'Antoni told USA Today about his team's outside shooting propensity (the Rockets made 24 of 61 3-point attempts -- both NBA records -- in a Dec. 16 game against New Orleans). "And I don't know where that will end, but 61 is a good start."
And while Memphis is last in the league in shooting, they're No. 2 in rebounding.
The Grizzlies have lost four of six games since a 110-89 win over Golden State in Memphis.
