Randolph, Gasol shine in Grizzlies' 102-95 win over Jazz
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol and Mike Conley took turns carving up the Utah Jazz on Saturday night.
Randolph scored a season-high 28 points, Gasol added 18 and the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Jazz 102-95.
"We really did a good job of moving the basketball tonight and really playing off one another, especially when one guy has it going," Conley said. "We didn't go away from that. Z-Bo had so many opportunities down low early. We just kept trying to exploit that as long as we could. Then when they took that away, we went to Marc. Then when they took that away, we went to me.
"We were just trying to go down the line and find different areas to attack them."
Randolph bullied defenders in the post throughout the night and Gasol worked the Utah defense both inside and out, routinely hitting turnaround fade-away jumpers and going 4 of 5 on 3-pointers.
The Grizzlies took a 52-43 lead into halftime after a 13-2 run gave Memphis a 10-point lead. Randolph had his way with the Jazz post defenders and scored 10 of his 14 first-half points in the second quarter.
"We just continuously moved onto the next play and it gave us a chance to win," Grizzlies coach David Fizdale said.
The Jazz shot just 26.3 percent from the field in the second quarter and never led in the second half.
Conley helped keep the Jazz at bay in the fourth quarter and finished with 23.
Rodney Hood led the Jazz with 20 points.
"We did some things that weren't intelligent that made it harder on ourselves," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said about Randolph and Gasol. "We just weren't disciplined. We come double-team when they hadn't dribbled the ball. But there's a reason you're trying to help, they're as good as they are.
"Those three guys were terrific tonight. They were men. ... They were really, really good. ... We were not a good defensive team tonight. If we're going to play defense like that, we're not going to win many games."
TIP-INS
Grizzlies: Chandler Parsons did not play due to a planned recovery day. ... Brandon Wright did not play due to a left ankle injury. Fizdale called him day-to-day. ... Deyonta Davis missed his second consecutive game due to personal reasons. ... Memphis has finished two games of a six-game road trip, its longest since 2007.
Jazz: Forward Derrick Favors rested and did not play. Trey Lyles started in his place. ... Alec Burks scored double figures for the fourth consecutive game with a season-high 15 points.
ROTATIONS
The Jazz have had a revolving door at the backup point guard with Shelvin Mack, Dante Exum and Raul Neto all being shuffled in and out of the rotation. With the return of Burks, Snyder has started to use a three-wing combination without a point guard much more.
Neto was inactive Saturday, Mack didn't play and Exum logged five minutes.
"Continuity is always good, but it's got to fit where you are," Snyder said. "By virtue of injury ... we've had cause to have different combinations and different guys. ... This is probably November for us with some of those rotations.
"It would be good to settle into something. I don't know if that's going to be possible. The main thing is you want to be as good as you can be."
QUOTABLE
"Any time we have breakdowns, it's because we're not talking to each other," Hood said about the defense, "we're not helping each other out. That's the biggest thing."
UP NEXT
Grizzlies: Memphis faces the Phoenix Suns on Monday for game No. 3 of its six-game road trip.
Jazz: Utah hosts the Milwaukee Bucks and first-time All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo on Wednesday.