MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Marc Gasol scored 18 points, Rudy Gay had 16 and the Memphis Grizzlies held on to beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 94-85, on Monday night.
Mike Conley and O.J. Mayo added 13 each for Memphis, which won for the eighth time in 10 games and moved one-half game behind the Clippers for the fourth seed in the Western Conference.
Marreese Speights finished had 12 points and Zach Randolph added 10 points and 12 rebounds as the Grizzlies finished with a 48-36 rebounding edge, but committed 20 turnovers.
Chris Paul led Los Angeles with 21 points and six assists, while Blake Griffin had 19 points on 9-for-14 shooting from the field. DeAndre Jordan added 14 points and 14 rebounds, and Eric Bledsoe and Randy Foye scored 11 points each.
The Clippers snapped a two-game winning streak.
The Clippers pulled to 86-83 with 55.8 seconds to play on Jordan’s dunk.
But Memphis made all six of its free throws, including four by Conley, in the final 31 seconds to preserve the victory.
The Grizzlies led at halftime, 52-41, despite committing seven turnovers. Memphis overcame the ballhandling problems by shooting 55 percent and controlling the boards, 23-18.
Memphis finished shooting 50 percent, while the Clippers were limited to 41 percent.
Gasol led the Grizzlies with 12 points in the first half. No Clippers player had reached double figures, but Paul and Foye had nine apiece and Griffin had eight. Griffin also spent some time on the bench with two fouls.
Memphis’ 11-point halftime lead was its largest at the break this season.
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