Second to none
■ Grizzlies are NBA-best 7-1, deal Knicks their first loss
At one point in the fourth quarter, New York Knicks coach Mike Woodson just tossed his pen in the air.
His angst couldn’t have been more evident.
There goes the undefeated record. And there go those Memphis Grizzlies, whose 105-95 victory Friday night in FedExForum catapulted them atop the NBA standings.
The Griz (7-1) handed the Knicks their first loss after a 6-0 start to the regular season. In capturing their seventh straight victory, the Griz also extended their regular-season home winning streak to 15 games.
“We got them in a good spot having played a hardfought game (against San Antonio) Thursday night,” Griz coach Lionel Hollins said of the Knicks. “I thought it was going to go down to the wire.”
The Knicks rallied from a 10-point deficit with five minutes left and beat the Spurs. There was no such luck against the Griz. When the Knicks made
the score 93-85 with 4:42 left, the Griz — like they have all season — doused their opponent’s fire. A Rudy Gay dunk on a backdoor pass from Mike Conley finished a 9-4 run that gave Memphis a 13-point edge with two minutes left.
The Griz entered the final quarter with an 8567 lead after a dominating third quarter.
Center Marc Gasol began the second half by bullying the Knicks in the paint. His playmaking inside sparked a 19-1 run that propelled the Griz to a 77-56 lead. Tony Allen finished the barrage with a layup and free throw after J.R. Smith was called for a flagrant foul trying to defend the play.
When the Griz unleashed their power game the Knicks simply unraveled. The Knicks picked up three technical fouls in a third period that the Griz won, 31-18.
Memphis led 54- 49 at halftime.
Neither team established a comfortable cushion because both squads shot well. The Griz shot 54 percent while the Knicks hit on 57 percent of their field goal attempts. Conley had 13 points, including a pair of 3-pointers to lead the Griz at that point. Carmelo Anthony tossed in 14 points for the Knicks.
The Grizzlies’ largest lead in the half was 32-25 when Wayne Ellington opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer.
But the Knicks stayed close behind Rasheed Wallace’s inside scoring. Knicks swingman Steve Novak’s 3-pointer capped a 12-6 run and cut the Grizzlies’ lead to 38-37.
The score wasn’t all that remained close. Griz guard Jerryd Bayless got into Smith’s face with 4:54 left before the intermission. Bayless took exception to Smith’s elbow to the head while both were off the ball. Bayless retaliated with a shove, and a minor skirmish led to both players receiving technical fouls.
Memphis also hurt its chances of pulling way by turning the ball over seven times. Zach Randolph’s 10 rebounds in the first half helped to compensate as the Griz outscored the Knicks 14- 4 in secondchance points. Randolph grabbed six offensive rebounds before halftime.
The Griz got off to a fast start, making five of their first six shots for a 10- 4 lead. The Knicks responded and tied the score at 13 on a Jason Kidd 3-pointer. However, Memphis ended the opening period with a 29-25 lead.
HOT TOPIC
The Knicks allowed the second-fewest points (89.3) in the league through six games, and the Griz nearly had that many through three quarters. Memphis’ final total came on 48.7 percent shooting overall and 26-of-32 free-throw shooting. The Griz have scored 100 or more points six times this season and won each of those contests.
SPOTLIGHT
Randolph’s mission to prove he’s still a force continues. He recorded his eighth straight doubledouble with 20 points and 15 rebounds.
His work on the offensive glass proved to be a key development. Randolph had eight offensive boards, including one that led to a put-back basket when the Knicks trimmed the Grizzlies’ lead to eight in the fourth. On the Grizzlies’ next possession, Randolph battled Anthony for a rebound. Anthony saved the ball from going out of bounds, and the play led to a Rudy Gay 3-pointer.
THE OTHER GUYS
The Knicks shot 51 percent. But they had just five 3-pointers after coming in averaging a league-high 11.8 with Smith on a 14-of19 streak from long range. But Smith missed each of his three 3-point attempts and was held to nine points — nine below his careerbest scoring average of 18.
ROSTER MOVES
The Griz came out in the second half determined to exploit Marc Gasol’s mismatch with Carmelo Anthony. The Knicks tried to use Anthony to defend Gasol in the post, and the Griz 7-footer made him pay. Gasol attacked Anthony, who quickly grew frustrated and picked up a technical foul after being called for a personal foul with 9:05 left in the third quarter. Rasheed Wallace soon picked up a technical foul when he protested a foul called while guarding Gasol.
OUTSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Anthony picked up his fifth foul with 8:46 left in the fourth quarter. But he never fouled out and finished despite the Griz’s continually feeding the ball to Gasol to attack Anthony.
ATTENDANCE
17,516: The Griz were probably expecting a sellout crowd of 18,119 to show off on ESPN’s national broadcast. But even the announced number seemed a bit inflated; there were plenty of empty seats in the Club and Terrace levels.
The fans who showed up were energized and FedExForum was a hostile environment for the Knicks.
4: There were just four lead changes and four ties in the game.
12: The Griz had 12 offensive rebounds that led to a 22-12 advantage in second-chance points.
31: With 31 points in the third period, the Griz have scored 30 or more in a quarter four times this season.
GOT NEXT
Grizzlies vs. Bobcats, Saturday, 6:30 p.m. Charlotte (4-3) is riding a threegame winning streak.