Grizzlies Edge Raptors 100-98
Posted January 24, 2011 10:46 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Rudy Gay scored 21 points, including the winning basket with 0.8 seconds remaining, as the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Toronto Raptors 100-98 Monday.
It was the eighth loss in a row for the injury-depleted Raptors (13-32) who also had their streak of 986 games with at least one three-point shot end.
Gay’s shot ended the Raptors’ comeback from 10 points down in the fourth quarter before an Air Canada Centre crowd of 14,127.
Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol added 17 each for Memphis (22-23), O.J. Mayo chipped in 15 off the bench and Mike Conley scored 13. Randolph added 12 rebounds.
Andrea Bargnani led the Raptors with 29 points while DeMar DeRozan added 25. Jerryd Bayless had 15 with 11 assists, Julian Wright chipped in 11 and Amir Johnson had 10.
The Raptors injury list has grown so long that Sonny Weems, who missed the previous 18 games with back spasms, dressed for Monday’s game. He made his first appearance to open the second quarter and played five minutes. He returned to the game late in the third quarter and played the first three minutes of the fourth quarter and did not score.
“We need an extra body,” head coach Jay Triano said before the game. “We’ll see how he reacts, he’s not 100 per cent but we’re pretty desperate. Most nights he wouldn’t playing.”
Leandro Barbosa (strained right hamstring), Jose Calderon (flu-like symptoms), Joey Dorsey (strained right patellar tendon), Linas Kleiza (sore right knee) and Reggie Evans (fractured right foot) were not available for Monday’s game.
The Raptors went down by 10 points in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, but staged a comeback.
Bargnani’s pull-up jumper and the ensuing free throw brought Toronto to within one point, then Toronto took a 92-91 lead with 3:58 to play when DeRozan made two free throws after a Toronto block and fast break forced a Memphis foul.
Toronto led 94-93, when a loose-ball foul put Wright at the free-throw line with 2:46 left, but he missed both shots.
Mike Conley’s first free throw tied the game and his layup off the rebound of his miss on the second one put Memphis into a two-point lead with two minutes left. After DeRozan’s free throws tied it, Conley made a running jumper with 1:15 to play and Memphis led 98-96.
After a Memphis miss, Bayless tied the game with a driving layup with 19 seconds left. But Gay hit a 14-foot fadeaway jumper in the final second.
Notes: The Raptors Monday acquired centre Alexis Ajinca, a future second-round draft pick and cash considerations from Dallas in exchange for the draft rights to forward Giorgos Printezis. In the transaction the Raptors reacquired the second-round selection they sent to Dallas in June for the draft rights to Solomon Alabi. Ajinca, 22, averaged 2.9 points, 1.7 rebounds and 7.5 minutes in 10 games with the Mavericks. He was acquired from Charlotte on July 13, 2010. He is expected to be with the Raptors for Wednesday’s game with Philadelphia. …Toronto also signed guard Sundiata Gaines to a second 10-day contract. Gaines was signed to his original 10-day contract on Jan. 13.
