[thaKEAF]

VS.

[8-18] [10-16]

Saturday, December 22, 7:00 pm CST
FedExForum, Memphis, TN
SportSouth

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x STARTINGLINEUPS






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x GAMENOTES

F Rudy Gay is averaging more than 23 points per game on 53 percent shooting in nine games this month. ... Seven of the Grizzlies' eight wins have come in games when they outshot their opponent. ... Memphis turned the ball over five more times than the Spurs, winning for only the third time in 17 games with more turnovers. ... The NBDL's leading scorer, Jeremy Richardson, joined the Grizzlies before the game and is expected to suit up for their game in Detroit on Friday.

F-G Rudy Gay entered Friday's game averaging 23.5 points in the month of December. ... The Grizzlies are averaging a team-best 103.4 points. ... F-C Pau Gasol had in 10 points and 10 rebounds in his first game in five outings. ... Former Piston C-F Darko Milicic, who was drafted No. 2 overall by Detroit in 2003, scored just two points on 1-of-4 shooting.

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x GAMEPREVIEW

The high-scoring Memphis Grizzlies got one of their top offensive players back, but the result was their worst offensive game of the season.

Pau Gasol and the Grizzlies look to bounce back when they host the struggling Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday.

Despite an up-tempo offense that averages 102 points, Memphis (8-18) is in last place in the Southwest Division.

On Friday, the Grizzlies fell to Detroit 92-67, as they were held to season lows in points and field-goal shooting (33.8 percent). Memphis trailed by only four points at halftime to the Central Division-leading Pistons, but was outscored 52-29 after the break to lose for the eighth time in 10 games.

"We didn't have a lot of energy out there, and it got away from us," said Grizzlies coach Marc Iavaroni, who was a starting forward on the 1982-83 Sixers team that won Philadelphia's last major pro sports championship.

Gasol, who is averaging 17 points, returned to the Memphis lineup Friday after missing four games with a toe injury. He finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds in 31 minutes, but went 4-for-14 from the floor.

Rudy Gay scored a team-high 18 points on Friday, but missed a pair of wide-open dunks and finished 7-of-16 from the field. Gay had averaged 29 points while shooting 55.7 percent in his previous three games.

Mike Miller, meanwhile, had just eight points against Detroit after scoring a season-high 31 while shooting 12-for-18 from the field in Wednesday's 88-85 win over San Antonio. Miller averaged 28.5 points against the 76ers last season.

The Grizzles split their two-game season series with Philadelphia in 2006-07, with the home team winning both games. Memphis has won three of its last four home meetings with the Sixers.

Philadelphia (10-16) lost to Los Angeles 106-101 on Friday, its third defeat in four games following a season-high four-game winning streak as it has regressed on both sides of the ball.

Philadelphia is averaging 94.3 points while shooting 42.4 percent from the field in its last four games - down from 49.8 percent during the winning streak, when it averaged 101 points per game. After limiting opponents to 87.3 points per game during the win streak, the Sixers are giving up an average of 100.8 since.

Andre Iguodala, who is averaging a team-high 18 points, finished with 20 points and nine assists on Friday. Iguodala had 27 points and nine rebounds in Philadelphia's 117-112 overtime win over the Grizzlies on March 2, but finished with just four points and one rebound in 23 foul-plagued minutes in the 76ers' 118-102 loss to Memphis on Jan. 17.

Philadelphia's Kyle Korver averaged 28.5 points against the Grizzlies last season - his highest scoring average against any opponent in 2006-07.

[thaKEAF]

If we lose this one I think we should go back to the small lineup and see how that works out for a greater number of games.

[croco]

Looking better today, Gasol with his best game of the season probably.

[croco]

15-2 run by the Sixers and all of a sudden they are up by four.

[croco]

Sixers win.

[thaKEAF]

..........