Gay, Grizzlies host Hornets

Rudy Gay hopes to build on his best performance of the season when his Memphis Grizzlies welcome a reeling New Orleans team to Beale Street.

Gay scored 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting, as the Grizzlies rolled to a 94-83 victory over the Knicks on Thursday.

O.J. Mayo netted 18 points, while Marc Gasol logged 10 points and 12 rebounds in that one for Memphis, which is still playing without star forward Zach Randolph (knee). Tony Allen finished with 12 points and five steals for the Grizzlies, who never trailed and led by as many as 25.

"We needed this game badly," said Gay. "They're a good team, but we put ourselves in a position where we needed to get this game and we came through.

The Hornets, meanwhile, lost for the eighth time in nine games on Friday when Minnesota's Kevin Love finished with 34 points and 15 rebounds and hit all but one of 18 free throw attempts to carry the Timberwolves over NOLA, 87-80.

The Timberwolves shot 33-of-38 (87 percent) from the foul line while the Hornets made only half of their 16 attempts.

"You can question calls all day, but that wasn't it," said Hornets head coach Monty Williams. "I just felt like we didn't trust our defense, and we were grabbing guys instead of moving our feet."

Marco Belinelli had a team-high 20 points for New Orleans, which also got 16 points and 14 rebounds from Emeka Okafor.

Chris Kaman grabbed nine rebounds for the Hornets but missed all 10 of his attempts from the field, while Jarrett Jack handed out nine assists but was held to eight points.

These two teams split four meetings last season but Memphis has won four of six in the series overall.