Grizzlies hold Paul scoreless in win over Hornets
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}O.J. Mayo scored 18 points, Marc Gasol added 16 and the Memphis Grizzlies continued their march to the postseason with a 111-89 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Sunday.
Hornets All-Star guard Chris Paul was held scoreless for the first time in his career, missing all six of his field goal attempts. An 88-percent free throw shooter, Paul went to the line once and missed both shots. He did have 10 assists.
Both teams already have clinched spots in the Western Conference playoffs but are now jockeying for seeding position. The victory pulled Memphis even with the Hornets for the seventh spot. The teams split the season series 2-2, but the Hornets own the second tiebreaker with a better record in the Southwest Division.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sam Young and Zach Randolph scored 14 points apiece for Memphis, which won for the sixth time in seven games. Greivis Vasquez added a career-high 13 points, hitting all five of his shots. Randolph had six assists.
Marco Belinelli led the Hornets with 18 points, 16 of them in the first quarter. Trevor Ariza, Carl Landry and Willie Green added 11 each for New Orleans, which saw its three-game winning streak snapped.
Memphis continued its season-long trend of dominating inside with 56 points in the paint, compared to 28 for New Orleans. Memphis outrebounded the Hornets 41-34, although New Orleans did grab 11 offensive boards, leading to 19 second-chance points.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Belinelli went 6 of 9 from the field in the first quarter, including 4 of 7 from beyond the arc, to help the Hornets shoot 52 percent in the period. But Memphis countered by going 13 of 16 in the first to leave the game tied at 30 heading into the second.
The Grizzlies would maintain a strong shooting percentage, ending the half at 66 percent and carrying a 52-48 lead.
Randolph had 10 points for Memphis, which was stymied by 10 first-half turnovers, part of 15 Memphis miscues in the game.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Grizzlies opened the second half on a 17-8 run for a 69-56 lead, their biggest of the game at that point. Mayo's leaner with 2 seconds left in the third gave the Grizzlies an 82-67 lead as Memphis outscored New Orleans 30-19 in the period.
Memphis then opened the fourth quarter with a 13-3 rally to push the lead to 95-70. At that point, most of the starters for both teams had taken a seat on the bench to rest.
NOTES: A number of the Grizzlies' players and personnel had a different look Sunday. By clinching a playoff berth with Friday's win over Sacramento, the vow not to shave until they reached the postseason was over. Several of the players and coaches modified their wooly look. Others got rid of the facial hair altogether. F Shane Battier shaved his off immediately after Friday's game. ... Memphis is 4-12 in home finales. ... The Grizzlies' first-half shooting percentage was the best for the franchise since April 2, 2008, against the Knicks when they shot 68.2 percent. ... Paul got a technical foul with 3:08 left in the third when he got upset about a plastic sports drink bottle ending up on the floor during play. He kept complaining to the officials about it until it drew the tech.