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 Marc Gasol added 11 points and 11 rebounds for Memphis. Tony Allen finished with 10 points, but his biggest contribution was on the defensive end, holding former Grizzly O.J. Mayo, the Mavericks' leading scorer, to 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting.
Mike Conley had 11 assists to become the franchise leader with 2,079. He surpassed Jason William, who had 2,069, with 7:54 left in the first quarter on an alley-oop pass to Gay.
Shawn Marion and Vince Carter led the Mavericks with 14 points apiece, and Marion also had 11 rebounds. Dominique Jones had 13 points and seven assists, and Brandan Wright added 12 points.
Dallas never led, and Memphis built a 17-point advantage in the third quarter.
The Mavericks suffered through 24 turnovers leading to 29 Memphis points, and the Grizzlies' 17 offensive rebounds contributed to a 22-9 advantage in second-chance points.
Allen lived up his reputation as one of the NBA best defenders for the second straight game. He held the Bucks' Monta Ellis to a single field goal late in the game Wednesday night in a victory over Milwaukee.
Memphis, which led by a dozen in the first half, dealt with a Dallas rally that cut the Grizzlies' advantage to 40-39 at intermission. Gay had 10 for Memphis, while Carter had nine points for Dallas.
Mayo, who entered the game averaging 20.2 points, missed all four of his shots in the half as Allen clamped on the defense. Mayo managed only a free throw in the closing seconds of the half.
Neither team shot particularly well -- Dallas connecting on 34 percent, while Memphis was shooting at a 38 percent clip. Memphis missed all five of its shots from beyond the arc, and Dallas was stymied by 13 turnovers, while the Grizzlies had eight miscues.
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Both teams would end the night shooting just better than 40 percent.
Mayo eventually hit his first field goal with 4:26 left in the third. Dallas had tied it at 49 with just over 9 minutes left in the third, but Memphis responded with 14 straight points, grabbing the first double-digit lead of the game.
The lead eventually would reach 17 and Memphis carried a 69-57 advantage into the fourth.
Dallas pushed its offense, again with the reserves helping bring the energy to open the final frame. It translated to a 14-2 run spanning the third and fourth periods.
The Mavericks kept pushing their offense spreading out the scoring to pull to 76-73 near the midway point of the fourth.
Gay and Randolph converted a pair of 3-point plays to stretch the lead back to 82-73. Then a dunk by Gay took the lead to double digits.
The Mavericks would pull within five points, but could get no closer the rest of the way, losing their fifth in the last six.
NOTES: Mayo was not the only returning former Grizzly returning to Memphis. Like Mayo, Mavs F Dahntay Jones played his first four years in the league for the Grizzlies. .Brandan Wright, who missed Thursday's game against Miami with a sprained right ankle, returned to action against Memphis. Elton Brand missed his third straight game with a right groin strain for Dallas. .Dallas' Darren Collison left the game with an "illness" according the injury report. He did not return.
[Associated
Press; By CLAY BAILEY]
Copyright 2012 The Associated
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