CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Mike Conley signed a $153 million contract with the Memphis Grizzlies over the summer, and Monday night he earned his keep.

Conley erupted for a season-high 31 points and led the Grizzlies to their fifth straight win, an easy 105-90 victory over the Charlotte Hornets.

The 10-year veteran guard scored 18 of his points in the first half, as the Grizzlies pulled out to a 24-point halftime lead. They led by as many as 26 in the second half.

Grizzlies coach David Fizdale has been after Conley to be more assertive offensively this season, and he was pleased with what he saw from Conley in a head-to-head duel against Charlotte's Kemba Walker.

"What can I say about Mike Conley?" Fizdale said. "He's getting closer and closer to the guy I want him to be -- the killer, the killer that I want him to be. I'm really proud of his openness to it and that he is trying to adapt to what I want him to be."

Conley finished the night 11 of 21 from the field and 5 of 8 from 3-point range. He also had four rebounds and two assists with only one turnover in 36 minutes.

"He (Fizdale) came in the first day and told me what kind of a player he wants me to be, much more aggressive," Conley said. "I believe I'm one of the better point guards in the league and he does, too, so he's giving me the opportunity to go out there and show it. So I just try to do right by him and go out and play as hard as I can every night, and if I do well, I do well."

The Grizzlies (9-5) have won three times in the last four days in three different cities.

They also got 14 points and eight rebounds from Zach Randolph, 13 points and eight rebounds from Marc Gasol, 12 points each from JaMychal Green and Tony Allen, and 10 points from Vince Carter.

The Grizzlies took control quickly. They raced to a 16-4 lead and went on to lead 32-22 after one quarter, and the tone was set for the night. They pushed the lead to 69-45 at halftime, and then led by 26 early in the third.

They got a little sloppy as the game wore on and the Hornets got as close as nine early in the fourth quarter, but when it was time to reassert themselves, they pushed the lead back up to as many as 17 down the stretch.

"When you come in on the road against a very good team, you want to get off to a good start," Conley said. "We couldn't have started any better. Our defense set the tone, I thought. It gave us confidence on the offensive end and with that kind of start it gave us that kind of leeway and space to be more aggressive and more forceful as the game went on."

The Grizzlies had started the season 4-5, but now they are playing the kind of defense that Fizdale was hoping for.

"As a coach, you're preaching certain things every day in practice," Fizdale said. "When you see it play out in victories it just builds more confidence in your group, amongst each other, amongst the coaching staff. You start building a real brotherhood. So this has been great for us."

The Hornets (8-5) lost for the second time in three nights.

Frank Kaminsky came off the bench to lead the Hornets with 23 points. Walker scored 17 but was just 6 of 15 from the field, on a night when the Hornets finished at 41.1 percent. Spencer Hawes had 14 points and 10 rebounds, Marco Belinelli also scored 14, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

"Obviously we didn't have the readiness to play against a good team," Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. "They jumped us and frankly that's two games in a row where we haven't played like the same team that got us to 8-3. It's a long season and everybody is going to have nights like this. Hopefully we learned our lesson tonight and we'll be better on Wednesday."

"It's always tough playing from behind, especially in this league," Walker said. "We got off to a really slow start, they got off to a fast start, and they never looked back."

NOTES: The Hornets were without C Cozy Zeller (right shoulder soreness), G Jeremy Lamb (strained hamstring), F Christian Wood (sprained ankle) and G Treveon Graham (strained Achilles). ... The Grizzlies were without F Chandler Parsons (knee). ... The Grizzlies were coming off a 93-71 win over Minnesota on Saturday, one night after holding Dallas to 64 in an 80-64 win. That's their best back-to-back defensive effort since 2005. ... Hornets C Roy Hibbert was on a minutes limit because of his injured knee, and wound up playing just 11 minutes. ... G Andrew Harrison played 24 minutes and scored five points for the Grizzlies, while brother G Aaron Harrison played three minutes for the Hornets, going scoreless... The Hornets have three home games this week, sandwiched around a trip to New York Friday. They'll host San Antonio on Wednesday, then will come back to host New York on Saturday. ... The Grizzlies were starting a stretch with three of their next four games on the road. They'll play at Philadelphia on Wednesday.