Darrell Arthur came off the bench to score 24 points and Zach Randolph returned to the lineup with 14 points and 16 rebounds as the host Memphis Grizzlies rallied for a 116-108 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.
Rudy Gay added 23 points and Mike Conley chipped in 17 for the Grizzlies, who won their third straight game.
Memphis claimed a 31-26 lead after the first quarter before Denver erupted for a 41-point second quarter. J.R. Smith scored 10 points and Carmelo Anthony added nine to give the Nuggets a 67-55 lead at the break.
The Grizzlies made their defensive adjustments in the locker room and began to chip away, bridging the third and fourth quarter with a 26-10 run to tie the game at 96-96 with eight minutes remaining.
The Nuggets pushed back into the lead briefly, but Memphis kept the pressure on and grabbed its first advantage of the half when Arthur hit a pair of free throws to make it 102-100 with 5:58 to play.
Memphis would not relinquish the lead, outscoring Denver by a 34-18 margin in the fourth.
Anthony finished with 28 points on 10-of-20 shooting for the Nuggets.
Denver | Memphis | |
Carmelo Anthony 28 | Scoring | Darrell Arthur 24 |
Chauncey Billups 7 | Assists | Mike Conley 5 |
Chris Andersen 5 | Rebounds | Zach Randolph 16 |
Carmelo Anthony 7 | Free Throws Made | Darrell Arthur 8 |
JR Smith 2 | Steals | Tony Allen 3 |
Arron Afflalo 1 | Blocks | Darrell Arthur 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Denver | 108 | 55.0 | 5-16 | 15-21 | 21 | 29 | 5 | 4 | 15 |
Memphis | 116 | 55.7 | 2-6 | 26-32 | 19 | 41 | 2 | 11 | 13 |