When Carl Landry is the leading scorer for New Orleans you know things didn’t go well for the Hornets, as Memphis dominated the Hornets in a 93-81 win.
The Grizzlies defense dominated the Hornets from the opening tap, limiting Chris Paul to only five points and outrebounding New Orleans 40-26.
Memphis scored 48 points in the paint for the game and answered every run New Orleans made, mostly on baskets by Zach Randolph, who finished with 28 points and 10 rebounds.
The win over New Orleans was their first of the season and tied the Grizzlies with the Hornets for the seventh seed in the Western Conference.
The defensive performance was arguably the best Memphis has produced this season, especially since the Grizzlies have historically had a lot of trouble with the Hornets.
Memphis led New Orleans by 15 points midway through the third quarter in a January 19 game, but the Hornets fought back and eventually won 103-102 in overtime.
But on Friday, there was never much doubt who the better team was. Memphis took a 23-12 lead in the first quarter – the Hornets lowest scoring quarter of the season – and never looked back.
The Hornets made a run early in the third quarter when they closed the gap to 59-53, but Randolph and O.J. Mayo ignited an 11-1 run that put the game out of reach.
The highlight of the game came with two seconds remaining in the first half when Marc Gasol made a circus three-pointer has the horn sounded.
Gasol caught a long inbounds pass from Shane Battier and bobbled it, but he quickly recovered and spun around to launch a 30-footer that he banked in, giving Memphis a 51-38 halftime lead.
The Grizzlies (43-33) maintained their three-game lead over Houston and are just one game back of Portland for the sixth seed in the West.
Memphis doesn’t have time to celebrate the win because they’ll face the Minnesota Timberwolves Saturday night at the FedEx Forum.
Watch this video of Marc Gasol making his circus three-pointer against New Orleans.
