Memphis, TN – Zach Randolph poured in a dominating performance Thursday night, netting 38 points and ripping down 22 rebounds to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a hard-fought, 108-98, overtime victory over the Phoenix Suns at FedEx Forum.
Twenty-two of Randolph's points total came after halftime, as the Grizzlies overcame a 16-point deficit -- their largest of the season -- en route to their ninth home win in 10 tries this season.
"Tonight he got a lot of one-on-one and he was able to operate," Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said of Randolph. "He cleaned up the glass for us. He came out and he played."
Quincy Pondexter followed with a season-high 16 points, while Rudy Gay and Marc Gasol donated 14 points apiece for Memphis, which has won five of its last six overall.
Goran Dragic paced Phoenix with 19 points and seven assists and Luis Scola tallied 16 points and eight boards in the setback, the Suns' fourth in a row.
"I thought we played with great energy and great effort," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. "We put ourselves in the position to defeat a really good team on the road, record-wise the best team in the NBA. We just didn't quite get it done."
Memphis trailed, 45-29, with just under four minutes left and never pulled even until late in the fourth quarter.
Phoenix carried a 72-68 edge into the fourth and led by as many as eight on a Jermaine O'Neal layup just under three minutes into the final frame.
The Grizzlies then used a 10-2 surge to pull within two on a pair of Randolph free throws and trailed by just one, 90-89, after Gay buried a turnaround jumper with 3:40 left in regulation.
After Scola split a pair at the line to make it a two-point game, Randolph finished a driving layup in the lane to knot the game with just over 1 1/2 minutes still to play in the fourth.
Mike Conley then forced a Dragic turnover before splitting a pair at the line, but Scola answered for the Suns, as he posted up Randolph and banked one neatly off the glass to give the visitors a 93-92 edge with 37.0 remaining.
Scola then picked the pocket of Conley and Dragic hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to make it a two-point game with 26.0 seconds left in regulation.
After a timeout, Gay drove right and dropped in a floater over Scola to tie the game at 94-all with 15.9 ticks on the clock. Phoenix had one final shot to steal the victory, but O'Neal missed a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
Memphis dominated the extra session, as Conley opened the final five minutes with a triple before Randolph netted his team's next six points to build a comfortable 103-96 advantage with just under two minutes left.
The Grizzlies held the Suns without a field goal in the extra session to hang on for the victory.
Game Notes
The Suns wrapped up a season-long, six-game road trip at 1-5 ... Memphis has won five straight and 20 of its last 21 home games ... Gay has scored at least 14 points in 19 straight games ... Randolph's 38 points was his most with the Grizzlies.
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