(SportsNetwork.com) - The Memphis Grizzlies will go for their 50th win of the season on Monday night when they travel to Madison Square Garden to face the New York Knicks.
Memphis can post a third consecutive 50-win season and the fourth in franchise history. The Grizzlies are the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, 2 1/2 games ahead of the Houston Rockets.
The Knicks are in a standings race as well. New York owns the worst record in the NBA at 14-56 and leads the charge for the most ping-pong balls in the Draft Lottery by 1 1/2 games over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Memphis has won two straight and four of its last five. On Sunday, the Grizz knocked off the Portland Trail Blazers, 97-86.
Jeff Green scored 23 points with nine rebounds to lead the Grizzlies. Mike Conley posted 21 points with nine assists, Zach Randolph netted 17 points and Tony Allen added 10 points with 11 rebounds and six steals for Memphis. Marc Gasol had 13 points, nine rebounds and five assists in the win.
"It's playoff time. We're getting into our rhythm of things and just take one game at a time," said Randolph.
The Blazers made just three shots over the final 6 1/2 minutes of the half, however, and Memphis took a comfortable lead into the locker room. Conley scored the final six points of a a 14-0 run for the Grizzlies.
Green's 3-pointer with over four minutes left in the third stretched the margin to a game-high 18 for Memphis, and it brought a 77-62 lead into the fourth.
Dorell Wright's trey with under nine minutes to go in the game cut Portland's deficit to seven, but that is as close as it would come down the stretch.
The Grizzlies have two huge games on the horizon as they host LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, then welcome the Western Conference- leading Golden State Warriors on Friday.
The Knicks dropped their third in a row on Sunday in a 106-89 road decision to the Toronto Raptors.
Lance Thomas netted 24 points to lead New York, which has dropped five of its last six contests. Andrea Bargnani was the only other double-figure scorer for the Knicks with 16.
"It's tough to play from behind as long as we did. We kept fighting," Knicks coach Derek Fisher said.
The Knicks trailed by as many as 17 in the third quarter and 74-66 going into the fourth, but Ricky Ledo nailed a 3-pointer and recorded a three-point play in consecutive possessions to whittle the deficit to 78-72 early in the fourth.
Toronto, though, netted the next 12 points to regain control.
The Grizzlies have won three straight over the Knicks and the two squads have split the last eight encounters in MSG.
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