Grizzlies 109, Warriors 104

It wasn't quite a complete, four-quarter effort, but the Memphis Grizzlies had their best showing away from FedEx Forum so far this season as they held off the Golden State Warriors on Friday, 109-104, to even their season record at 3-3.

Everyone pitched in for the Grizzlies, from the veterans to the rookies.  Even Darko Milicic looked impressive in the first half before getting ejected with two quick technical fouls late in the second quarter. Warriors coach Don Nelson was far more animated and followed an official onto the court in the fourth with no consequences.  The officiating left much to be desired as far as fair and balanced goes, but you can't expect the game to be called fairly for the visiting team anyway.  The Grizzlies attempted 30 free throws to the Warriors' 43.  The game was very physical, and in basketball a foul occurs on every play whether it's called or not, so there really isn't much of an argument for the Grizz there.

Milicic's performance almost changed my view of him.  I still don't think he can be trusted to do much down low on a consistent basis, but it was nice to see this kind of effort from him.  Even if it was cut short trivially.

The Grizzlies shot much better than they have recently, finishing at 46 percent, and hit 4-of-6 field goals to start the game, which was a good sign.  Milicic attacked the basket on several occasions, finishing 3-of-4 for six points and pulling down six rebounds.  Most importantly, it seemed like the Grizzlies couldn't miss from 15-18 feet.

After a tight first half, the Grizzlies put together a good run in the third quarter, their first true offensive spurt of the season, to build an 81-74 lead by the end of the quarter. Hakim Warrick was probably one of the biggest stars of the night.  After hardly making an impact through the previous games, Warrick was key in the run and even more impressive in the clutch.

Warrick drove down the baseline twice in the fourth quarter to throw down monstrous dunks, the first one capping a 22-8 Grizzlies run that built a 91-80 lead.  A Gay 3 stretched the advantage to 13  before the Grizzlies' troubles began.  Although the second quarter had been problematic for the team in previous games, Friday night presented a fourth-quarter demon. The Warriors, who had been ice-cold in the second half, heated up for a 14-0 run to take a 95-94 lead before O.J. Mayo knocked down a free-throw line jumper to put the Grizzlies back on top.  After a tense few minutes Warrick put an exclamation point on the win with another baseline dunk that put the Grizzlies up 101-96 with two minutes to play.

The Grizzlies dominated the boards, 55-41, led by Darrell Arthur's 12. Warrick turned in a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Mayo led the charge with 20 points and nine boards. Memphis won despite 27 points from Stephen Jackson, who led the Warriors. Andres Biedrins and Kelenna Azubuike also scored 20+ for Golden State.  Gay looked like he was trying to do too much offensively, which is usually the case when a guy is struggling to get his points.  Still, the Grizzlies found a way to overcome it. They also won for the second time without Marc Gasol reaching double figures in the scorebook, as he finished with eight, fouling out with 1:51 remaining in the game.

The Grizzlies will visit Denver on Sunday for a 7 p.m. contest.