MEMPHIS, Tenn. _ After another lost weekend on the road, the Nets had the good fortune of stopping in Memphis and facing a Grizzlies team that, at the moment, can't find its way so good either. And thanks to another strong effort off the bench by Sean Kilpatrick, and balance throughout the Nets managed to lay a Beale Street Blue Monday on the Grizzlies 122-109 at FedEx Forum.
Coming off a 20-point effort in Saturday's loss at Portland where he sizzled from the 3-point line, Kilpatrick led the Nets with 23 points, including 16-of-17 foul shooting. Jeremy Lin added 18 points, including a turnaround jumper and a 3-pointer in the final minutes that helped break the game open.
Isaiah Whitehead added 15 points, Randy Foy and rookie Caris LeVert added 14 apiece, and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson chipped in a dozen as the Nets outscored Memphis 34-18 in the final quarter and notched their first win over a team better than .500 since a Dec. 26 win against Charlotte.
The Grizzlies got 32 points from Mike Conley, 18 from Marc Gasol, but their shooting nosedived from 58 percent at halftime to just over 44 percent for the contest. And they traded turnovers with the Nets, giving up 15 to 16 for Brooklyn. It was the third straight loss for Memphis, which lost back-to-back games in Dallas and Houston and its playoff position is headed in the wrong direction.
While the Net have been abysmal much of the season, the Grizzlies have wandered to a 16-14 record since Christmas, with an offense that sputtered in Texas.
Rookie head coach David Fizdale said he would tinker with his lineups "looking for some different combinations that might propel us out of this .500 malaise."
He had the home crowd buzzing a bit by starting rookie guard Andrew Harrison, who had been cemented to the bench since Toney Douglas was signed for the season, and big man Brandan Wright, who missed the weekend while his wife gave birth to twin daughters.
The Nets jumped the new combination for an early 13-5 lead, and like Saturday's game at Portland stayed close through the half thanks to nine 3-pointers, three by Randy Foye, and 17 fast break points, most of them off a dozen turnovers by an often out-of-synch Memphis offense.
However the Grizzlies managed to shoot 58 percent from the field, including a run of seven straight treys in the opening quarter, and took a 57-56 halftime lead on a couple of free throws by Marc Gasol, who led all scorers at the half with 12, and his last-second block of a Jeremy Lin three.
Conley went on a 10-point tear in the third quarter, including a triple that put Memphis up 87-76 with just over three minutes to play. But Brooklyn continued to hang in and closed to 89-88 on a driving layup by Trevor Booker before the Grizzlies open a 91-88 cushion on two late free throws by JaMychal Green.
Even after double-digit losses at Utah and Portland over the weekend, Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said he saw growth during his team's eight-game road trip while the circus and ACC tournament occupied Barclay's Center.
"It's been great for building our culture ... I see a professionalism growing and more focus on the practice floor as the older guys teach our young players. We are doing things better," Atkinson insisted.
The trip continues with a game in Atlanta on Wednesday.
