It's Miller time: Sixers edge Grizzlies

Basketball Betting Lines

02/11/2009 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andre Miller scored 24 points and handed out nine assists as the Philadelphia 76ers gutted out a 91-87 win over the Memphis Grizzlies to finish off their seven-game homestand with four straight victories.

Andre Iguodala scored half of his 18 points in the decisive fourth quarter and Thaddeus Young chipped in 12 points and four steals for the Sixers, who finished 5-2 on the residency. Philadelphia hits the All-Star break with a 27-24 mark.

Hakim Warrick matched a career high with 31 points on 12-of-19 shooting and grabbed eight boards for Memphis, which had won four of its first five games to begin the month of February but kicked off a three-game road trip in familiar fashion as the club is just 3-19 on the road this season.

O.J. Mayo had 16 points and hit 4-of-10 from beyond the arc while Mike Conley contributed 13 points and seven rebounds. Marc Gasol had 11 points and nine boards in the loss. The Grizzlies will also visit Utah and Portland after the break, at which the club is 15-37 for the season.

The Grizzlies kept it close in the fourth and a quick 11-2 burst saw them take the lead, 77-74, just past the halfway point. A pair of Gasol buckets bookended a Greg Buckner three-pointer and Warrick added two free throws for the edge.

A drive to the hoop by Warrick moments later made it an 82-78 affair but Philadelphia scored the next six points and back-to-back buckets by Iguodala put the Sixers back in front.

Mayo stroked a jump shot and tied the game at 84 apiece but Iguodala hit two at the line and Samuel Dalembert connected on 1-of-2 for a three-point edge. Mayo calmly knocked down a game-tying three-pointer on the other end with 36.2 on the clock but Iguodala came back and drove the lane for two to go ahead 89-87 with 25.9 seconds to play.

Dalembert blocked a Warrick offering in close on Memphis' next trip up the floor and Mayo missed on a three-pointer after Iguodala kept it a one possession game by missing one of his two at the line as Philadelphia held on for the narrow victory.

Following a Memphis timeout with the game tied at 16, Miller scored eight of the quarter's final 12 points, finishing with 14 in the game's opening 12 minutes as the Sixers led 26-18.

A Royal Ivey three-pointer to start the second pushed the lead to 11 and another triple moments later had Philadelphia ahead 34-22 but the Grizzlies fought their way back by way of a 10-2 run and a Mayo three-pointer late in the frame cut the deficit to three before finishing the first half down four, 41-37.

Memphis got to within one on another Mayo three-ball early in the third but the Sixers stretched their lead back to seven with an 8-2 spurt and a pair of jumpers by Miller to close out the frame had the home team in front by five, 64-59.

Game Notes

Memphis has lost in each of its last four trips to the Wachovia Center, and Philadelphia has taken four straight and six of the last seven encounters between the teams...Memphis played without forward Rudy Gay due to a left hip flexor strain for the second straight game...The Grizzlies shot 46.6 percent from the field while Philly hit at a 51.4 percent clip...Dalembert finished with eight points, seven rebounds and a pair of blocks while rookie Marreese Speights had 10 points for the Sixers.