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National Basketball Association
Memphis 107, Minnesota 99
When: 9:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 4, 2017
Where: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Officials: #77 Karl Lane, #9 Derrick Stafford, # Steve Anderson
Attendance: 15081

MINNEAPOLIS -- From the beginning, Memphis Grizzlies first-year coach David Fizdale stressed to his team that he believed in each player, and each player would be needed at some point in the season.

Fizdale's message -- and belief -- is a big reason Memphis has won games like they did Saturday night.

JaMychal Green scored a career-high 29 points and Mike Conley added 20 points and eight assists as the short-handed Grizzlies managed a gritty 107-99 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

"This is what we're made up of, that kind of guy," Fizdale said. "It's been that way all year. Every time somebody's gone down, this group finds a way to rally. The next man who's stepping into that spot usually performs at a high level for us. And I think they deeply believe that I have a lot of confidence in each guy, so they go out there and play well."

James Ennis added 13 points for Memphis. Zach Randolph had nine points and 10 rebounds before fouling out with five minutes left for the Grizzlies, who were without three starters.

Playing its sixth game in nine days, Memphis rested All-Star center Marc Gasol, forward Chandler Parsons and guard Tony Allen.

Green's career game helped fill the void and plenty of others stepped up for the Grizzlies, who have won three of their past four games. Veteran Vince Carter came up with three clutch 3-pointers and Troy Daniels added 11 points off the bench.

"It's always about next man stepping up," Green said. "Coach, he believes in one through 15. That does a lot to our confidence, just to know that you're coach believe in you and don't really get on you about your mistakes, tell you to move on to the next play and continue to play. That's all you want."

Karl-Anthony Towns had his 10th straight double-double with 27 points and 16 rebounds for Minnesota, which was playing its first game since guard Zach LaVine tore his ACL. Andrew Wiggins added 23 points and Ricky Rubio scored 14, but the Timberwolves lost their third straight game.

"It was a tough day, but we still have to be ready to play," Minnesota coach Tom Thibodeau said. "We all felt the disappointment in it, but no one is going to feel sorry for us. We have to be ready to roll."

The Timberwolves raced to an early lead with both teams playing the second game of a back-to-back after losses on Friday. Minnesota ended the first on a 16-2 run and had assists on 10 of its 11 made baskets in the quarter.

Then the Grizzlies' suffocating defense clamped down on the Timberwolves. Memphis, which entered the game allowing the third-fewest points and third-lowest shooting percentage in the league, took control by forcing six turnovers and turning them into 12 points in the second.

Green scored 11 points in the second quarter as his team ended the half on a 17-5 run to erase an 18-point deficit and tie the score.

"It was truly a win built on our character tonight," Conley said. "Guys really had to find it within themselves to find a way through this one because this is the end of the road trip, been gone for 10 days, a lot of tough games, back-to-back, guys in and out of the lineup.

"We all had kind of excuses to make up to lose a game, but guys didn't use that."

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Carter gave the Grizzlies a 66-55 edge. Minnesota countered with key baskets by reserves Shabazz Muhammad, Nemanja Bjelica and Tyus Jones.

Muhammad scored the final seven points of the quarter to cut the lead to 69-67 and Jones opened the fourth with a scrambling 3.

The Timberwolves took a one-point lead on the first possession of the fourth quarter, but Memphis quickly countered to regain the lead and held on as Green scored 11 points in the fourth. He was 12 of 12 from the free-throw line for the game.

"It doesn't matter if they sat three, two, one, zero, we have to pull out wins," Towns said. "We played really well in the first quarter. Gotta stay disciplined. We gotta do what we gotta do to come out and scratch out wins."

NOTES: Minnesota announced G Zach LaVine suffered a torn ACL in the third quarter of Friday's 116-108 loss at Detroit and will miss the rest of the season. LaVine was averaging a career-best 18.9 points per game to go 3.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. LaVine was third in the NBA in minutes per game (37.2) behind Toronto's Kyle Lowry and Cleveland's LeBron James, and was tied for 13th in the league in 3-pointers made per game. .. G Brandon Rush started for LaVine and will likely start at shooting guard. In two starts for LaVine earlier this season, Rush played more than at least 36 minutes each game and scored 23 points. ... Memphis rested C Marc Gasol, F Chandler Parsons and G Tony Allen. It was just the third game Gasol has missed this season, and second against Minnesota. Gasol had played 41:32 in Friday's loss to Oklahoma City. Parsons has been limited to 23 games because of injuries this season.
Top Game Performances
 
Memphis   Minnesota
JaMychal Green 29 Scoring Karl-Anthony Towns 27
Mike Conley 8 Assists Tyus Jones 6
Zach Randolph 10 Rebounds Karl-Anthony Towns 15
JaMychal Green 12 Free Throws Made Karl-Anthony Towns 9
James Ennis III 2 Steals Tyus Jones 2
Vince Carter 1 Blocks Tyus Jones 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Memphis 107 41.6 10-28 33-39 17 42 3 7 10
Minnesota 99 41.7 10-26 19-24 22 45 3 4 13
Upcoming Games
  • Minnesota will play their next game at home against Miami. The Timberwolves have a W/L % of .300 after a win and .419 after a loss.
  • Memphis will play their next game at home against San Antonio. The Grizzlies have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .696 after a loss.