Valanciunas has season-best 30 points, Griz beat Rockets

<p>HOUSTON &mdash; Jonas Valanciunas scored a season-high 30 points, including eight down the stretch, to help the Memphis Grizzlies outlast the Houston Rockets 120-110 on Monday night. </p>
<p>It was a much different game than Houston’s last meeting with Memphis, when the Grizzlies routed the Rockets 133-84, but the outcome was the same. Houston led by as many as 12 points in this one and was up by a point entering the fourth. But, the Rockets couldn’t hold on late and lost for the third time in four games. </p>
<p>Valanciunas, who had 15 rebounds, made two consecutive baskets to extend the Memphis lead to 114-106 with two minutes to go. Danuel House Jr. made one of two free throws for Houston after that . Valanciunas then added another basket to extend the lead. </p>
<p>Jae’Sean Tate, who had 24 points, hit a 3 for Houston before Valanciunas struck again, adding a dunk with about 30 seconds to go to make it 118-110.</p>
<p>Kelly Olynyk had a season high 25 points to lead the Rockets in his second game since being traded from Miami as part of the Victor Oladipo deal on Thursday. </p>
<p>De’Anthony Melton added 23 points off the bench for the Grizzlies, who snapped a two-game skid. </p>
<p>Houston cut the lead to a point on a three-point play by Olynyk with about seven minutes left before the Grizzlies scored the next five points, capped by a 3 by Ja Morant that made it 110-104 with five minutes to go. </p>
<p>The Rockets were up by 10 in the third when the Grizzlies went on a 10-2 spurt to cut the lead to 82-80. Dillon Brooks and Melton powered that run, scoring five points each. </p>
<p>Houston had built the lead again late in the third quarter before another 10-2 run by Memphis cut the lead to a point entering the fourth. Melton took over in that stretch, scoring eight of 10 points with two 3-pointers.</p>
<p>There were plenty of lows in Houston’s franchise-record 20-game losing streak that ended March 22. But that lopsided loss to the Grizzlies on Feb. 28 had to be the lowest point. The 49-point win was the biggest victory in team history and the 85 points the Memphis reserves scored in that game was also a franchise record. </p>
<p>This team is a lot different than that one after the trades of P.J. Tucker and Oladipo brought several new players to Houston, led by Olynyk.</p>
<p>TIP-INS</p>
<p>Grizzlies: Brooks received a flagrant foul 1 in the second quarter when he hit Wall in the head as he drove for a basket. … Justise Winslow sat out with a sore right thigh. … Desmond Bane and Brooks scored 17 points each.</p>
<p>Rockets: D.J. Augustin received a flagrant foul 1 for pushing Kyle Anderson in the chest in the second quarter. … Christian Wood sat out with an illness after missing Saturday’s game with a sore right ankle. … Avery Bradley had three points in his debut after being acquired in a trade on Thursday.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Grizzlies: Host Utah on Wednesday night. </p>
<p>Rockets: Begin a two-game trip against James Harden and the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night.</p>
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