NBA: Calathes comes up big as Grizzlies beat Bucks

With starting point guard and leading scorer Mike Conley out with an ankle sprain, the Memphis Grizzlies gave rookie Nick Calathes the first NBA start of his career on Saturday night (Sunday, PHL time) at the FedExForum.

Calathes rewarded the Grizzlies with career highs in points (22), made three-pointers (four) and rebounds (five) in a 99-90 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks for their sixth straight win and their 11th in their last 12 games.

MT @cagrizphoto: @memgrizz @Nick_Calathes15 and @CourtneyLee2211 celebrate during 4th quarter. pic.twitter.com/62sIohvkMH

— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) February 2, 2014

Memphis (26-20) got another double-double from power forward Zach Randolph (23 points, 10 rebounds). Center Marc Gasol finished with 19 points and forward James Johnson chipped in 14 points off the bench.

Milwaukee (8-39) lost its sixth in a row and is now 1-15 in 2014. The Bucks have lost nine straight road games. They are 1-16 against Western Conference teams.

The Bucks led 69-67 after three quarters. But the Grizzlies went on a 16-4 run in the fourth quarter, capped by a Calathes three-pointer with 6:23 to go up 83-73. The Bucks got the lead down to seven, but another Calathes 3-pointer with 3:12 remaining put Memphis up 90-78.

Guard Brandon Knight led Milwaukee with 23 points and seven assists. Forward Ersan Ilyasova finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Forward Khris Middleton scored 12, and center Larry Sanders and forward Caron Butler each had 10 points.

The Grizzlies shot 48.1 percent from the floor (38-for-79). The Bucks shot 39.5 percent (30-for-76). Memphis outrebounded Milwaukee 48-38.

The Bucks led by as many as 13 in the first half, going up 36-23 with 8:01 left in the second quarter as center Miroslav Raduljica made two free throws. The Bucks led 49-43 at the break.

Ilyasova had 12 first-half points for the Bucks and hit both three-point shots he attempted. Milwaukee shot 62.5 percent from long range (5-for-8).

Gasol scored 11 in the first half for Memphis and Calathes had 10. The Grizzlies outrebounded the Bucks 27-21 through the first two quarters. - Reuters