returned after missing two games with an undisclosed injury

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Early in the second half the Memphis Grizzlies found a way to change the momentum and ended up with a key win. Memphis turned up the defensive intensity, overtook Denver in the third quarter and stayed in post-season contention with a 100-92 victory over the Nuggets on Friday night. "I thought we did a much better job coming out of the locker room in the third quarter," said Memphis centre Marc Gasol, who led the Grizzlies with 24 points. "We were more us, especially defensively. Offensively things may go well; may not. But defensively, we feed off that. We need that energy defensively." Mike Conley was a key factor in Memphis second-half burst, scoring 19 of his 21 points after the break. Memphis, which trailed 47-43 at halftime, outscored the Nuggets 57-45 in the final two quarters and forced 13 Denver turnovers in the second half. "I was happy with the way we responded after they came back at us at the end of the first half," Conley said, acknowledging he was angry with the way Memphis closed the second quarter. "We came back in the third quarter and guys were focused and guys had a lot of energy." Zach Randolph added 20 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. Tayshaun Prince scored 12 before leaving with an ankle injury in the first half and Courtney Lee scored 10 for Memphis, which won its 11th straight home game. Randy Foye led the Nuggets, while Kenneth Faried finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds for Denver, which lost its fifth in the past six. Ty Lawson, who didnt start for disciplinary reasons, scored 16 points, while Timofey Mozgov had 13 points. Aaron Brooks scored 11. But Lawson also left the arena in a boot, suffering left ankle sprain with about 3 minutes left. "That is just, unfortunately, been the story of our season," Nuggets coach Brian Shaw said of the Lawson injury. Memphis entered the game a half-game behind Dallas for the seventh playoff spot and tied with the Phoenix Suns for eighth. Dallas and Phoenix played later Friday night. Memphis, which was coming off a five-game road trip, struggled at times, and the Nuggets took advantage by erasing a double-digit first-half lead. Neither team shot well for the game, Memphis connected on 39 per cent of its shots, compared to 36 per cent for the Nuggets. There were some ugly individual stats as Darrell Arthur was 1 of 9 for the Nuggets, including 1 of 5 from outside the arc. Conley scored 21 points, but was 5 of 14 and missed six of seven from 3-point range. There were 53 fouls in the game to slow the pace. "It was kind of an ugly game," Shaw said. Memphis took the lead midway through the third quarter and built the advantage to 14 on a 3-pointer from Conley topped off by a free throw when Shaw was given a technical with 4:43 left. "(The Grizzlies) are scrapping," Shaw said. "They want to solidify a spot in the playoffs. Obviously, were just trying to play hard and doing what we can to get the win." Denver dominated the second quarter after Memphis took an early 12-point lead. The Nuggets guards had little problem getting to the rim as Lawson, who didnt start after missing the team breakfast Friday, scored 15 points in the half leading Denver. Memphis was 5 of 6 to start the game, but was 11 of 42 the rest of the half for a 33 per cent shooting performance. Denver was only slightly better, hitting 36 per cent. "We had a good start to the game," Memphis coach Dave Joerger said. "We were crisp, executed well and got stops. ... We were lax after that (in the second quarter)." But the Grizzlies opened the second half with much more energy and, led by 10 points from Conley in the third, were able to retake the lead, carrying a 69-65 lead into the fourth. "In the second half, we had three stops in a row seven times," Joerger said. "That was very positive for us. We came out with a good defensive mindset. I know outside of the second quarter, I was very impressed with our performance defensively." NOTES: The game was the first at home for Memphis since March 24. The Grizzlies went 2-3 on a road trip since then. ... The Nuggets are 3-27 this season when they dont reach 100. Fake NHL Jerseys .com) - The San Antonio Spurs will try to even their series with the Dallas Mavericks Monday night when the two teams collide at American Airlines Arena for Game 4. Wholesale NHL Jerseys . Indeed, must be among the greatest challenges in all of sports. The pressure he applies, from set to set, game to game, point to point, shot to shot. https://www.chinanhljerseys.us/. Cincinnati has lost back-to-back games in overtime, wasting a chance to take a commanding lead in their division. Discount NHL Jerseys . They are back to a game above .500 on the year and back to .500 on the road. It was their 10th extra time game of the year, and only the second one that did not got to a shootout. NHL Jerseys China . - Canadian tennis star Eugenie Bouchard has signed with WME-IMG, saying the sports management powerhouse will help maximize the value of my brand.ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Zach Parise and the Minnesota Wild kept their chins up and turned what could have been a negative outcome into a positive. Parise and Jason Pominville scored in the shootout, lifting Minnesota to a 2-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night. Parise tied the game late in the third period for Minnesota, which has won five of six and is 8-1-2 in its last 11. The Wild have been involved in three straight shootouts -- winning two. In the shootout, Parise beat Jonathan Bernier low on the left side before Josh Harding stopped Raymond. Mikko Koivu was stopped by Bernier and Phil Kessel lost control of the puck before Pominville beat Bernier through the pads for the win. "We had little bit more of a feeling that this game was there for us if we could keep going," Minnesota coach Mike Yeo said. Parise tied it with 4:17 to play in regulation when, after a turnover by Kessel, Charlie Coyles shot from low on the right side deflected off Parises skate and into the net. The goal came 2 minutes after the Wild managed to get one shot on a 5-minute power-play after Nazem Kadri was assessed a match penalty for hitting Mikael Granlund in the head. "He made initial contact with the shoulder and the kid had his head down, he didnt have his arms up, he ran into the player, Granlund snapped his head back and obviously, the referee saw it differently, and obviously, with a five-minute match penalty, itll be reviewed," said Toronto coach Randy Carlyle. However, Minnesota heard plenty of boos from the crowd as it got off just one shot during the man-advantage. "Even the guys that were power-play guys were coming back saying, Cmon, we still got lots of time, talking, saying the right things and these are the leaders of your team," Yeo said. "Ive been part of many games where you have something like that and frustration creeps in and its real easy to have some type of letdown or start to deviate or get away from staying with it, trusting it, and they didnt." The hit on Granlund was Kadris second action for which he will likely be hearing from the league. Kadri was not made available to the media. Minnesotas starting goaltender, Niklas Backstrom, was run over by Kadri 7 minutes into the game, and lay flat on tthe ice for about 30 seconds before slowly sitting up.dddddddddddd Kadris elbow appeared to hit Backstrom in the head. Yeo said Backstrom has an upper-body injury. Backstrom, starting for the first time since Oct. 28, stayed in the game until a stoppage with 10:31 left in the period before skating to the bench and heading to the dressing room. He had three saves. "Thatll be interesting to see what happens there because it looks like he got him right in the head," Parise said. "Thats what were trying to get rid of. Itll be interesting to see what they decide." Mason Raymond scored a power-play goal for Toronto, which has scored just three regulation goals in its last four outings. Jonathan Bernier had 33 saves. Toronto nearly won it late in overtime, but Harding got a right pad on a tip by Morgan Rielly and then reached back to grab the puck just outside the goal line. "Theyre a good team in their building and at least we came up with one point. Weve just got to move on," Bernier said. Harding had 19 saves in relief of Backstrom. He started the past five games and was to be given the night off due to sickness. Instead, he increased his save percentage to .947, second-best on the NHL, while lowering his league-best goals-against average to 1.21. There wasnt much he could do as Raymond gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead at 7:32 of the second period, when he gathered a loose puck that hit traffic in front and tucked it behind a sprawled Harding. It was just Torontos second power-play goal in 16 chances over six games. Minnesota had two power plays early in the third period, but came no closer than Koivu hitting the crossbar. NOTES: Wild D Ryan Suter has averaged 36:06 of ice time in the last three games. ... Toronto RW Colton Orr returned after missing two games with an undisclosed injury. ... Clayton Stoner was back on the Minnesota blue line after missing Saturdays game with a leg injury. ... Kessel, who played for the University of Minnesota in 2005-06, played his 300th game with the Maple Leafs. He has 129 goals and 143 assists in those contests. ... The Wild played its 500th game at Xcel Energy Center, including regular season and playoffs. ... This was just Torontos fifth game at the arena, fewest all-time among Minnesota opponents. ' ' '