Final Score: Memphis 89, Portland 79

Memphis, TN (Sports Network) - Pau Gasol scored 26 points and pulled down 12 rebounds as the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Portland Trail Blazers, 89-79, at FedEx Forum.

Shane Battier added 15 points and Mike Miller had 13 for the Grizzlies, who have won two of their last three games.

Juan Dixon scored 17 points and dished out seven assists, while Zach Randolph and Ruben Patterson each had 15 points for the Blazers, who have lost two in a row and five of their last six games.

The Grizzlies took over early, as they scored the first seven points of the game on a Gasol alley-oop pass from Damon Stoudamire, Lorenzen Wright was fouled on a layup, and Gasol again was fed the ball and drove through the paint for an emphatic dunk.

The Trail Blazers were able to take the lead at 16-13, as Portland went on a 10-0 run, hitting their first six free throws capped off by a Patterson bucket.

After their slow start, the Blazers held the lead at the end of the opening stanza at 24-18, led by Dixon's eight points and closing with an 18-5 run to finish the quarter.

Memphis opened the second quarter on a 14-4 run to take the lead at 32-28, as Dahntay Jones scored six points on a coast-to-coast two-handed dunk, a tip-in and another dunk.

Portland cut the deficit to two behind a 7-0 run, with Randolph scoring three on a free throw and a basket, but Memphis ran a play to Gasol, who cut down the middle of the paint for a dunk before the end of the half to make the score 43-39 at the break.

Portland scored seven straight in the third quarter to cut the lead to two, 62-60, but Memphis responded with the final four points of the quarter to extend the lead to six at the end of 36 minutes.

Portland cut the deficit to three on a Steve Blake three-pointer, but Gasol got fouled with the ball under the hoop and was awarded the basket when Joel Przybilla had his hand inside the cylinder.

The Blazers came back and scored four straight points on a pair of Dixon free throws and a Randolph basket, after Portland went 8 1/2 minutes without a field goal.

The Grizzlies went up by 10 with under 7 1/2 minutes to play on a long half court pass from Antonio Burks to Miller, who laid it in to go up 72-62.

With the score 80-77 after a pair of Randolph free throws with just under three minutes left, the Grizzlies closed the game on a 9-2 run to put the Blazers away, highlighted by a Stoudamire shot from beyond the arc that made the score 85-77.

Game Notes

The Grizzlies scored 50 points in the paint...Memphis shot 42.9 percent from the floor, while Portland shot 41.5 percent...Technical fouls were given to Randolph and Lionel Hollins of the Grizzlies, both in the third quarter...The Blazers are now 2-11 on the road.

12/21 23:33:35 ET