Milwaukee (4-5) has been without starting guard Michael Redd for the last five games after he sprained his right ankle in a 94-86 win over the New York Knicks on Nov. 2. Redd was leading the Bucks with 21.3 points in the first four games.

Milwaukee improved to 2-3 without him after beating the San Antonio Spurs 82-78 on Wednesday. Andrew Bogut had 10 points and 17 rebounds and Richard Jefferson scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half to help the Bucks snap a three-game losing streak.

Skiles was most pleased with the defensive effort. The Bucks outrebounded the Spurs 47-37 and used a 21-2 run starting at the end of the third quarter to take a 69-61 lead with 5:24 remaining before staving off a late Spurs rally.

San Antonio scored just 35 points in the second half after the Bucks allowed an average of 49.7 points after halftime during the skid.

"The second half was the best stretch of defense yet this year," Skiles said. "The players had good active hands."

Skiles has a reputation as a defensive-minded coach, but the Bucks have been slow to embrace his style, especially since losing Redd. In the first three games he missed, Milwaukee was giving up 103.0 points, but that number has dropped to 88.5 in the last two.

"It's very encouraging," Jefferson said. "I promise you, this was one of more exciting wins yet because of the way we got it."

While the Bucks have been focused on stopping opponents, their offense will try to take advantage of the Grizzlies' poor defense on Friday.

Memphis (3-6) has allowed more than 100 points in its last five games and is coming off a dismal effort in Wednesday's 132-103 home loss to the New York Knicks. New York connected on a franchise-record 19 3-pointers and led the Grizzlies by as many as 32 points.

Rudy Gay had 20 points and rookie O.J. Mayo added 17 in Memphis' third straight loss.

"We did not guard the ball well," coach Marc Iavaroni said. "We did not hustle out on the pick-and-roll defenses, and they put on a show, so we give them credit. We have to learn some lessons from this in terms of how hard you have to play on both ends."

Last season the Grizzlies had two games in which they allowed 132 points - fourth-most in franchise history. Memphis ranked 28th in scoring defense in 2007-08, allowing 106.9 points per game. In the last five contests, opponents have scored 108.6.

Milwaukee has averaged 104.0 points in its four consecutive wins over Memphis.