
Some of the Grizzlies' starters played some heavy minutes on the four-game road trip that concluded Monday at Phoenix. Veterans like Rudy Gay are used to playing through the fatigue that comes with three games in four days or playing in the second half of back-to-backs, as was the case Monday.
But for rookies like center Marc Gasol, playing so many games in such a short span of time is an adjustment -- even though he did play professionally in Europe.
"I've definitely not experienced a schedule like this before," said Gasol, who played 39 minutes on Sunday at Denver and almost 28 minutes on Monday at Phoenix, though he would have played more if not for early foul trouble. "You play a lot of minutes (in Europe), but you don't think about it when you go against a good guy every night."
SUNS 107, GRIZZLIES 102: The Grizzlies came back from a 17-point deficit and led 102-100, but they couldn't get a favorable whistle in the game's final minute.
They trailed 103-102 when Quinton Ross was clearly bumped by the Suns' Amare Stoudemire driving to the goal with 20 seconds left. But no call was made, and the ball went out of bounds to the Suns. It negated an O.J. Mayo-fueled comeback. Mayo scored 19 of his game-high 33 points in the final quarter.