MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Each time the Utah Jazz threatened Memphis lead, the Grizzlies responded with defensive stops. Utahs second-half effort pulled the Jazz even in the fourth before Memphis clamped down its defence and beat the Jazz 96-86 on Wednesday night. Zach Randolph scored 21 points, Marc Gasol added 20 as Memphis maintained its hold on a Western Conference playoff spot. "When we do things were supposed to, everything is easier. Its more us," Gasol said of holding off the late Utah threats. "When we start breaking down and not doing what were supposed to, things get ugly quick." Mike Conley finished with 18 points and seven assists, and Tony Allen scored 10 points. Memphis won its eighth straight home game and fifth straight game at home over the Jazz. Gordon Hayward, Trey Burke and Alec Burks each scored 16 points for Utah, while Enes Kanter had 12 points and 12 rebounds. The Jazz lost their sixth straight and 11th of their last 12. "I love the way we fought in the second half," Utah coach Tyrone Corbin said. "We gave ourselves a chance, and we fought back in the game." Memphis weathered several runs by the Jazz before six straight points in the fourth quarter provided a sufficient buffer. The Grizzlies victory, coupled with Dallas overtime loss to Minnesota, moved Memphis into the seventh playoff spot by percentage points over the Mavericks. Utah kept making runs at Memphis and finally caught the Grizzlies near the midway point of the fourth. Memphis had carried its advantage to 12 early in the period, but Utah answered with a 16-4 run to tie the game at 84 with 5:38 left. The tying basket came after Memphis fourth turnover of the quarter, leading to a breakaway by Burks. Helping the Utah run was the Jazz hitting 10 of their first 12 shots in the fourth. But Memphis got inside for its next three baskets -- by Tayshaun Prince, Randolph and Conley -- to increase the lead to 90-84, enough for the Grizzlies to secure the game. After tying the game, Utah would commit four turnovers the rest of the way and missed nine of its final 10 shots, preventing the Jazz from threatening again. "I think we kind of settled too much, tried to just get the game over with instead of going out there and playing the style that got us the lead," Conley said. "Late in the fourth quarter, we finally got that back." As poorly as the Jazz played in the first half when they trailed by as many as 18, they reversed their fortunes in the third quarter. Hayward, who converted only one of eight shots in the first half, got untracked, helping Utah go on a 16-4 rally to get the Jazz close. "We just came out in the second half and played hard," said Jazz forward Derrick Favours, who was limited to six points on 3-for-10 shooting. "Gordon Hayward got going. We were just out there playing hard. We will get one of these games sooner or later." Utah would get within 3 in the third, but Memphis responded to run the advantage back to 13 before holding a 74-63 lead heading into the final period. Hayward scored eight in the quarter, while Richard Jefferson had nine for Utah, which made 13 of 22 shots in the third. "I think the second half we played pretty good, especially in the third quarter," Kanter said. "We got a really good run and we came back." Memphis, which led 48-32 at halftime, maintained its poise as Utah pecked away at the lead. Despite tying Memphis in the fourth, Utah never led in the game. "We stepped up our game, got three stops in a row, scored three times in a row and executed most of the rest of the way," Memphis coach Dave Joerger said of holding off Utah. NOTES: The Grizzlies, who hadnt played since Saturday remained undefeated (4-0) when coming off three days rest. ... Memphis native Ian Clark, a Utah rookie out of Belmont, did not play in the game. ... Utahs only win in their last 12 was over the Philadelphia 76ers. ... Memphis reserves shot 42.9 per cent, ending a streak of 14 games where the backups shot at least 50 per cent. Kris Draper Jersey . Switzerland faces Belgium or Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals in April. Serbia dropped into the World Group playoffs in September. A confident Chiudinelli and Lammer defeated veteran doubles player Zimonjic and young Krajinovic 7-6 (3), 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2. Cheap Detroit Red Wings Jerseys . -- Chris Crawford hit a 3-pointer with 1:36 left to put Memphis ahead to stay, and the 21st-ranked Tigers beat seventh-ranked Louisville 72-66 Saturday, sweeping the season series from the Cardinals. http://www.cheapredwingsjerseys.com/?tag...id-booth-jersey. And thats about it. After the Salukis 73-65 loss at Murray State on Tuesday night, Hinson called his players "uncoachable," "a bunch of mamas boys" and compared the disciplining of his young team to housebreaking a puppy. Jimmy Howard Jersey . The agreement comes a little more than one week after the video game manufacturer agreed to a $40 million settlement in a similar but separate case, bringing the total payout planned for athletes to $60 million, said Steve Berman, an attorney for the plaintiffs, and the NCAA. Steve Yzerman Jersey . RAPTORS STRUGGLING: The bottom line is the true test in sports isnt just how you handle failure, but how you handle success.NEW YORK – The Blue Jays entered Thursdays series finale at Yankee Stadium losers of eight of their last 11 games. Theyd dropped 15 in a row in the Bronx dating back to 2012 and had seen their lead over their pinstriped rivals in the American League East dwindle to two and a half games. This is a slump. Its lasted for about two weeks. The downturn comes on the heels of a terrific May, when Toronto won 21 of 30 games and Edwin Encarnacion captured the imagination of fans with his 16-home run month. This is not is the end of the world, nor does this slump suggest a long-term trend. This is on the offence and thats a good thing because theres too much talent in the Blue Jays lineup for the widespread malaise to continue. To wit: The starting pitching has been fine. You could say its been good and you wouldnt be wrong. In the last 11 games, Jays starters have allowed four or more earned runs only twice and have pitched to a staff ERA of 3.71. The starting pitching was supposed to be the weakness. So far it has held up. The Jays have hit only four home runs in their last 11 games. Not surprisingly, three of the home runs came in two of the three victories. Toronto continues to lead baseball with 93 team home runs, which is crucial to the clubs attack. Of the 338 runs the Jays have scored this season, 147 (43.4 per cent) have come via the long ball. Jose Bautista hasnt hit a home run in 11 games, his longest power drought of the season. Hes still hitting for a respectable average, .275 with five of his 11 hits going for doubles, but the Jays miss his power bat as the club struggles, having scored three or fewer runs eight times in the span. This is a phase, both for the individual and for the ballclub, Bautista said, that was bound to happen. "If you can execute every single day for 162, youd probably win 140 games," said Bautista. "We dont expect to execute every single day. But we do have to pick it up. Its one thing, were running into some St. Louis good pitching, soome other pitching staffs.dddddddddddd I dont want to speak badly or worse about the Yankees or the Orioles but its not the same. We faced much better pitching at home during the last homestand than we have on this road trip, except for Tanaka, who did a tremendous job. So we shouldve won some of these games that we lost." It hasnt helped, either, that Edwin Encarnacion has hit only one home run in the last 11 games. "Weve lacked some timely hitting," said Bautista. "Our pitching has been there enough, I think, that we shouldve won some of these games that weve lost. We just need to keep going on offence. We got really hot at one point and kind of hitting a little cold spurt now. Weve just got to overcome it and not get 10 hits a day but get them when you get the baserunners on." Bautista has repeatedly acknowledged hes bought in to hitting coach Kevin Seitzers philosophy of using all fields. The slugger has become a better all round hitter. His 1,000th career big league hit, achieved in the eighth inning of Wednesday nights loss, was a double to right field. That alone would have been a story last season. This year its commonplace. "I think Im more aware of some situations where people are going to keep challenging me inside, especially when Im behind in the count or theres the right situation when theres a defensive shift," said Bautista. "Why not try to go over there and it ended up working out again? But the previous at bat I tried going that way and I hit into a force out, when Melky got forced out at second. So it works sometimes, sometimes it doesnt." Its difficult to watch a team go into a funk, especially when it had become customary for fans to watch Toronto out-slug and, often, out-pitch opponents. Despite the recent struggles, the Jays offence remains top 10 in important statistical categories: Home runs – 93 (1st)On-base percentage - .329 (5th)On-base plus slugging percentage - .760 (2nd)Walks – 243 (9th) ' ' '