Nets vs. Grizzlies: 3 Good Stats

Don't look now, but the New Jersey Nets have won three of their last four games, including Tuesday night's 101-94 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.  The win snapped a 10-game road losing streak dating back to Nov. 15 in Los Angeles against the Clippers.

The Nets return to action immediately Wednesday night, something that head coach Avery Johnson no doubt hopes will help his team to continue playing well.  With that in mind, here are the three good stats from Tuesday night in Memphis.

1. 49-39 Rebounding Advantage

The one way New Jersey has been to win without shooting the lights out has been with their rebounding.  Very simply, when they win the battle of the glass, they win.  In their nine victories this season, they have outrebounded their opponent seven times and the other two games there was only one rebound separating the two teams.

In order to stay competitive on the boards, Kris Humphries needs to play big time minutes.  At least until Brook Lopez becomes a bigger factor on the glass or Derrick Favors' minutes increase.  Humphries ranks third in the NBA in Rebounds Per 48 Minutes.  Only Kevin Love and Marcus Camby are more efficient rebounders.

2. 53% Shooting

So far this season, the Nets are shooting 43% from the floor so odds are they will be hard to beat when they are 10% over their average.  That's exactly what happened against the Grizzlies when ever player except Devin Harris were better than 50% from inside the arc.

3. 16 Points In 25 Minutes

Three games is an awfully small sample size, but the Nets may have found something with the "throw in" from the Terrence Wiilliams trade, Sasha Vujacic.  The six-year veteran has averaged 11 points in New Jersey, highlighted by Tuesday night's 16 point, four rebound performance.

Vujacic has been a ball of energy off the bench, something this team has lacked most of the season.  While it would hurt not getting the shot of arm he delivers as a reserve, in his short time with the Nets Vujacic has already earned a chance to jump into the starting lineup.

Nets 101, Grizzlies 94: Brook Lopez Leads New Jersey To Rare Road Victory

Memphis, TN (Sports Network) - Brook Lopez scored 26 points and pulled down six rebounds, as the New Jersey Nets snapped a 10-game road losing streak with a 101-94 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies from FedEx Forum.

Sasha Vujacic added 16 points off the bench for the Nets, who won away from the Prudential Center for the first time since November 15. Kris Humphries tallied 12 points and 15 rebounds, while Devin Harris donated 12 points and five assists for the victors.

"We scored the ball tonight and got contributions from everyone across the board," Nets head coach Avery Johnson said.

Marc Gasol finished with 19 points for the Grizzlies, who have lost three in a row since a four-game winning streak. O.J. Mayo chipped in with 17 points off the bench for Memphis, which got 13 points and eight assists from Mike Conley.

The Nets scored the final nine points of the first quarter to take a 26-18 lead.

New Jersey carried the momentum into the second stanza. An 8-2 spurt had the Nets ahead 34-20 on Vujacic's jumper with under nine minutes left.

Memphis responded with seven straight points to prevent New Jersey from pulling away. The Grizzlies got a three-point play from Conley prior to the half to cut the gap to 45-43.

The home team actually took the lead briefly early in the third. Trailing by three, 53-50, New Jersey put together a 19-4 run to gain control again. Lopez tallied six points during the surge, which Graham capped with a layup for a 69-57 margin with about 2 1/2 minutes remaining.

Memphis scored the final five points of the third to get within six, 73-67.

The Grizzlies never got closer than four in the final period.

"They outplayed us and outworked us," Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph said.

Memphis won both meetings with New Jersey a season ago...The Nets improved to 3-12 on the road this season...Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay returned to the lineup after serving a one-game suspension for his flagrant foul on Houston Rockets forward Luis Scola during last Friday's game. He ended with 11 points and nine rebounds...The Nets shot 52.6 percent from the floor, while the Grizzlies made 39.8 percent of their shots.

New Jersey Nets At Memphis Grizzlies: On The Road Again

The New Jersey Nets kick off a short two-game road trip Tuesday night at the FedEx Forum against the Memphis Grizzlies.

New Jersey is hoping to carry over some momentum from Sunday afternoon when they took out the Atlanta Hawks 89-82 for their eighth victory of the season.  In that game the Nets were led by Devin Harris who had 22 points, eight assists and six rebounds.  Brook Lopez added 16 points while Stephen Graham and Sasha Vujacic each scored 10.

The Grizzlies are coming off back-to-back losses, including Saturday's 112-106 setback in overtime to the San Antonio Spurs.  O.J. Mayo led Memphis in that game with 27 points while Zach Randolph was right behind him with 24 and a game-high 21 rebounds.

Avery Johnson will be looking to lead his team to their first road victory in 11 games.  If the Nets are going to get back into the playoff hunt, they'll have to start winning on the road.  New Jersey will play 10 of their next 10 games away from... well, New Jersey.