Memphis saw its 23-point lead disappear in the second half, but Dante Cunningham's tip-in with 0.2 seconds left in the game lifted the Grizzlies to a 103-102 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Friday.
Rudy Gay scored 20 points, O.J. Mayo had 17 and Marc Gasol added 16 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists in the Grizzlies' third straight win and their fifth in six games.
Corey Brewer scored all 26 of his points in second half while sinking five three-pointers to pace the Nuggets, but it was not enough for Denver to avoid its eighth loss in nine games.
Kenneth Faried recorded his first career double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds in a losing effort.
The Grizzlies dominated the first two quarters and carried a 60-43 advantage into halftime.
Denver opened the third quarter with six straight points to stretch its lead to 66-43 and it looked like the Grizzlies would cruise to the easy win, but then the Nuggets started to rally.
Three straight three-pointers by Brewer quickly closed the gap to 14 points and after the teams traded baskets, Brewer sank another shot from long range to bring the Nuggets within 70-59.
Memphis responded with a 7-2 spurt to regain some cushion, but Brewer recorded Denver's next six points and the Nuggets outscored the Grizzlies by a mark of 14-10 over the final three minutes to cut the deficit to 83-73 entering the fourth quarter.
Denver continued to battle in the fourth, opening the frame with an 18-7 run to take its first lead of the contest, 91-90, on a Brewer putback with 4:34 left in the game.
A Marreese Speights three-point play put the Grizzlies back on top, and it remained a one-possession game for the remainder of the contest.
The Nuggets held a 100-99 lead entering the final minute after Faried's turnaround jumper, but Gay was fouled at the other end and sank both free throws to put Memphis back on top.
Back-to-back misses by Andre Miller and Brewer gave the ball back to the Grizzlies before a Mike Conley turnover led to a Brewer dunk and a 102-101 Nuggets lead with 24.6 seconds left.
Gay then took the ball looking for the final shot. He drove into the right corner and took a baseline jumper that rimmed out, but Cunningham was left open in front of the net and his tip-in fell through for the game-winning shot.
Coming out of a timeout, Denver attempted to lob an inbounds pass towards the basket, but Gay tipped it away.
Memphis held a 34-15 lead after the first quarter as the Grizzlies shot 62.5 percent from the floor, compared to a 31.3 percent performance from Denver.
The Nuggets fared much better in the second, shooting 52.4 percent, but never got closer than 12 to the Grizzlies and Memphis held a 60-43 lead at the break.
Game Notes
