MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis Grizzlies forward Jeff Green’s alley-oop dunk off an inbounds pass from teammate Courtney Lee with eight-tenths of a second left lifted the Grizzlies to a 95-93 win over the Phoenix Suns on Sunday at FedExForum.
Green’s game-winning dunk over former teammate Jon Leuer came after the Suns had a chance to win the game with 2.1 seconds left and the game tied at 93.
But guard Brandon Knight turned the ball over with eight-tenths of a second left, setting up Green’s final heroics.
Green, who finished with 10 points, was one of six Grizzlies to score in double figures. Center Marc Gasol had 22 points; Lee had 18 points and six assists off the bench; and Mike Conley had 12 points and six assists for Memphis (12-9), which handed Phoenix (8-13) its fourth straight loss.
The Grizzlies improved to 18-3 since the start of last season when Lee scores 15 or more points. He scored 13 of his season-high 18 in the fourth quarter, helping Memphis hold off a Phoenix squad that dropped to 1-4 on its season-long six game road trip.
Eric Bledsoe’s 23 points led Phoenix, which led by as many as 10 points in the first half.
Phoenix scored 12 of the game’s first 14 points to open up an early 12-2 lead before Memphis responded with a 14-0 scoring run that included five points from Conley.
Despite shooting just 28 percent in the opening period, the Suns trailed by just four after a quarter (20-16).
Phoenix then erased from a 10-point second-quarter deficit, with Leuer (10 points, 11 rebounds) scoring seven points over the final 3:52 of the first half to help the Suns cut Memphis’ lead to 43-41 at intermission.
Leuer was making his fifth start of the season for Phoenix, which was without center Tyson Chandler (right hamstring strain) for the fifth straight game.
Knight had 17 points, five assists and five turnovers, including the key one with eight-tenths of a second left.
NOTES: Suns C Tyson Chandler missed his fifth straight game with right hamstring strain. … The Suns season-long six-game road trip wraps up with stops in Memphis on Sunday and Chicago on Monday. … Sunday’s game marks the return of Suns F Jon Leuer to FedExForum, where he played for the Grizzlies from 2013-15. Leuer made his fourth start of the season for Phoenix in a 109-106 loss at Washington on Friday, scoring 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting while surpassing the 1,000-point mark for his career. … The Suns streak of 10-plus 3-pointers ended at six games. It was the third-longest streak in team history and longest since doing so in nine straight from March 23-April 8, 2005.