"Memphis cruised to its fourth straight victory Tuesday night, beating the Philadelphia 76ers, 102-91, before a crowd of 11,197 in FedExForum despite losing forward Rudy Gay to a strained left shoulder in the second quarter.

The Griz (31-26) won for the 12th time in the past 15 outings, putting together their finest stretch of the season to move to a half game of Denver and Utah for seventh and eighth place in the Western Conference playoff standings.

Last season, the Grizzlies began to lose momentum just before break.

They lost six of seven games, including four straight, heading into All-Star Weekend.

Now, the Griz won't have a representative at any All-Star festivities for the first time in several years, and that's just fine with coach Lionel Hollins. He wants his players to use the time off to heal and come back ready to do more heavy lifting with the schedule.

"I like where we are right now," said Hollins, whose Griz led by as many as 18 points and never trailed against the Sixers.

Point guard Mike Conley led the Griz with 22 points — all of which came in the second half. Conley missed his first five shots and then buried 9 of his next 12, including four 3-pointers that interrupted every Sixers rally.

Conley also picked up five of the Grizzlies' 12 steals as Memphis scored 28 points off 17 Sixers' turnovers.

The Griz jumped to a 26-10 lead in the opening period, holding the Sixers to their lowest scoring output in any quarter this season.

"In the first quarter, our defense was unbelievable," Hollins said. "We came out with a lot of energy, a lot of focus and a lot of commitment to what we do. We just knocked them back on their heels. I thought that was really the game."

Zach Randolph added 21 points and 10 boards for the Griz, who turned the ball over just seven times. Memphis native Thaddeus Young led the Sixers with 23 points off the bench.

Young was largely responsible for Philadelphia cutting the Memphis lead to 77-75 when the fourth quarter began.

"This is one of the most aggressive teams we've played just because the lineups they put in the game are so strong," Young said. "They try to outmuscle you and outquick you to everything. Those guys just outhustled us. We tried to make pushes but it was too late."

The Griz scored eight straight points to start the final frame.

Conley's layup gave the Griz a 10-point advantage with 9:29 left to play. His 3-pointer later in the period put the Griz ahead by 17.

"We just had to withstand their run and play better defense," Conley said. "We kind of let up on the defensive end a little bit but guys started getting steals and getting in transition again."

Gay was hurt with 5:37 left in the second period after a foul by Sixers rookie Evan Turner. Gay was unable to raise his left arm and shot the two free throws one-handed."