"The Grizzlies returned home to FedExForum on Tuesday night after a tumultuous trip to the West Coast, where they took a beating in the press and in the Western Conference standings. Coach Lionel Hollins knew his team needed something good to happen against the Portland Trail Blazers.

"It would be great," he said before the game, almost in a whisper, "to get a win."

The franchise was fragile, his young players rattled — by five straight losses and by Hurricane A.I., who had left so much damage in his wake. Allen Iverson was hundreds of miles from the Grizzlies bench by the opening tip, at home in Atlanta mulling retirement. But his ghost haunted the place.

The Blazers are a talented team that took advantage of all the turmoil — and Memphis' general malaise — in a 93-79 victory that sank the Grizzlies closer to rock bottom before an announced crowd of 10,589.

"We need to keep working," said center Marc Gasol, who finished with 20 points and eight rebounds. "Stick to the plan, do what Coach tells us, that's it. We can't try to do it on our own. We need everybody."

The Grizzlies (1-7) shot 37.2 percent. Rudy Gay finished with six turnovers and one assist. The bench produced 10 points on 4-of-16 shooting. Hasheem Thabeet fractured a bone in his jaw late in the first quarter after colliding with Zach Randolph's head. It was that kind of night.

Despite all that, the Grizzlies were hanging around and actually leading by a point in the third quarter — when all their hope crumbled like a sugar cookie. It all seemed innocent enough when Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley threw up a wild layup that the Blazers turned into a 3-pointer at the other end.

But then the Blazers' Greg Oden got inside for a bucket. And then he found Andre Miller for a backdoor layup. And then Brandon Roy, who scored a team-high 20 points, sank a 3-pointer that extended Portland's lead to 63-54.

"Some turnovers, some missed shots, a couple of breakdowns defensively," said Hollins, whose team will visit the Houston Rockets tonight. "Next thing you know, we're down 10 points.""