The Memphis Grizzlies (40 - 14) defeated the Portland Trail Blazers (36 - 19) 98 - 92 on Sunday. The Trail Blazers were without LaMarcus Aldridge (sprained thumb), putting them at a disadvantage from the outset. Meyers Leonard stepped into the starting lineup in Aldridge's place and did his best to replace the 23 points Portland needed to make up without Aldridge. Leonard scored 11 points in 17 minutes. He has been encouraged to use his face - up game this season, and it's resulted in Leonard extending his range beyond the three - point line, where he converted three of his five attempts from Sunday, a number which may have been higher had he not collected five fouls to limit his time on the court. The newly - acquired Arron Afflalo made his debut with the Blazers, playing 24 minutes off the bench and putting up eight points and four rebounds. Memphis had all five starters finish with double - digit points to help them collect the win in their first game back from the All-Star break. Marc Gasol was questionable for the game with an illness but was able to play through it to score a team - high 21 points in 36 minutes. Portland remains 5 games back from Memphis in the Western Conference standings. The Grizzlies are in second place, and the Blazers sit in fourth place, with Houston resting between them in third, one game ahead of Portland. Memphis will continue their road trip in Los Angeles on Monday, and Portland will look to stop their two - game skid at home Wednesday against the Spurs.
["PlayerStat(G,'Marc Gasol') has 36 3-pointers attempted ,has 21 3-pointers made ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Meyers Leonard') has 5 3-pointers attempted ,has 3 3-pointers made ,has 17 Minutes played ,has 5 Personal fouls ,has 11 Points ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Arron Afflalo') has 24 3-pointers attempted ,has 8 3-pointers made ,has 4 Minutes played ."]