Grizzlies and Their Point Guard Sneak Up Mike Conley's no-nonsense style of playing point guard might not receive a lot of notice, but it has the Memphis Grizzlies climbing the Western Conference standings and starting to look like a team that no one will want to face come playoff time. Flying a little bit under the radar is nothing new for Conley. He played in high school and college with Greg Oden, who went on to become the No. 1 overall selection in the 2007 N.B.A. draft out of Ohio State. Although Oden has played in a total of 82 games for Portland (and none this season) because of knee injuries, Conley is having a career season, leading the league in steals (2.56 a game) and ranking fourth with an assist-to-turnover ratio of three to one entering the weekend. He has quietly become one of the N.B.A."s most underrated point guards. Despite losing Zach Randolph to a knee injury on Jan. 1, the Grizzlies have been one of the hottest teams in the league of late, winning five consecutive games and 11 of their last 13 before Saturday night's game at Phoenix. Memphis was tied for third in the Western Conference with the Clippers and the Lakers. Conley orchestrates a balanced Grizzlies offense, with four starters scoring in double figures and O. J. Mayo adding 12.2 points a game off the bench. Rudy Gay leads the team at 19.1 points a game, and the big man Marc Gasol has excelled in the absence of Randolph, averaging career highs in points (15.4), blocked shots (2.1), rebounds (10) and assists (3.1). Memphis has been beating the teams it should beat, going 11-3 against teams under .500. The Grizzlies have struggled, however, against the two teams at the top of the conference, going 0-6 against Oklahoma City and San Antonio. Last season, the Grizzlies had a late hot streak to squeak into the playoffs, where they knocked off top-seeded San Antonio for the franchise's first series victory in the postseason. With Randolph's return coming as soon as Tuesday, it will be interesting to see what this season's playoffs bring for Memphis. The Wizard of Vilnius Jonas Valanciunas was selected by the Toronto Raptors with the fifth overall selection in last year's draft and is expected to join the team next season. In the meantime, he is playing in the Lithuanian Basketball League, where he was named most valuable player of the All-Star Game. He scored 25 points, pulled down 13 rebounds and handed out 6 assists. But his performance out of his basketball uniform was just as entertaining, if not more so. On a video posted on Yahoo's basketball blog, Ball Don't Lie, Valanciunas throws down an alley-oop off the backboard and dribbles behind his back in the All-Star Game. More surprising, he wandered onto the court in a wizard costume while holding a sign encouraging a teammate. Later, he dressed as a referee and made a suspect traveling call on an opponent, Tyrese Rice, a former Boston College standout, and called a technical on another referee. Then, after receiving the M.V.P. trophy, he danced around the court with one of the cheerleaders to the Vanilla Ice tune "Ice Ice Baby." Imagine what Valanciunas could have for next season's N.B.A. All-Star weekend.