it." With the Red Sox not re-signing shortstop Stephen Drew

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Memphis Grizzlies have a magic number when it comes to making the playoffs -- and they hit it on Wednesday night. Zach Randolph had 20 points, Courtney Lee added 17 and the Memphis Grizzlies held off the Orlando Magic 86-81 for their 29th win of the season. The Grizzlies have made the playoffs every season when they win 29 or more games before the All-Star break. Theyve also never made the post-season when winning fewer than 29 games before the seasons midpoint. The Grizzlies led by as many as 13 points in the second half before having to fight off several Magic runs down the stretch. They survived, but did lose centre Marc Gasol in the third quarter when he limped off the court after aggravating a left knee injury. "We just stuck with it was the most important thing," Grizzlies forward Tayshaun Prince said. "When Marc went out, everybody was kind of hurt by it. ... But this is definitely a good win going into the break." Gasol didnt appear to be in a lot of pain, but he will have an MRI on the knee as a precaution. Grizzlies coach David Joerger said afterward that he is optimistic. "Im really proud of our first half of the season, and then to come out and lose Marc for a little bit -- hopefully not a lot," he said. Memphis beat the Magic for the sixth straight time and enters the break having won eight of its last 11. Nik Vucevic had 13 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Magic. Tobias Harris added 13 points. But they committed 14 turnovers that led to 19 Memphis points. Orlando had won three straight and five in a row at home. "It was our game, I thought, right there. We let one slip away," Harris said. Following the Grizzlies win over Washington on Tuesday, Joerger acknowledged his team was mentally tired. It showed as the game wore on Wednesday against Orlando. First they lost Gasol, then after leading by as many as 13 points in the first half, the Magic stormed back and briefly took the lead in the third quarter. Orlando trailed by three entering the final period. Magic coach Jacque Vaughn began the fourth with the young, quick lineup of Harris, Victor Oladipo, ETwaun Moore, Maurice Harkless and Kyle OQuinn that had been so effective in back-to-back wins, over Oklahoma City and Indiana Orlando surged at the outset, but Memphis weathered the rally and got two free-throws from Randolph that put the Grizzlies up 78-77 with 4 minutes to play. Memphis was leading 80-79 when Jameer Nelsons 3-pointer bounced off the back of the rim and was rebounded by the Grizzlies. Lee got it and raced into the front court before a clear-path foul was called on Arron Afflalo with 35.7 seconds left. The call was upheld after an official review. Lee connected on both free throws to make it 82-79. Memphis retained possession and wound down the clock before getting Randolph free in the paint for a layup to stretch the lead to five. The Magic called timeout, but they could only muster a long 3-pointer on the other end by Oladipo that caromed off the backboard and was rebounded by Memphis. The final review was one of three in the final 1:26 of the game. "The refs did the right thing in going back and looking at a couple of them so if it happens, Id rather have them go back and look at it than just make the call and stick with it," Lee said. "One of them, they gave us the ball and another one was a clear-path foul. So it was 2 for 3. Ill take it." Vaughn said hes looking forward to seeing how his team responds with six of their first seven on the road after the break. "I think we get an immediate test," Vaughn said. "Back to the grind we go and a great challenge for our group to see if we can take some of the things we learned at home ... and see if we can kind of duplicate it on the road." Joerger said the break is coming at the perfect time. "Were exhausted. Were making mistakes toward the ends of games that are just mental mistakes ... those are exhaustion mistakes," he said. "It was a slugfest, I thought at halftime maybe wed get to 84. We got 86 so Im fired up." NOTES: The Grizzlies improved to 6-4 this season in the second night of a back-to-back. ... Memphis G Mike Conley missed his seventh straight game with a sprained right ankle. Colorado Avalanche Jerseys . On Monday night, many fans in this city placed the blame squarely on the captain for his role in the James Neal overtime winner against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Samuel Girard Jersey . Osmond, of Marystown, N.L., fell in the middle of her routine and placed fifth in the ladies free skate at Iceberg Skating Palace (110.73 points), but that was all the Canadians needed after a strong performance by Kevin Reynolds in the mens free earlier Sunday. http://www.authenticavalanchepro.com/Rob-ramage-avalanche-jersey/ .com) - Stephen Currys jumper with 3. Patrick Roy Jersey . Sizemore, who turned 29 on Jan. 4, has been limited to six games over the past two seasons because of an injured left knee that twice required surgery. He originally got hurt on Feb. 25, 2012, during a fielding drill in Oaklands first full-squad spring training workout and had surgery that March 21 to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Lanny McDonald Jersey . Poti played in 824 regular NHL games with four teams in his career; the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, New York Islanders and the Washington Capitals.FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Red Sox had a big lead in last years opener at Yankee Stadium. Still, Dustin Pedroia slid headfirst trying to beat out his grounder. Bad decision, especially with Boston ahead 8-2 in the ninth inning. The win-at-all-costs second baseman tore a ligament in his left thumb, then missed just two games the rest of the season. "It was the most impressive thing I watched all year. The thumb was totally black," third-base and infield coach Brian Butterfield said Monday. "He didnt want anybody to know about it." So its not surprising that Pedroia downplayed how much it bothered him. "A little bit, but its fine now," he said. "Its fixed up, man. Its good. Its good to go." Pedroia had surgery to repair his torn ulnar collateral ligament 14 days after the Red Sox won the World Series in Game 6 against St. Louis. He wore a cast for about a month. Then he worked on regaining his strength. And on Monday he took batting practice three days before the first official full-squad workout. His attitude, typically, is upbeat. "The rehab was great," Pedroia said. "I feel healthy and theres no setbacks, no restrictions or anything." The Red Sox won their second title in four years in 2007 and Pedroia was named AL rookie of the year. In 2008, he was the leagues MVP, but the Red Sox lost the AL championship series despite leading 1-0 in Game 7 through three innings against Tampa Bay. "That was a huge letdown," Pedroia said. "You dont want that feeling." He tried to keep that from happening last year when the Red Sox were in first place through the first 34 games. He was hitting .311 at that point and wasnt about to take time off because of his thumb with so much at stake. Pedroia did even better in the next 10 games. He went 18 for 40 to raise his average to .343. "The first month and a half he hit with one hand and he played with one hand," Butterfield said, "but he never even blinked. Hes so impressive in so many ways and he showed unbelievable toughness." His average never dropped below .291 for the season and he ended at .301 while leading the AL with 724 plate appearances.dddddddddddd He tied for second in the AL in hits and was second in the league in fielding percentage among second basemen. The only games he took off were on June 16 and in the regular-season finale Sept. 29. The Red Sox lost both. Pedroias injury reduced his power and he hit just nine homers, the fewest since he had eight in his rookie season. But he compensated by taking shorter swings and hitting more to the opposite field. "We had half of him, but he fought through it and he still was a highly productive player," Butterfield said. "He just kept playing and kept grinding and didnt flinch once. He never complained and just tried to find every way he could to make his game the most comfortable because I know early on he was playing with a lot of pain." Not that Pedroia would admit it. "You just figure it out," he said. "You just try to get hits, man. Thats it." With the Red Sox not re-signing shortstop Stephen Drew, Pedroia has a new double-play partner in rookie Xander Bogaerts. Pedroia knows hell find a way to make that work, too. "We all take ground balls a lot," he said. "Bogeys going to be fine. (Butterfield) will make sure that everybodys on the same page in the infield and our defence. We know what were doing." Healthy or not, Pedroia showed that he certainly does. And Butterfield still raves about that. "I get chill bumps when I start talking about him," Butterfield said. "He does anything that he can to try to win a game. Hes as tough as they come." NOTES: Manager John Farrell said Grady Sizemore will be used in left and centre field during spring training. The former Cleveland Indian missed the past two seasons with knee and back problems. Jackie Bradley Jr. is getting the first shot at replacing Jacoby Ellsbury, now with the New York Yankees, in centre field. Daniel Nava and Jonny Gomes are back after sharing left field last year. ... LHP Jon Lester said it would be "great" if he could get a contract extension in spring training but hes focusing on preparing for the season. The club picked up his $13 million option for 2014. ' ' '