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Tuesday, Feb. 20 7:00pm ET
Inspired Grizzlies win again on the road

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Vancouver Grizzlies' decision to ignore the distractions swirling around the franchise has worked.

Michael Dickerson
Michael Dickerson scored 23 points to help the Grizzlies earn their record fifth straight win.

Michael Dickerson scored nine of his 23 points during a decisive third-quarter run as the Grizzles beat the Washington Wizards 116-104 Tuesday night, extending their franchise-record winning streak to five games.

NBA commissioner David Stern recently gave Vancouver owner Michael Heisley permission to explore moving the franchise, a distraction the players are trying to block out.

"We're not really worried about all that stuff they're talking about," Grizzlies guard Mike Bibby said. "We're playing, that's all we can do."

Vancouver, which had never won more than three straight games in its six-year history, won its third straight on the road after losing 15 straight road games.

"We're not there by any means, but maybe we're getting an idea of what this thing's about," Vancouver coach Sidney Lowe said. "Maybe they're thinking 'Gosh, this could be real nice.' "

The Grizzlies shot 55 percent from the field (44-for-80) and rarely missed open chances.

The Grizzlies shot 13-for-20 in the fourth quarter, squelching Washington rallies in the final minutes.

"This happened to be a night where we were not very sharp defensively, and we went against a team that, when they got open looks, they just knocked them down with high regularity," Washington coach Leonard Hamilton said. "That's a bad match."

The Grizzlies received double-figure scoring from six players.

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf scored 13 of his 19 in the second half while Shareef Abdur-Rahim also scored 19 points. Grant Long, who had 14 rebounds, matched his season-high with 16 points.

Bibby had 10 points and 13 assists, included 12 in the second half for Vancouver, which received 40 points from its reserves.

Juwan Howard led Washington with 27 points. Chris Whitney hit a season-high six 3-pointers and finished with 24 points.

Washington scored the first four points of the second half and trimmed its deficit to five points, 59-54, in the first minute of the third quarter.

But Dickerson seized control, hitting two 3-pointers and capping a 13-0 run with a three-point play, as the Grizzlies moved out to an insurmountable 72-54 lead.

Game notes
Long had eight rebounds in the first quarter. The Wizards had nine. ... The Grizzlies scored 100 points in consecutive games for the first time since Jan. 13-15, against Cleveland and the Los Angeles Lakers. ... The Wizards shot 28-for-31 from the line.

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RECAPS
Toronto 113
Golden State 102

Vancouver 116
Washington 104

Phoenix 110
Orlando 104

New York 76
Miami 74

Milwaukee 101
Chicago 92

LA Lakers 119
Dallas 109

Houston 101
Boston 84

Portland 104
Denver 94

Sacramento 94
Atlanta 80


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