<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- The Memphis Grizzlies had to wait before extending their longest winning streak of the season to seven games. Pau Gasol had 33 points and 15 rebounds and reserve Mike Miller added 20 points to lead the Grizzlies over the Charlotte Bobcats 102-95 Sunday. Lorenzen Wright contributed 13 points and seven rebounds for the Grizzlies, whose win streak is one short of the franchise record. All of Wright's points and rebounds came in the opening quarter. The game was delayed 90 minutes as a small fire in a freight elevator shortly before tipoff forced the evacuation of the building. The players were directed to a bus outside the arena while fire equipment was called to the arena. "It was weird because we were stuck on the bus for, probably, 30 minutes," Gasol said. "We came back in and didn't know if we were going to play or not. Most of us were just watching the end of the UConn game (in the NCAA tournament)." Gasol said the delay was the reason Memphis struggled to find its shooting touch from long range until the final quarter. The Grizzlies were 3-of-12 from beyond the 3-point arc in the third quarter. In the final period, the Grizzlies hit 3-of-6 3-pointers to extend their winning streak. "With this kind of incident like we had, it was hard to be 100 percent focused," Gasol said. "But we found a way. That's what we've been doing. They played hard and they didn't quit." Players from both teams sat in buses for the Bobcats. All but Grizzlies forward Shane Battier. "Last time I looked in the dictionary for `evacuate' it doesn't mean sitting in bus under the arena," Battier said. "So I left. I went outside. I wasn't going to hang around and wait. I got in a little trouble. I'm sorry for any breach of protocol with security." The fire broke out on a food preparation cart on the terrace level of the building and the building had to be evacuated. Charlotte got 25 points from Gerald Wallace and 21 from Kareem Rush. Point guard Brevin Knight had 16 assists to go with his 17 points. Despite entering the game with a 19-51 record, Charlotte pushed the Grizzlies until the final minutes. The Grizzlies led 94-93 with 2:17 left, but were able to pull away as Eddie Jones hit two free throws and a 3-pointer in the final 1:50. Gasol added a field goal and a free throw during the same span.</div> Source
