The Grizzlies essentially braced for an encounter with a schoolyard bully whenever the Utah Jazz came charging toward them this season.

Utah pushed and pummeled its way to lopsided wins of 21, 29 and 23 points in three previous meetings. No other NBA club claimed such consistent domination over the Grizzlies.

Among the numerous invitees to longtime Knicks center Patrick Ewing's uniform-number retirement ceremony in New York on Friday night are teammates from his 1992 gold medal-winning Olympic "Dream Team," including Karl Malone and John Stockton of the Jazz.
     
Those two won't make it, however, as Utah plays in Philadelphia on Friday.

From the start Monday night, the Jazz just didn't have it.
     
At the beginning of a four-game trip and a stretch with nine of 11 on the road, in fact, Utah never led in a 103-92 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Memphis Grizzlies had enough of being manhandled by the Utah Jazz.

Wesley Person scored 27 points and shot 6-of-10 from 3-point range as the Grizzlies beat the Jazz 103-92 Monday night.

Jason Williams is known for his creativity -- well, his tattoos, too -- but a play he made in the first 90 seconds of Monday's game was unusual even for him. Trying to drive the lane on John Stockton, Williams pulled up at the free-throw line. With nowhere to go and his Memphis teammates covered, Williams simply threw the basketball at the backboard, then ran to retrieve it.

...

By burying a 16-foot runner along the left baseline in the third quarter, Stockton moved up another notch on the NBA's career scoring list Monday.

The knockout punch didn't come quite so swiftly, but it had the same effect. Wesley Person stood in roughly the same spot that Mike Tyson did two days earlier and delivered a three-point roundhouse Monday night that connected dead-on, sending the Jazz to the same place -- Palookaville -- that Clifford Etienne now inhabits.
   
The Jazz never lost consciousness, and they battled far longer than Etienne's 49 seconds. But they never did much damage, either, suffering a body blow in the form of a 103-92 loss to the Grizzlies in the Pyramid, site of Tyson's quick KO on Saturday night.

The Houston Chronicle reports: Last night, Steve Francis played 36 minutes with a sore lower back and now might have to sit out tonight's game against Memphis.

"I'm definitely going to look at that tonight and tomorrow and think about longevity instead of the short-term thing," Francis said after Friday's game.

Francis treated the back throughout the game, wearing a heating pad when he was out and during some timeouts. He had arrived at Compaq Center on Friday, his 26th birthday, at 2:30 p.m. for the 7 p.m. start and after hours of massage, decided he could play.

"It's pretty sore," Francis said. "I thought I could help my team. I'm not going to lie. I was definitely a couple steps slow tonight. Sometimes you have to play when you're hurt."

As first reported by SI.com's Marty Burns, The Orlando Magic and the Memphis Grizzlies made the first big swap of the NBA's trading deadline last night.

Orlando sent their second-leading scorer Mike Miller and rookie forward Ryan Humphrey along with two draft picks to the Memphis Grizzlies for forward Drew Gooden, swingman Gordan Giricek, and about $500,000 in cash.

In this deal, both teams got what they wanted.

For Grizzlies President Jerry West, it was the swingman that he had coveted since last year's draft.

"We are excited to get Mike Miller for our team," West said. "He was the Rookie of the Year just a couple of seasons ago and has the potential to be a terrific player for us."

As for the Magic, they got the bigman they had coveted but were hurt to have to give up Miller.

Magic coach Doc Rivers said McGrady was not happy that the club traded away his buddy. "I told Tracy what was going on," Rivers said. "He wasn't happy, friendship-wise, but basketball-wise, he was happy with it."

Rivers said he, too, was "torn" after having to part with Miller, a third-year pro from the University of Florida.

"I think it's a great trade for us," Rivers said. "We got a guard back who we hope can someday be like Mike. And we got a big [player], who's a rookie, but we think he can be a player. It's one of those deals where you had to do it."

"It was a tough decision. We obviously like Mike Miller," Magic General Manager John Gabriel said. "We think we got two players -- two young players -- who fill our needs. If we were going to part with him, we had to get bigger."

The Grizzlies had originally been offering Stromile Swift and Giricek but Gabriel held out for Gooden and last night, West finally gave in.

The two picks Memphis acquired were picks that Orlando had from other teams. Sacramento's 2003 first-round pick and Denver's 2004 second-round pick.

Orlando expects Giricek and Gooden to eventually move into the starting lineup.

Gabriel also mentioned that he might not be done dealing and could make another deal before the 3 p.m. deadline.

It has been speculated that forward Andrew Declercq might get dealt because of his expiring contract.

Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports: With Thursday's trade deadline fastly approaching, Grizzlies president of basketball operations is hoping for that magical call. The one that lands him Magic swingman Mike Miller.

"The right phone call," West said, "could precipitate something we'd do. It's very evident that we'd like to do something to improve the quality of our team. Are we satisfied? No."

 For months, a deal that would  send forward Stromile Swift to Orlando for Miller has been on the table but the Magic have been reluctant to part with Miller because of the uncertainty over the status of Grant Hill's left ankle.

Now, may of you might wonder, why do the Grizzlies need another small forward when they already have Shane Battier?

Well, apparently they only view him as a sixth man.

West seems to really want Miller and has sweetened the deal with the addition of rookie swingman Gordon Giricek. That would likely make the deal Swift,Giricek, and filler likely to be Robert Archibald or Chris Owens for Miller and forward Andrew Declercq.

Swift is not happy with all of the rumors.

"I'm sick of hearing about it. If they're going to do it, make a move," Swift said. "If not, I'd just have to stay here and try to work harder. I've been hearing about that trade a lot. They've been talking about it all (season) and all (last) summer. I'm to the point where I won't believe it until I see it."

So, what is holding up Orlando's decision?

Three things:

1)Magic GM John Gabriel wants forward Drew Gooden instead of Swift.

However, it appears that West is not budging and is a take it or leave it mode.

2) Reportly, the Magic are split on whether or not to make the deal because of questions about Swift's work ethic and commitment.

Apparently, John Gabriel is not a Swift fan. While, Head Coach Doc Rivers loves Swift's athleticism and shot-blocking ability.

However, they both deny he is on the block.

3) Mike Miller is Tracy McGrady's best friend and with him being able to opt out of his contract in two years, the Magic might be reluctant to tick him off.

In the end, it appears that the ball is in Orlando's court.

"It's not us holding up something," West said without getting specific, "it's someone else that's holding up something."

According to Marc Berman, Knicks GM Scott Layden will not join the club on their six-game 11-day Western trip that began last night vs. the Suns. He'll be by his desk at 2 Penn Plaza trying to help the Knicks for the future at Thursday's trading deadline.

Sixers GM Billy King has confirmed he's still interested in Latrell Sprewell, but the Knicks aren't jumping at any Keith Van Horn deal, feeling they need more. If Sprewell does go - and chances are growing slimmer - Layden wants a first-round pick included and the Sixers don't even have one this season. Larry Brown reportedly has Othella Harrington and Charlie Ward on his radar, so a Sixers' deal would probably include multiple parts and teams.

According to a source, Philly is seeing if they can include 7-1 center Stanley Roberts as a throw-in piece in a package via sign-and-trade. The Sixers have until Monday - the end of the 30-day window - to sign him to a contract or he becomes a free agent.

Layden has set his sights higher than Van Horn, notably toward Memphis center Pau Gasol. But getting Gasol seems a huge longshot. Every team is lining up at Memphis' door since word got out Grizzlies GM Jerry West is at least listening to offers for Gasol. Supposedly, West likes Poland's raw and rarely used 7-2 prospect Cezary Trybanski so much, he's exploring a Gasol trade. Layden's edge is he has among the best relationships with West and they talk frequently.

The Grizzlies have looked for a point guard and several teams think the Knicks' second-rounder Milos Vujanic is the real thing. Would a package of Kurt Thomas, Vujanic and the second-round pick they got from Denver - a definite asset the Knicks are shopping - even be enough to pry away last season's Rookie of the Year?