Grizzlies Simply Grisly

If the Memphis Grizzlies keep playing like this, they’ll never win a playoff game.

The Grizzlies went 16 straight possessions without a point and almost 11 minutes between baskets over the middle two quarters, taking them out of a close game and sending the Dallas Mavericks to a 94-79 victory Wednesday night and a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven first-round Western Conference series.

Dirk Nowitzki had 31 points to drop Memphis to 0-10 in its postseason history; that’s four more losses than any NBA team has had before its first victory.

Memphis had no turnovers in the first quarter and led by four early in the second before Nowitzki scored every point in a 9-0 run that put the Mavericks ahead for good. The Grizzlies went from down three to trailing by 19 after the scoring drought.

“We turned the ball over too much and after that we had our heads down,” said Shane Battier of the Grizzlies’ 20 turnovers. “We just didn’t have it.”

Pau Gasol had 16 points for Memphis.

Detroit 109, Milwaukee 98 -- Tayshaun Prince scored 22 points and Chauncey Billups had 20 at Auburn Hills, Mich., to help the Pistons leave no doubt about this Game 2.

The Pistons took a 2-0 lead in the series after having lost three straight Game 2s and four of their last five, dating to the 2004 NBA Finals.