Rudy Gay scored 20 points to help the Memphis Grizzlies to an 109-97 upset victory over the Houston Rockets on Monday.

Memphis (6-15) is last in the Southwest Division but had a surprisingly easy game against the Rockets (13-8), who slipped into a tie for the division lead with New Orleans.

The Grizzlies had six players scoring in double-figures to stun the injury-plagued Rockets, who had just 10 players in uniform, including Steve Francis, who has not played all season and did not take the court.

Ron Artest, Tracy McGrady and Brent Barry were all sidelined with injury for Houston.　　

Memphis Grizzlies' Hakim Warrick (left) drives to the basket over Houston Rockets' Yao Ming in the third quarter of their NBA game on Monday in Memphis, Tennessee. [AP]

Rockets' coach Rick Adelman said the injuries were a factor, but his team still should have performed better.

"They were the aggressors all the way," Adelman told reporters. "They got the rebounds and got to the basket.

"They just outworked us.

"I don't think we shared the ball very well (and) guys were trying to do too much on their own and not moving the ball around.

"We just seemed to be out of sync."

Hakim Warrick and O.J. Mayo both scored 18 points for Memphis, who made their first six three-point attempts to help them to a 22-point lead in the second quarter.

"They were down a little bit," said Memphis bench player Greg Buckner.

"They were missing two of their best players. We came out and took advantage of it."

Luis Scola had 16 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Rockets, while Rafer Alston also scored 16 points.

(Agencies via China Daily December 10, 2008)