MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Ben Cranes back is OK, and his putter couldnt be working much better. The combination helped him shoot a 5-under 65 on Friday to open a six-stroke lead in the St. Jude Classic before heavy rain delayed play twice and forced the suspension of play for the day. Crane birdied his final hole Thursday night for a 63 and rolled in a 44-footer for birdie to start the second round Friday morning. He had a 12-under 128 total at TPC Southwind, matching the winning score in relation to par last year. "I certainly didnt see this coming," Crane said. "But you know when youre putting well, I started to feel like I was a little more in control of my ball, just felt like I was tightening my draws and fades a little bit. I had access to some holes I havent this year and so gosh, its been an incredible two days." Crane has spent the past six months changing his swing to protect his back. A four-time PGA Tour winner, Cranes last win came in 2011 at the McGladrey Classic and his best finish this year was a tie for ninth in the Humana Challenge in January. But he was in such pain he had a therapist with him for treatment during the round. "Its been a really, really hard year, racking my brain whats going on, whats going wrong and have I changed that much," Crane said. "You start wondering, Am I going to get it back. So this is super encouraging. My wife said last night, looks like you still got it. Because you wonder. But anyway, its been a fun start." Carl Pettersson and Jason Bohn were tied for second at 6 under. Pettersson had one hole left, and Bohn had two to play. Davis Love III (70) and Billy Horschel (68) were in at 5 under. Phil Mickelson and Retief Goosen were unable to start the second round. Mickelson, winless in his last 19 events since the British Open, opened with a 67 on Thursday, and Goosen had a 66. Friday got off to a slow start with 60 players needing to wrap up the first round with the second started 40 minutes later. Lightning delayed play at 1:03 for 59 minutes before play resumed for 13 minutes. Mickelson had just gotten to the tee when the horn blew again. Fans were sent home before a severe thunderstorm drenched the course, filling bunkers, fairways and cart paths with water. Finally, play for the day was suspended just before 5 p.m. Players are due back at 7 a.m. so they can make the cut for the third round. Love was glad to be done before the weather moved in even at 5 under, and he doubts Crane will run out to 24 under. This course where John Cook won at 26 under in 1996 was redesigned to a par of 70 after 2004. "So hes off to a great start and well have to run him down," Love said about Crane. "Hes a great putter, and these greens are perfect, so hes got the advantage on us right now, but just hang in there." Crane had perfect timing for most of his rounds. He played most of the first round after the lengthy delay Thursday afternoon, which left nearly perfect scoring conditions with little wind and soft greens. He was in the first group off No. 1 starting the second round, and he birdied rolling in a putt with a break of more than 4 feet for the first of 24 putts. He followed up his opening birdie by sinking a 22-footer for birdie on No. 7. He hit his approach from 147 yards out to 3 feet for birdie on No. 9 to reach 10 under through 27 holes. He sunk a 14-footer on the par-3 11th with the island green before rolling in a 9-footer for birdie on No. 13. His 8-foot birdie on the par-5 16th put him at 13 under. But Crane hit into a bunker on No. 18 and missed a 7-footer to save par on way to his first bogey in two rounds. "How do I keep this going?" Well, certainly just keep doing what Im doing, and hopefully the same game shows up, and obviously continuing to putt well helps your score," Crane said. "I think thats the key. Divots: This was the second straight round where fans were sent home early due to weather. ... Memphis hadnt had a weather delay since 2010 when the first round was suspended due to lightning. ... This is the 16th tour event this season with either a delay or suspension due to weather or darkness. Authentic Tennessee Jerseys . -- Aaron Rodgers looked fine on the practice field Thursday. Joshua Dobbs College Jersey . -- Theres something about playing on Orlandos floor lately that seems to bring out the best in the Dallas Mavericks. http://www.cheaptennesseejerseys.com/ .J. - Pete Carroll is in support of the NFL looking further into whether medicinal marijuana could beneficial for players. Jason Witten College Jersey . Both sides of the deal have formally announced acquisitions: TFC introduced Jozy Altidore as a designated player on Friday, while their counterparts announced a three-and-a-half-year deal with Jermain Defoe. Denarius Moore College Jersey . They say things like "stress is when you dont know what youre doing" and "I wasnt hired to motivate players, I was hired to coach motivated players." They ring as true now as they did when Mularkey heard them the first time playing tight end for the Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Fame coach 25 years ago.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Houston Rockets will put their perfect record on the line tonight in their stiffest test to date, a home battle with the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs. Later, two of the Western Conferences postseason teams from a season ago tangle early in this campaign when the Portland Trail Blazers welcome the Dallas Mavericks to the Moda Center. Both games can be seen on TSN2 beginning with the Rockets vs. Suprs at 8pm et/5pm pt. The Rockets can become the leagues first 6-0 team with a victory on Thursday. The Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors are also perfect in the early part of this campaign. Houston is supremely confident and should be against the Spurs. The Rockets swept the season series in 2013-14 and have won seven of the last nine at home versus the defending champs. The Rockets reached 5-0 in their toughest challenge before Thursday, toppling the previously undefeated Miami Heat, 108-91, in South Beach on Tuesday night. James Harden was a rebound shy of a triple-double, tallying 25 points and 10 assists for the Rockets. We showed tremendous confidence, especially in the fourth quarter, said Harden. We got stops when we needed to. Dwight Howard posted 26 points and 10 boards and Trevor Ariza nailed five 3- pointers and netted 19 points for Houston, which is off to its first 5-0 start since opening 6-0 during the 1996-97 season. Patrick Beverley returned from a two-game absence due to a hamstring injury and scored 15 points. The Rockets started the season against relative NBA lightweights, but the level rose with the four-time defending Eastern Conference champions. It gets even higher versus the NBA champions. Im happy with our progress, but were not satisfied, Howard said after the Miami victory. Weve got a tough game with San Antonio. We have to be ready for our next opponent. The Spurs were well-rested for their home tilt with the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday. San Antonio had only played twice early in the campaign and it showed some rust, but escaped with a 94-92 win. You can make the argument on both sides, was there rust there, or is it good to get rest? opined Duncan. Luckily, we got the win and well build on that. With the score tied with 13.6 seconds remaining, Manu Ginobili drove the lane and kicked to the corner, but was fouled with 3.8 ticks on the clock. He buried a pair of free throws, then Boris Diaw blocked a last-second heave to allow the Spurs to survive. We need to be sharper, execute better, and today we just didnt, said Ginobili. Ginobili scored seven of his 12 points on Wednesday at the foul line. Duncan and Tony Parker each finished with 17 points, with the former grabbing 13 rebounds with six blocks, four assists and three steals. Kawhi Leonard and Diaw each scored 11 points in the win. Tiago Splitter returned from a calf injury, then left because he felt tightness in the area. His availability for Thursday night is undetermined. Mavericks and Blazers battle in Portland Two of the Western Conferences postseason teams from a season ago tangle early in this campaign whenn the Portland Trail Blazers welcome the Dallas Mavericks to the Moda Center.dddddddddddd Theyre a great team, Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. Theyre a playoff team, and theyre a different team than what weve seen with the quality of their big men and their 3-point shooting ability straight across the board. Its a tough matchup, and thats always a very difficult place to play. The Mavs begin this mini road trip on a roll, winning three straight and vaulting into the league lead in scoring at 111.8 ppg. Dallas will also visit the Utah Jazz on Friday before returning home. The Mavericks reached 3-1 Monday night with a 118-113 victory at home over the Boston Celtics. Chandler Parsons scored 29 points on 10-of-15 shooting, but the Mavs nearly squandered a 26-point lead. Jeff Green and Avery Bradley fueled the Celtics comeback, totaling 35 and 32 points, respectively. Bradley had a chance to tie things at the free throw line with 39.5 seconds to go but only made two of his three attempts. Monta Ellis, after fouling Bradley behind the arc, ended Bostons 9-0 run with a tough runner off the glass to give Dallas a 116-113 lead. He made two more free throws to seal the win. They are scrappy and you know that they are going to continue to fight back, Mavs center Tyson Chandler said of the Celtics. Dirk Nowitzki netted 27 points with seven rebounds while Ellis added 14 points for the Mavs. Chandler posted a double-double with 10 points and 12 boards, while Devin Harris managed 12 points. The Mavs shot 53.7 percent from the floor and 56 percent from long range. The Blazers got back on track Tuesday night. They halted a two-game slide with an emphatic statement game, a 101-82 home victory over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Needless to say, it was good to get a win, said Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts. But more importantly, it was how we got it, how we played. That looked like the team that we need to be. We withstood their barrage in the first quarter, stayed with our schemes and our coverages and the next 3 1/2 quarters, we did a great job defensively. We stuck with the defense and we got rhythm to the offense. It was a solid win at both ends of the court. The Cavs opened the game 10-for-10 from the field, but tailed off offensively. Cleveland never posted 20 points in the remaining three quarters and finished the contest with 13 points over the final 12 minutes. Damian Lillard busted out of his shooting slump with 27 points. He went 6- for-13 from the field, 5-for-10 from long range and 10-for-10 from the foul line. Its the same game that Ive been playing, said Lillard. The only difference was the shots just went in. It was pretty simple: just play the game. I thought we did a great job of moving the ball and everybody defended well. Wes Matthews (21), Robin Lopez (19) and LaMarcus Aldridge (16) finished in double figures. The Blazers also held the fabled James to just 11 points. The Mavs won two of three against the Blazers last season and have captured 10 of the last 15 meetings. Dallas is 12-6 in its last 18 in Rose City. 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