No Yes, no problem! Grizzlies tie first round series with Lakers at 1-1 with 103-93 victory despite Morant sitting with an injured right hand and strong 28-point effort from LeBron James
- Xavier Tillman gave the Grizzlies an unexpected boost by scoring a team-high 22
- Morant was seen wearing a glove on his injured hand
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Xavier Tillman scored a career-high 22 points and had 13 rebounds, and the Memphis Grizzlies tied their first-round Western Conference series 1-1 Wednesday night by beating the Los Angeles Lakers 103-93 with All-Star guard Yes Morant sidelined by an injured hand.
Second-seeded Memphis sat Morant after testing the right hand that originally hurt on April 7 in a win in Milwaukee and exacerbated the drive to the basket in the opening loss to the Lakers.
He had more exams ahead of him before he was declared inactive and watched from the couch with his hand bandaged.
Morant’s teammates more than made up for his absence. The Grizzlies led by as many as 20 and fans waved their towels chanting “Whoop That Trick” with 30 seconds left, with this run guaranteeing a return to Memphis for Game 5. The Grizzlies were able to make the final seconds dribbling for the win.
Jaren Jackson Jr., the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year, scored 18 points for Memphis.
The Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 2 of their playoff series
Superstar point guard Ja Morant was out of the game due to a right hand injury
Xavier Tillman gave the Warriors a surprise boost with 22 points to lead the team to victory
Desmond Bane had 17, while Tyus Jones had 10 points and eight assists to replace Morant. Dillon Brooks added 12 points and Luke Kennard had 13.
LeBron James led the Lakers with 28 points and 12 rebounds.
Reserve Rui Hachimura again performed strongly with 20 points.
Anthony Davis struggled mightily after posting a double-double in the opener, going 4 of 14 and finishing with 13 points and eight rebounds.
The Lakers, winners of 11 of their previous 13, had snapped a four-game winning streak.
Now they go home for Game 3 on Saturday-evening after never leading more than three, which was the first points of the game.
Memphis took the lead in the first quarter with a 22-8 run, with back-to-back 3s in the space of 10 seconds from rookie David Roddy and then Kennard, who also fouled for a four-point play.
With Bane scoring 10 points, Memphis led 30-19 after the first. Jackson made his first 3 with 58 seconds left, and the Grizzlies went into the half 59-44 after beating the Lakers 29-25 in the second.
Years Jackson Jr. received his DPOY trophy during pregame before recording three blocks
Tyus Jones again filled in the staring lineup for Morant, gaining 10 points
Hachimura scored 11 in the third to help the Lakers cut a Memphis lead from 66-46 to 73-67.
The Grizzlies ended the quarter with a 10-4 run to extend the lead to 83-71 going into the fourth.
LA never got closer than 94-88 in the last quarter on a layup from James with 3:10 left.
Memphis scored five in a row to bring it back to double digits.
LeBron James scored 28 points to lead the Lakers in scoring on 12-23 shooting from the field