Grizzlies win in OT against Spurs as Tyus Jones records a triple-double filling in for Ja Morant
Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 28 points and the Memphis Grizzlies completed the biggest comeback in franchise history after trailing by 29 points in the third quarter, coming from behind to beat the San Antonio Spurs 126-120 in overtime. Friday night.
Memphis faced a nine-point deficit in the final minute of regulation before outscoring San Antonio 9-0 to send it into overtime.
“We came in at halftime, we regrouped, we talked about it,” Jackson said. ‘He just came out shooting (in the second half). If you take off long enough, you’re going to make some noise.
Desmond Bane added 21 points, including eight points in overtime, and Tyus Jones had his first career triple-double with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the Grizzlies.
The big comeback win came as Ja Morant nears his return to Memphis. The All-Star guard missed his seventh game as part of an eight-game suspension for “conduct detrimental to the league.” Memphis improved to 4-3 without Morant.
Tyus Jones of Memphis Grizzlies goes to the basket against Dominick Barlow of San Antonio Spurs
Devin Vassell had 25 points and Zach Collins added 24 for San Antonio, which fell to 0-5 in overtime this season after being outscored 63-40 in the second half.
“We’ve been competitive all year,” Collins said. ‘We shouldn’t have lost that game. We were 30 up, we shouldn’t have lost.
After trailing by 29, Memphis tied it at 109 on Dillon Brooks’ 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds remaining in regulation. Vassell’s 36-foot desperation didn’t make it to the rim as regulation time ended.
Brooks finished with 16 points, and was 4-for-8 on 3-pointers.
“Our defense really clamped down on the stretch where we were trying to keep them off the boards,” Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said. “Couple tough rebounds, but we came up with enough plays down the stretch.”
San Antonio was without key reserves Doug McDermott (bruised right hip), Devonte’ Graham (left quad soreness) and Romeo Langford (managing injured left adductor) and lost Jeremy Sochan after eight minutes. Memphis was without Steven Adams and Brandon Clark.
“We’re a little skinny,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. ‘And down the stretch, they made shots, they made three straight 3s, give them credit for that. Great game though. We learned a lot from racing as hard as we did. Proud of them. He did a great job. ‘
The Grizzlies called two timeouts in 37 seconds midway through the first quarter after a 3-pointer by Collins and another by Vassell.
“It really started at halftime,” Jenkins said. ‘We didn’t see any movies. I just opened the floor for the players to speak and said: ‘What do you have for me?’ Four or five guys spoke up and said what we were doing in the first half was unacceptable.
“We were too casual, we weren’t communicating, we weren’t executing our coverage, we weren’t playing physical, we weren’t trusting the pass.”
The Spurs shot 12 of 24 on 3-pointers in the first half to build a 25-point lead.
San Antonio shot 31% from the field in the second half, including 6-of-20 on 3-pointers, while committing 14 turnovers.
Brooks and Jackson combined for 26 points in the second half.
Jaren Jackson Jr. #13 of the Grizzlies shoots the ball during the game against San Antonio
76ERS 121, HORNETS 82
Joel Embiid had 38 points and 13 rebounds in just 29 minutes as the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Charlotte Hornets 121-82 on Friday for their seventh straight victory.
Embiid scored 12 points in each of the first two quarters before ending early in a game the 76ers (47-22) led by 42 second-half points. Embiid also had five assists and was once serenaded in each half with chants of ‘MVP! MVP! by the many 76ers fans at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte. James Harden had 11 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for Philadelphia.
Terry Rozier scored 14 points for Charlotte.
Philadelphia 76ers Joel Embiid (21) prepares to shoot over Charlotte Hornets Nick Richards
FALCONS 127, WARRIORS 119
Trae Young’s steal and layup with 45 seconds remaining protected Atlanta’s narrow lead and the Hawks took advantage of Golden State’s continued poor perimeter defense on the road.
Stephen Curry scored 31 points in Golden State’s 10th straight road loss.
The Hawks led 123-119 before Young’s steal of Curry and a layup stretched the lead to six points. Young had 25 points with 12 assists.
John Collins scored 22 points and Onyeka Okongwu added a season-high 19 as Atlanta snapped a two-game losing streak and remained eighth in the Eastern Conference playoff standings.
Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks drives against Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors
KNIGHTS 117, WIZARDS 94
Darius Garland had 24 points and nine assists, Donovan Mitchell scored 20 points and Cleveland never trailed Washington.
Evan Mobley had 20 points, eight rebounds and four blocks for the Cavaliers.
Cleveland moved three games ahead of New York and four and a half games ahead of Brooklyn in the battle for fourth place in the East and home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The Cavaliers’ next two games are in Brooklyn.
Bradley Beal scored 22 points and Kristaps Porzingis had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Wizards. Washington lost for the sixth time in eight games and tied with Indiana and Chicago for the last spot in the East play-in tournament.
Darius Garland of the Cleveland Cavaliers shoots as Monte Morris of the Washington Wizards defends
ROCKETS 114, PELICANS 112
Rookie Jabari Smith Jr. hit a 3-pointer with less than a second to go before Houston beat New Orleans in the first of back-to-back games between the teams.
Smith had 11 points and eight rebounds in 29 minutes. Jalen Green led Houston with 25 points and had seven rebounds and six assists. Kevin Porter Jr. added 20 points and six assists.
Brandon Ingram led New Orleans with 31 points. Jonas Valanciunas added 22 points and 17 rebounds, one shy of his season high.
The teams will meet again on Sunday night in Houston.
Jabari Smith Jr. (1) of the Houston Rockets shoots the game-winning shot against the Pelicans
BULLS 139, TIMBEROLVES 131, 20T
DeMar DeRozan scored a season-high 49 points, Zach LaVine had 39 and Chicago beat Minnesota in double overtime.
Nikola Vucevic had 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Minnesota All-Star Anthony Edwards left with a sprained right ankle in the first quarter, and the Timberwolves lost for the fourth time in five games.
Mike Conley led Minnesota with 28 points, hitting 8 of 12 3-pointers. Rudy Gobert had 21 points and 19 rebounds, and Jaden McDaniels scored 25 points.
Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards suffered a terrifying right ankle injury against the Chicago Bulls
MAVERICKS 111, LAKERS 110
Kyrie Irving scored 38 points and put on a show in the Dallas Mavericks’ last-second win against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The game was not decided in the final moments when forward Maxi Kleber hit his only three-pointer of the night on the last play of the game. Kleber scored the last six points for Dallas and had 10 overall on the night.
Anthony Davis led the way for the Lakers with 26 points, as they fell short of a crucial victory in the fight for the postseason seed in the Western Conference.
Kyrie Irving #2 of the Dallas Mavericks dribbles the ball during the game against the Lakers
CELTICS 126, TRAIL BLAZERS 112
Jayson Tatum had 34 points and 12 rebounds as Boston withstood a late rally by Portland.
Jaylen Brown added 27 points for the Celtics. They have won four of their last five after a three-game losing streak. Boston sits behind NBA-leading Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference.
Damian Lillard scored 41 points, including 25 in the fourth quarter, for the Trail Blazers. They have lost five in a row.
Celtics Jayson Tatum drives to the basket against Portland Trail Blazers Shaedon Sharpe