Basket Ball / Sports

Morant’s 47 points lift Grizzlies over Warriors to even series

The Memphis Grizzlies used Ja Morant’s 47 points to rally past the Golden State Warriors 106-101 and even the second round series on Tuesday night.

Morant single-handedly outscored the Warriors 15-6 in the final 4:16 of the game on his way to a tying his own franchise postseason record with 47 points on 15-for-31 shooting. Morant connected on five 3-pointers to go with eight rebounds, eight assists and three steals.

Ziaire Williams scored 14 points with five rebounds on 4-for-8 shooting while supplying tight defense in the final minutes. Jaren Jackson Jr. added 12 points with seven rebounds while Brandon Clarke tallied 10 points with three rebounds.

Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 27 points, nine rebounds and eight assists while Jordan Poole notched 20 points, five assists and three rebounds.

The Grizzlies took the early lead behind Morant’s 14 first quarter points on 4-for-7 shooting. Jackson Jr. notched 10 points and three rebounds as the Grizzlies led 33-25 after 12 minutes of play.

Memphis held off the Warriors in the second quarter, holding on to a 56-51 lead at halftime. Morant led the Grizzlies with 23 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the field to go with five assists and four rebounds in the half. Curry scored 15 points with five rebounds to lead the Warriors.

The Warriors finished the third quarter on a 13-3 run to bring the score even at 77-77 with one quarter remaining, but the fourth quarter belonged to Morant as he exploded for 18 points in the final period.

Morant is the third player in NBA history to have multiple 45-point postseason performances before turning 23 years old, joining LeBron James and Kobe Bryant (ESPN).

Next Game

The Grizzlies will look to take the series lead over the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center on Saturday, May 7 at 7:30 p.m. CT.…

Basket Ball / Sports

Morant scores 29, Grizzlies beat Warriors for 10th straight

Ja Morant scored 29 points, including five in the final minute, and the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Golden State Warriors 116-108 Tuesday night for their 10th straight win.

“I just like having that pressure,” Morant said of his scoring down the stretch. “I feel like that’s when I shine the most. I like to be the one taking that shot, hit or miss.”

Ziaire Williams and Tyus Jones had 17 points each, Williams recording a season-high in points. Jones keyed a fourth-quarter rally that put the Grizzlies ahead for good. He finished 6 for 8 from the field, including connecting on all five of his 3-point attempts.

Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his second triple-double of the season. Klay Thompson finished with 14 points. Andrew Wiggins and Gary Payton II scored 13 each.

The teams had a closely played game in the second half until consecutive 3-pointers by Jones gave Memphis a 109-100 lead with 3:33 left to play. That was enough of a buffer for the Grizzlies to keep their franchise-record win streak going, Memphis holding Golden State to 18 points in the fourth quarter.

“I thought Tyus Jones shooting 3s broke the game open. That was the key,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.

The Grizzlies were the ones connecting from 3-point range in the first half hitting 8 of their first 13 from outside the arc. That allowed Memphis to build an 18-point lead in the second quarter, putting the Warriors in catch up mode from that point on.

“It was just turnovers early in the game, and that gave them a lot of confidence,” said Curry, who was 8 of 21 shooting, including 2 of 9 from 3-point range.

Grizzlies interim coach Darko Rajakovic noted it wasn’t just Williams’ offensive output, but the rookie from Stanford also had the job of guarding Curry from the opening tip. Rajakovic noted that Curry averages 14 3-pointers a game, but only took nine in the game.

“He did a really good …