Morant dazzles in preseason debut, Grizzlies top Maccabi
Rockets’ GM’s HK tweet anger China
MEMPHIS, Oct 7, (AP): Ja Morant didn’t keep Memphis fans waiting long for his first basket.
Morant, the No. 2 pick in this year’s draft, scored off a baseline drive on the game’s first possession and finished with 10 points and seven assists as Memphis topped Maccabi Haifa 123-88 on Sunday in the Grizzlies’ preseason opener.
Morant played 18-1/2 minutes, shooting 5 for 8 from the floor and adding three rebounds. He checked out for the final time midway through the third quarter.
He showed some flashes of what Grizzlies fans can expect this season, particularly a sequence in the final minute of the first quarter when he had a dunk, then a driving left-handed layup, then found Bruno Caboclo for a 3-pointer to end the period and give Memphis a 26-16 lead.
In the second quarter, Morant had assists on consecutive possessions to push Memphis’ lead out to 17 and the Grizzlies remained in control from there.
Jaren Jackson Jr scored 19 points and Grayson Allen had 18 on 7-for-10 shooting as the Grizzlies won easily.
Dillon Brooks scored 16 points for Memphis. Grizzlies center Jonas Valanciunas was held out with a sore foot that wasn’t believed to be serious.
James Young, who appeared in 95 NBA games for Boston and Philadelphia, led Maccabi Haifa with 31 points. Norris Cole, a two-time NBA champion with Miami, added 13.
Celtics 107, Hornets 106
At Boston, Jayson Tatum scored 20 points and Javonte Green added 15 on 7-of-7 shooting for Boston.
Kemba Walker, acquired via sign-and-trade from Charlotte in July, had 12 points in his Celtics debut.
Rookies P.J. Washington led Charlotte with 16 points and Caleb Martin had 13. Miles Bridges had 12 points and 10 rebounds and Terry Rozier – who was came to the Hornets from Boston in the deal for Walker – added
nine points and nine assists. Clippers 127, Shanghai
Sharks 87
At Honolulu, Maurice Harkless had 16 points on 7-of-7 shooting and JaMychal Green scored 13 points for Los Angeles.
Kawhi Leonard (rest), Paul George (shoulder) and Lou Williams (coach’s decision) did not play for the Clippers.
James Nunnally scored 31 points and Donatas Motiejunas had 29 points, 13 rebounds and four steals for Shanghai.
Also:
BEIJING: China’s official basketball association says it will suspend cooperation with the Houston Rockets following a tweet by the team’s general manager in support of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.
The Chinese Basketball Association said Sunday on its official Twitter-like Weibo account that
Daryl Morey had made “improper remarks regarding Hong Kong” to which it expressed its “strong opposition”.
That underscores Beijing’s extreme sensitivity about foreign attitudes toward the ongoing protests in the semi-autonomous territory that have lately grown in violence. China accuses foreign parties in the US and elsewhere of encouraging the demonstrations. Morey’s now-deleted tweet read, “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.”
China’s relationship with the Rockets has been especially close because Chinese Hall of Famer Yao Ming played his entire NBA career with the team.