Grizzlies halt skid; Giannis drops 50
LOS ANGeLeS (AFP) — Ja Morant posted a triple-double as the Memphis Grizzlies halted their slide with a comefrom-behind victory over Indiana while Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 50 points in Milwaukee’s National Basketball Association victory over New Orleans.
The Bucks were already on their way to a blowout when Antetokounmpo drained a wide-open three-pointer with 1:38 to play to take his tally to 50 points in Milwaukee’s 135-110 victory over the Pelicans.
It was one of two wire-to-wire victories on the night, with the Cleveland Cavaliers leading all the way in a 122-99 rout of the short-handed Los Angeles Clippers.
Morant scored 27 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and handed out 15 assists as the Grizzlies got back in the win column after dropping five straight on the road. “We needed it,” Morant said.
The hangover from that disastrous trip was apparent in the Grizzlies’ sluggish start. They trailed by as many as 19 and were down 12 at halftime after Indiana’s reserves out-scored the Grizzlies bench 30-5 in the first half.
A 20-5 scoring run in the third quarter saw Memphis pull level. After the Pacers reeled off five straight points the Grizzlies responded with an 18-6 run to grab a 12-point advantage, never trailing in the fourth quarter.
Bennedict Mathurin, the sixth pick in the 2022 draft, led the Pacers with 27 points and eight rebounds.
Jaren Jackson Jr. added 28 points for the Grizzlies, who are two games behind the Denver Nuggets at the top of the Western Conference.
“We had to lock in,” Morant said in a post-game television interview.
“We were playing with energy, but I thought we were giving up on some plays.
They were scoring a little too easily. We had to turn it around.”
In Milwaukee, two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Antetokounmpo delivered a ruthlessly efficient performance connected on 20 of his 26 shot attempts, including three of four from three-point range, his 50 points in just 30 minutes on the floor putting him just five off the career high he set earlier this month in a win over the Washington Wizards.
He added 13 rebounds as the Bucks notched a fourth straight victory.
“I think 50 on 26 (shots) is impressive,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said.
Jrue Holiday scored 17 and Brook Lopez added 15 for the Bucks, who have hit the 130-point mark in five of their last seven games.