Morant, Grizzlies spoil Conley’s return to Memphis

Ja Morant scored 25 points, including the goahead basket with 1:32 remaining, Dillon Brooks added 20 points, and Memphis beat the Utah Jazz 107-106 on Friday night, spoiling the return of former Grizzlies guard Mike Conley.

Utah had one last chance when the ball was inbounded to Donovan Mitchell with two seconds left. But as Mitchell turned, Solomon Hill stripped the ball away, giving Memphis its third straight win.

The game marked the return of Conley, the longtime Memphis guard who spent his entire career with the Grizzlies until a trade to Utah.

Mitchell led the Jazz with 29 points.

MONK HITS 3 AT BUZZER TO LIFT HORNETS >> Malik Monk hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Charlotte Hornets a 109-106 home victory over the Detroit Pistons. After Derrick Rose drove the lane and awkwardly threw the ball away with a second left, Charlotte got it at midcourt. Following a timeout, the Hornets threw several screens, with Monk flying around one near the top of the key. He caught a pass from Cody Martin and launched the winner.

HARDEN’S 44 POINTS LEAD ROCKETS OVER PACERS >> James Harden scored 44 points, and the Houston Rockets used a big fourth quarter run to pull away and get a 111-102 win over the Indiana Pacers at home, their sixth straight win.

FOURNIER, MAGIC HAND SPURS 4TH STRAIGHT LOSS >> Evan Fournier scored 26 points, including a couple of late 3-pointers, and the Orlando Magic beat San Antonio 111-109 at home to hand the Spurs their fourth straight defeat. DeMar DeRozan scored 21 for the Spurs, who gave up 64 points in the second half. RUSSELL FINALLY ACCEPTS HALL OF FAME RING >> Bill Russell, the 11-time NBA champion, five-time MVP, Olympic gold medalist, two-time NCAA champ at USF and McClymonds High-Oakland graduate said on Twitter on Friday that he was presented with his Hall of Fame ring in a private ceremony in Springfield, Massachusetts.

The 85-year-old Boston Celtics great didn’t attend the induction ceremony in 1975. He said he didn’t deserve to be the first black player inducted, tweeting: “I felt others before me should have that honor.”

Russell said the ceremony was attended by his wife, along with close friends and Hall of Famers Bill Walton, Ann Meyers and Alonzo Mourning.