Grizzlies level series
Magic Morant sparks win over Warriors with 47 points
Ja Morant exploded for 47 points, tying his postseason high, and scored Memphis’ final 15 points as the Grizzlies evened their Western Conference semifinal series against the visiting Golden State Warriors at a game apiece with a 106- 101 victory on Tuesday night.
In a game that featured the ejection of Grizzlies defensive ace Dillon Brooks and stitches to Warriors star Draymond Green’s face, Memphis avenged a 117- 116 home loss in Game 1 as the best- of- seven travels to San Francisco for games 3 and 4 on Saturday and Monday.
Morant’s late flurry began after Stephen Curry nailed a three- pointer that gave third- seeded Golden State a 95- 91 lead with 4: 33 to go.
The young standout’s step- back three- pointer with 2: 28 remaining put the Grizzlies on top 98- 97. After Curry countered with a layup, Morant dropped in a seven- foot floater to give Memphis the lead for good with 1: 42 to go.
Golden State hung within 102- 101 with 40.2 seconds remaining after Green dropped in a layup, but Morant countered with another floater with 30.7 seconds left to open a three- point advantage.
Following Klay Thompson’s traveling violation, Morant iced the win with two free throws with 13.2 seconds remaining. He equaled his point total in a loss to the Utah Jazz in the first round of last season’s playoffs.
Morant shot five- for- 12 on threepointers, helping the Grizzlies outscore Golden State 42- 21 from beyond the arc.
He also added eight rebounds and eight assists, while Ziaire Williams chipped in 14 points, Jaren Jackson Jr scored 12 before fouling out, and Brandon Clarke added 10.
Despite hitting just three of 11 three- point attempts, Curry led the Warriors with 27 points. Jordan Poole added 20, while Andrew Wiggins had 16 and Thompson, who went just twofor- 12 on treys, had 12.
Green finished with a game- high 10 rebounds to go with seven assists and six points. Curry also had nine rebounds while tying Morant with eight assists.
In a tight game from start to finish, the Grizzlies led 56- 51 at halftime, but two early incidents were much more significant than the five- point difference.
Just 2: 52 into the game, Brooks was ejected for a hard swipe at Gary Payton II’s head on a layup attempt. Brooks was slapped with a flagrant foul- 2, which includes an automatic ejection, while Payton was lost for the rest of the game with a left elbow injury incurred on his hard fall.
Seconds later, Green took an inadvertent elbow to the right side of his face from Xavier Tillman, forcing him to leave the game and requiring stitches. He was able to return to start the second quarter.
Morant had 23 of his 47 points in the first half, during which the Warriors missed 15 of 19 from long range. The Grizzlies missed 13 of 20 treys.
A physical encounter was shrouded in controversy, with the Grizzlies’
Dillon Brooks ejected after only three minutes for flattening the Warriors’ Gary Payton II as he drove for a basket.
Payton played no further part in the contest and Warriors coach Steve Kerr later confirmed he had suffered a fractured elbow.
The Warriors’ Draymond Green, ejected in Game 1 on Sunday, was also on the receiving end of the Grizzlies’ robust tactics, needing prolonged treatment in the locker room in the first quarter after being stiff- armed by Xavier Tillman.
Kerr later described the Grizzlies first- quarter approach as “dirty not physical” and accused Brooks of “breaking the code” among NBA professionals.
“There’s a code in this league that players follow where you never put a guy’s season or career in jeopardy by taking somebody out in mid- air and clubbing him across the head and ultimately fracturing Gary’s elbow,” Kerr said. “Dillon Brooks broke the code. That’s how I see it.”