Spurs edge Grizzlies
DeMar DeRozan made two free throws with a second to play Sunday, giving the San Antonio Spurs a 108-106 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies that moved the Spurs into ninth place in the Western Conference.
SPURS 108, GRIZZLIES 106
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — DeMar DeRozan made two free throws with a second to play, giving the San Antonio Spurs a 108-106 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday that moved them into ninth place in the Western Conference.
The Spurs built an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter but needed a bunch of big plays down the stretch from DeRozan after the Grizzlies rallied.
“He’s a superstar in this league, one of the top players in this league,” the Grizzlies’ Ja Morant said of DeRozan. “I’m not surprised at all.”
DeRozan brought the ball down court after Jaren Jackson Jr. had tied the game for Memphis with a corner three-pointer with 10.6 seconds to play. DeRozan pump-faked Dillon Brooks into the air and drew the foul, then knocked down the foul shots.
Jackson missed a long three-point attempt on the final possession.
“We just kept playing,” Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich said. “We went to the next play, and that was the best part of the deal. We made it tough on ourselves in several different ways, but they kept playing, and that’s what’s important.”
The Spurs are trying to qualify for the postseason for what would be an NBA-record 23rd consecutive season. They arrived at Walt Disney World in 12th place in the West, but after victories over Sacramento and Memphis are just two games behind the eighth-place Grizzlies.
“Like I said, we’ve got to continue to go out like every game is our last and we’ve got another one tomorrow,” Spurs guard Dejounte Murray said. “We won one tonight, bumped up a spot and we’ve got to continue to go out, play together and win basketball games.”
Murray had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Spurs. Derrick White added 16 points, and DeRozan had 14.
Morant finished with 25 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists. Jackson scored 21 points.
The Memphis loss clinched a playoff spot for the Dallas Mavericks.
Murray scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, with a strong start to the period that had the Spurs up 11 near the midpoint. Memphis cut that to one before DeRozan scored with 59 seconds remaining. After a turnover by Morant, DeRozan knocked down a jumper for a 106-101 cushion with 22 seconds to go.
The veteran later missed two free throws that helped Memphis tie it. But the Grizzlies fell short again, just as they did by falling to Portland in overtime in their first game of the restart.
“Again, I want to say give our guys credit for competing in the second half, but that’s not good enough,” Grizzlies Coach Taylor Jenkins said. “We’ve got to be better for 48 minutes. I think these guys are quickly learning that after two games.”
In other NBA games played Sunday, Caris LeVert scored 25 of his 34 points in the second half to help the Brooklyn Nets beat the Washington Wizards 118110 and move closer to a playoff berth. Joe Harris scored a season-high 27 points and Jarrett Allen added 22 points and 15 rebounds for the Nets, who bounced back from a loss to Orlando in their first seeding game. The Nets are now seven games ahead of ninth-place Washington in the Eastern Conference standings. … Jayson Tatum scored 34 points, Jaylen Brown added 30 and the Boston Celtics built a big early lead before holding off the Portland Trail Blazers 128-124. Tatum added a career-high eight assists. Damian Lillard had 30 points and 16 assists for Portland. Jusuf Nurkic added 30 points for Portland in his second official game back after breaking his leg in March 2019. … Nikola Vucevic had 23 points and 11 rebounds, Aaron Gordon scored 19 of his 22 points in the first half and the Orlando Magic continued a strong restart with a 132-116 victory over the Sacramento Kings . ... Russell Westbrook scored 31 points and had eight assists as the Houston Rockets rallied for a 120116 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. The Rockets overcame a 36-point, 18-rebound outing from Giannis Antetokounmpo. Milwaukee led 112-104 with 3:14 to play. James Harden added 24 points for the Rockets.Khris Middleton scored 27 and Brook Lopez 23 for Milwaukee. ... Devin Booker scored 30 points and the Phoenix Suns erased a double-digit deficit while their All-Star guard was on the bench with foul trouble, rallying for a 117-115 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night. Luka Doncic had 40 points, 11 assists and 8 rebounds for the Mavericks, whose hopes of moving up from the seventh seed are fading with an 0-2 start in the eight-game seeding round. Booker fouled out with 1:26 remaining, and the Mavericks pulled within two on a layup from Doncic. The Phoenix lead was still two in the final seconds when Kristaps Porzingis, who scored 30, barely grazed the front of the rim on a three-pointer. Dallas got another chance when a possession call was overturned on review with 3.3 seconds to go, but Tim Hardaway Jr.’s three-pointer was off the mark.