Morant scores 23, Grizzlies rout Nuggets
MEMPHIS, TENN. >> Ja Morant had 23 points and seven rebounds as the Memphis Grizzlies raced to an early lead and coasted to a 112-94 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night in a matchup of the Western Conference’s top teams.
Tyus Jones finished with 17 points, and Luke Kennard, Xavier Tillman and Dillon Brooks scored 12 apiece for Memphis, which trails Denver by six games in the conference race.
Nikola Jokic led the Nuggets with 15 points and 13 rebounds, and Jeff Green added 12 points. Kentavious Caldwell-pope and Christian Braun each scored 11 points as Denver’s four-game winning streak came to an end. Denver was hampered by a 40% shooting game. The Nuggets’ starters were 17 of 47 from the field in the game.
Denver’s 94 total points was a season low.
The matchup of the West leaders had Denver entering while playing well and Memphis struggling, dropping six of its last 10 games and losing its grip on the second spot as the Sacramento Kings rose to third.
For the first half, the roles were reversed. Memphis converted 56% of its shots and was 9 of 21 form outside the arc. Meanwhile, the Nuggets offense struggled, shooting 38% from the field and making only 3 of 16 3-pointers. Ten turnovers added to the Nuggets’ misery.
Memphis lead by as many as 29 points in the first half and led 66-42 at the break.
Memphis opened the second half with eight straight points, pushing the lead to 32 points. That catapulted the Grizzlies to a 94-62 advantage through three quarters. At that point, Memphis was still shooting better than 53%.
With Denver facing the second half of a back-toback Sunday, coach Michael Malone sat his starters in the fourth quarter.
KNICKS 128, PELICANS 106
Julius Randle scored 28 points to lead New York to a rout of the New Orleans Pelicans as the Knicks celebrated the golden anniversary of their 1972-73 NBA championship team.
HORNETS 108, HEAT 103
Gordon Hayward scored 21 points, rookie center Mark Williams posted career highs with 18 points and 20 rebounds and the surging Charlotte Hornets defeated the Miami Heat for their season-best fourth straight win.
Tyler Herro had 33 points on six 3-pointers as Miami lost its fourth straight.
PACERS 121, MAGIC 108
Myles Turner scored 24 points, Tyrese Haliburton had 15 points and 14 assists and Indiana ran away from Orlando in the second half.
Franz Wagner led Orlando with 21 points.
RAPTORS 95, PISTONS 91
Pascal Siakam had 29 points and eight rebounds and Toronto extended its win streak to four games with a win over Detroit.
Detroit’s Marvin Bagley III had a season-high 21 points and 18 rebounds.