The Memphis Grizzlies , with a very inspired Ja Morant who scored 41 points, beat the Spurs (110-118) in San Antonio on Wednesday in a game that, Even though they were down on the scoreboard for most of the game, the locals fought until the end.
The Spurs (18-31), in twelfth position in the Western Conference, received the sensation team of the season, the Grizzlies (33-17), in third position in the same table.
The hosts entered the event stimulated by an overwhelming victory against the Houston Rocket (104-134) the night before as visitors in which they beat, with 82 points, their season record for shooting from the paint.
But the Spurs were also weighed down by losing their last three straight against Memphis and their last two games at home.
The Spaniards were out of luck as neither Juancho Hernangómez for the Spurs nor Santi Aldama for the Grizzlies took the field.
The best of the game was Ja Morant, with 41 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals.
Jaren Jackson Jr. helped him in the victory with 22 points, 9 assists and 6 blocks; and Desmond Bane , who in his return after the coronavirus got 20 points, 3 steals, 3 assists and a steal.
The most outstanding of the Spurs was Dejounte Murray with his triple-double of 16 points, 10 steals, 11 assists and 2 steals.
GRIZZLIES HIT, SPURS ANSWER
Most of the first quarter was very even with New Zealand center Steven Adams imposing his presence under the rim and giving the Grizzlies the lead (14-20 with 4.01 on the clock).
The difference for the visitors increased thanks mainly to Bane, the top scorer in the first quarter (25-34) with 11 points.
No one from the Spurs stood out in that opening quarter, although the luckiest were Derrick White and Keldon Johnson with 6 points apiece.
Brandon Clarke and a Jaren Jackson Jr. who hung from the rim continued to drive the Grizzlies, who in the second quarter achieved their biggest lead until then (32-47 with 7:13 to rest).
But the pupils of Gregg Popovich did not give up andDevin Vassellnarrowed the difference in the light in what began to look like a comeback (48-55 with 3.27 to go) with the Spurs beginning to smell the Grizzlies’ neck.
The game had taken a 180 degree turn in a few minutes and the Spurs were also motivated to grit their teeth on defense.
the austrianJakob Poeltl, who had been slowly but steadily improving during the match, was issued a defensive foul for what seemed to many to be an extraordinary block on Bane.
In this way, the Grizzlies went ahead after the first half (58-61) thanks to an electric Morant who was everywhere (15 points, one rebound and 4 assists).
MORANT, ON FIRE
The third quarter continued the fierce fight, with the Grizzlies that seemed to escape at times but without the Spurs just giving up.
However, Morant combusted.
Assisted by De’Anthony Melton, the great point guard hit an “alley-oop” and dunked again two minutes later to end the third quarter with an advantage for the Memphis team (86-94).
At the start of the fourth quarter, the Grizzlies continued to defend their dominance of around 10 points and the Spurs trying to cut back.
A basket by Derrick White put the San Antonio team only 5 points down and seconds later Drew Eubank cut it even further (96-99 with 8.45 to go).
The Spurs showed signs of being whole and motivated despite having been behind for almost the entire match and another basket by Eubank tightened the scoreboard even more when there was still a lot of time left (100-101 with 6.57 to go).
The Grizzlies seemed nervous, but Morant insisted on giving everything to stop the Spurs.
With 4.52 left, Murray tied the fierce match (106-106), but Morant opened a gap from the free throw line to prevent the comeback.
Finally, a basket by Bane with 15 seconds left gave the Grizzlies the victory in a battle that the Spurs did not give up until the end.