Ja Morant racked up 21 points and 12 assists as the visiting Memphis Grizzlies were at their best in the final two quarters in a 129-115 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday.
The Grizzlies trailed by a dozen points at halftime but dominated the second half, outscoring San Antonio by 18 in the third quarter and pulling away in the fourth behind 14 points from Jaren Jackson Jr. and nine from Desmond Bane.
Jackson finished with 19 points and Bane added 21 points for Memphis. Santi Aldama amassed 20 points and 10 rebounds, Luke Kennard had 15 points and nine boards and Jay Huff tallied 11 points as the Grizzlies won for the second time in three games.
Rookie Stephon Castle led the Spurs with a season-high 26 points. Devin Vassell added 21 points, Keldon Johnson scored 17 off the bench and Victor Wembanyama posted 13 points with 12 rebounds and also blocked eight shots in the first half.
The Grizzlies led by as many as eight points in the first quarter and were up 23-18 after a running jumper by Aldama at the 3:31 mark. San Antonio countered with a 10-2 run, finding the front after Tre Jones’ 3-pointer with 52.5 seconds remaining in the period. The Spurs led 30-28 after 12 minutes of play.
San Antonio pushed its lead to eight points before the Grizzlies swung back and tied the game on Scotty Pippen Jr.’s dunk with 8:58 to play in the second quarter. The Spurs pushed their lead to nine points after a pair of free throws from Vassell with 51.8 seconds left and then rode a late 3-pointer from Vassell to carry a 63-51 lead to the break.
Vassell paced all scorers with 12 points before halftime while Johnson hit for 11 off the bench. Morant led the Grizzlies with 10 points in the first half.
Memphis opened the third quarter with a 12-2 spurt as Bane’s layup pared the Spurs’ lead to 65-63 two minutes into the period. The Grizzlies leapfrogged to an 85-82 lead after back-to-back 3-pointers by Kennard, the latter with 3:14 remaining in the third. Memphis led 94-88 heading into the final period.
The teams reconvene Friday in San Antonio.