by JA MORANT returned after having missed two games with a shoulder injury to score 31 points and lead Memphis’ grizzles to a 122-111 victory against the Dallas Mavericks. The victory has achieved a sequence of four consecutive defeats for the Grizzlies, who are in a battle of four teams for the head of the N ° 2 in the classification of the Western Conference.
Coming in Friday’s match, Memphis had lost eight of his last 11 games, abandoning the team in place No. 4 in the West at 38-24, just half a game in front of the Houston Rockets. Grizzlies have not won two consecutive games from a sequence of four consecutive victories from January 30 to February 5. These four victories were part of a section in which Memphis won 10 out of 11.
The next opponents of the Grizzlies include three of the worst NBA teams in the Pelicans of New Orleans (17-46), Phoenix Suns (29-33) and Utah Jazz (15-48). This could allow them to make victories together before a match with the best Cleveland NBA riders (52-10).
Desmond Bane added 27 points with 16 rebounds for Memphis, followed by 17 points and eight planks by Brandon Clarke. The recruit Zach Edey seized 10 offensive rebounds and 13 in total.
Morant fought with his outdoor shot, perhaps because of his shoulder, pulling 1 for 5 out of 3 points but collected eight assists. He joked Cassidy Hubbarth in ESPN during an post-match interview that he “obtained help” to play the injury, but he was “ready to go sit”.
Despite the loss of five of their last six and playing without key players like Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis due to injuries, the Mavericks fought and seemed that they could extend the Memphis defeats to five. Dallas finished the first quarter with an advance of 31-22 and maintained a three-point margin at halftime. Dante Exum struck a deep 3 points at the end of the third, which revealed that Fortune was on the side of the Mavs.
A victory would have helped the chances of the Mavericks qualifying series. Dallas entered Friday’s match at 32-31 with a 2.5-game advance on the Suns for the seeded and berth n ° 10 in the NBA game tournament. But the MAVs were upgraded 33-17 in the fourth quarter while Bane and Morant took control to close the match.
Brandon Williams led Dallas with 31 points on the bench. He is currently with MAVs on a two -way contract. Naji Marshall followed with 29 points and 17 rebounds, while Klay Thompson added 15.
Jason Kidd on the planning difficulty which will be option n ° 1 Given the current circumstances:
“There is no option n ° 1, it’s the team … We have no n ° 1 or n ° 2, we are not built like that for the moment. We are built on the team … Klay is one of the best, a future temple of fame, but … pic.twitter.com/a9zyjqedh6
– Noah weber (@ noahweber00) March 8, 2025
With Irving’s season over, Davis has always sidelined and Luka Dončić now playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, head coach Jason Kidd admitted after the match that finding a score option is a kind of gaming game every night.
“We have no n ° 1 or n ° 2, we are not built like that at the moment,” Kidd told journalists. “It will be a group effort every night, it will be someone different, and it can mean that we can be dangerous, because no one can load a person, and we must enjoy it.”
The next for Mavs is a Sunday morning with the Suns. Later in the evening, the Grizzlies visit the Pélicans.
