SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By Arnie Leshin
Well, the 2nd-seeded Memphis Grizzlies made certain of returning to Los Angeles with their All-Star Ja Morant showing the way in Wednesday night‘s 116-99 triumph in Memphis.
Yes, they now head back to the 6th-seeded Lakers court for game six and down 3-2 in this series of the National Basketball Association Western Conference first round, but Morant, as usual, has confidence.
“Well, let’s see,” he said after turning in 33 points and taking down 10 rebounds, “we haven’t won there this regular season or in this series, but I said it out there and I’ll say it again, we are going to be back for a game 7 in Tennessee in front of our great fans.”
Morant, who also handed out seven assists and came away with five steals, missed the Grizzlies game 6 a year ago in the Western semifinals, a series-ending loss to eventual champion Golden State.
This time he wasn’t the only scoring threat for Memphis as Desmond Bane had the game-high 33 points and also grabbed 10 boards. Then there was Jaren Jackson Jr., the NBA Defensive Player of the Year, adding 18 points and six steals for Memphis, which improved to 5-0 in game 5s played at home.
Aging but still playing last the superstar he is, Los Angeles’ 38-year-old LeBron James wound up with 15 points and 10 rebounds in 37 minutes, but sat for the tail end of the second half in his 270th playoff game.
His Lakers tried to rally with a 20-7 run in the fourth, but couldn’t get closer than 12 points, as the Grizzlies responded with eight straight points that had there fans chanting. They led by as much as 17 in the second quarter and 38-24 at halftime.
When James converted a pair of foul shots that pulled the Lakers within 75-74 with 4:36remaining in the third quarter, back came Memphis to end his night with a 26-2 run as Morant came away with a big finish that brought a 94-76 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Now the Grizzlies will have to prove they can win in Los Angeles to force the third game 7 in franchise history and first since 2014. They lost their lone contest out there in the regular season before dropping game 3 and 4, losing by six in overtime Monday night.
But they will have to contain the Lakers post Anthony Davis who scored his team-high 31 points and grabbed 19 boards, while Austin Reaves tallied 17, and James is James, still out there.
And it’s not the best of news for Memphis veteran center Steven Adams and reserve forward Brandon Clarke to be sidelined with injuries, and that’s why it was a big night for its guards Morant and Bane.
“That was impressive of them” Davis said, “and so we’ve got to step up and end this at home instead of returning to Memphis.”
In the other Western Conference match-up, Golden State won its initial road game against the surprising Sacramento Kings 123-116, to take a 3-2 lead in the series that now heads back to the Warriors’ court.
This was key for Golden State as it won only 11 games away from home in the regular season and lost the first two in Sacramento before making the big plays in the second half to turn back the Kings and extend their record to 28 consecutive playoff series with at least one road victory.
Sacramento, the Pacific Division champions and 3rd-seed, were behind by 12 early in the fourth quarter, but wouldn’t go away. It chipped away to make it a one-point game with just over four minutes to go, but Golden State came away with key points in the final minute to seal it up.
For the 5th-seeded Warriors, Stephen Curry scored 31 points and now gets to go home for game 6 and wrap up this series without going back to Sacramento. Will the reigning champions continue to reign supreme, we should see.
