Grizzlies beat Mavs 120-106, face Thunder next in playoffs

Post by: Omar Nasser

Photo : AP

Ja Morant played through a hurt ankle on Friday night to help the Memphis Grizzlies win 120-106 against the Dallas Mavericks. This win put the Grizzlies into the NBA playoffs. Morant scored 22 points and had 9 assists, showing no signs of his injury from earlier in the week. He got hurt in the Grizzlies' first play-in game against the Golden State Warriors but was ready to play on Friday.

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“The doctors gave me all the help I needed in the simplest terms,” Morant said after the game. “I wanted to be on the floor. I wanted to play this game and win.”

With this win, Memphis took the eighth seed in the Western Conference. The Grizzlies will now play the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in a best-of-seven series that starts on Sunday in Oklahoma City.

Jaren Jackson Jr. also played great, leading the team with 24 points. Desmond Bane scored 22 points. Zach Edey got 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Scotty Pippen Jr. added 13 points.

Dallas, led by Anthony Davis, had trouble starting the game. Davis scored 40 points and grabbed 9 rebounds, but the Mavericks never got the lead. Klay Thompson scored 18 points for Dallas, but it was not enough to beat the Grizzlies. Dallas had won against Sacramento before, but they didn't start strong in this game.

In the fourth quarter, Davis seemed to hurt his right calf and limped off the court. He came back briefly but didn’t finish the game. Afterward, he was sitting in the locker room with an ice pack on his leg and said the team had chances but lost in the end.

“We had our chances. It was a tough loss,” Davis said.

The Grizzlies started the game strong, going up by 25 points in the first half. But the Mavericks made a comeback in the third quarter, cutting the lead to single digits. Still, Memphis stayed in control and ended the third quarter with a 96-80 lead. Dallas could never come back after that.

This win sets up Memphis to play Oklahoma City in the first round of the playoffs. The Grizzlies lost all four games to the Thunder during the regular season, each by a lot. But Jackson said playoff games are different from regular-season games, so the Grizzlies will stay calm and focused.

“A series is a series,” Jackson said. “You’ve got to stay level-headed. Whether you win or lose a game, it doesn’t matter until it’s over.”

Dallas had a rough end to the season. They went 7-15 since March 1, and they lost some key players. After trading Luka Doncic for Davis, the team struggled. Also, Kyrie Irving had surgery on his left knee, which made things harder for the Mavericks.

Mavericks coach Jason Kidd talked about the tough season but said the players still deserve credit for making it to this point.

“It’s been an incredible season, but with all the changes and injuries, some would say we shouldn’t even be here,” Kidd said. “So give a lot of credit to the guys in that locker room.”

Now, the Grizzlies are looking forward to the playoffs and hope they can beat the Thunder, even though they lost all their games to them during the regular season.

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