Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 33 points and Ja Morant had 25 before injuring his right shoulder and the visiting Memphis Grizzlies defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 132-124 on Friday night.
Morant went to the locker room for good with 4:13 remaining in the third quarter after colliding with Pelicans center Daniel Theis. Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said postgame that the team “will get more evaluation in the next couple of days” regarding Morant’s status.
Desmond Bane tallied 18 points, Zach Edey had 14 and nine rebounds, Scotty Pippen Jr. added 13 points and Jaylen Wells scored 10 for the Grizzlies, who won for the eighth time in 10 games.
Trey Murphy III scored a season-high 35 points, CJ McCollum added 32 points and Dejounte Murray netted 15 for the Pelicans, who lost their ninth straight game and their 18th in their last 19. Theis had 11 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.
The Pelicans got within 11 points three times early in the third quarter before a 6-0 run gave the Grizzlies an 86-69 lead.
Murphy answered with a 3-pointer, but Edey and Jackson made two free throws each and Jackson added a three-point play to expand the lead to 93-72.
New Orleans made a 16-3 run to get within eight, but Memphis scored the final eight points of the period to take a 104-88 lead into the fourth.
The closest the Pelicans got after that was six points in the final seconds.
The Grizzlies scored the first six points of the game on their way to a 12-4 lead in less than three minutes. Murphy scored five points to help the Pelicans get within four before Jay Huff scored five during an 8-0 run that gave Memphis a 29-17 lead.
New Orleans scored the final six points to trim the lead to 32-25 at the end of the first quarter.
McCollum converted a three-point play to start the second-quarter scoring before Morant later made consecutive 3-pointers and Jackson followed with back-to-back treys to expand the lead to 48-32.
McCollum answered with a 3-pointer, Murphy added three 3-pointers and Theis converted a three-point play to pull New Orleans within 59-56.
From there, Bane made two 3-pointers and Pippen added another long ball as the Grizzlies finished with a 15-5 run that gave them a 74-61 halftime lead.
–Field Level Media
