Ja Morant exploded for 47 points, tying his postseason high, and scored Memphis’ final 15 points as the Grizzlies evened their Western Conference semifinal series against the visiting Golden State Warriors at a game apiece with a 106-101 victory on Tuesday night.

In a game that featured the ejection of Grizzlies defensive ace Dillon Brooks and stitches to Warriors star Draymond Green’s face, Memphis avenged a 117-116 home loss in Game 1 as the best-of-seven travels to San Francisco for Games 3 and 4 on Saturday and Monday.

Morant’s late flurry began after Stephen Curry nailed a 3-pointer that gave third-seeded Golden State a 95-91 lead with 4:33 to go.

The young standout’s step-back 3-pointer with 2:28 remaining put the Grizzlies on top 98-97. After Curry countered with a layup, Morant dropped in a 7-foot floater to give Memphis the lead for good with 1:42 to go.

Golden State hung within 102-101 with 40.2 seconds remaining after Green dropped in a layup, but Morant countered with another floater with 30.7 seconds left to open a three-point advantage.

Following Klay Thompson’s traveling violation, Morant iced the win with two free throws with 13.2 seconds remaining. He equaled his point total in a loss to the Utah Jazz in the first round of last season’s playoffs.

Morant shot 5-for-12 on 3-pointers, helping the Grizzlies outscore Golden State 42-21 from beyond the arc.

He also added eight rebounds and eight assists, while Ziaire Williams chipped in 14 points, Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 12 before fouling out, and Brandon Clarke added 10.

Despite hitting just 3 of 11 3-point attempts, Curry led the Warriors with 27 points. Jordan Poole added 20, while Andrew Wiggins had 16 and Thompson, who went just 2-for-12 on treys, had 12.

Green finished with a game-high 10 rebounds to go with seven assists and six points. Curry also had nine rebounds while tying Morant with eight assists.

In a tight game from start to finish, the Grizzlies led 56-51 at halftime, but two early incidents were much more significant than the five-point difference.

Just 2:52 into the game, Brooks was ejected for a hard swipe at Gary Payton II’s head on a layup attempt. Brooks was slapped with a flagrant foul-2, which includes an automatic ejection, while Payton was lost for the rest of the game with a left elbow injury incurred on his hard fall.

Seconds later, Green took an inadvertent elbow to the right side of his face from Xavier Tillman, forcing him to leave the game and requiring stitches. He was able to return to start the second quarter.

Morant had 23 of his 47 points in the first half, during which the Warriors missed 15 of 19 from long range. The Grizzlies missed 13 of 20 treys.

–Field Level Media

Memphis’ Dillon Brooks was issued a flagrant foul 2 and ejected while Golden State’s Gary Payton II was injured in a rough start to Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals between the Warriors and the host Grizzlies on Tuesday night.

Brooks wound up and slugged Payton across the head on a layup attempt, incurring the ejection at 9:08 of the first quarter. Payton landed awkwardly on the play and left with a left-elbow injury.

Payton made 1 of 2 free throws but left for the locker room afterward. He was ruled out for the rest of the game after having X-rays. He scored one point in three minutes.

In addition, Warriors forward Draymond Green required stitches on his face after he was hit by an elbow. He returned to the court with a swollen eye to start the second quarter.

No foul was called on that play.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr called the plays “dirty” during an on-court interview with TNT.

Brooks went 0-for-3 from the field and had a steal before the ejection.

Behind 47 points from Ja Morant, the Grizzlies defeated the Warriors 106-101 to tie the series at one game apiece. Game 3 will be Saturday in San Francisco.

–Field Level Media

Jaylen Brown scored 30 points on 11-for-18 shooting, including 6 of 10 from beyond the arc, and the host Boston Celtics stormed to a 109-86 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night in Game 2 of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Jayson Tatum added 29 points and eight assists for the second-seeded Celtics, who avenged a 12-point loss two days earlier to even the series at 1-1. Grant Williams scored 21 off the bench.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee with 28 points but shot only 11 of 27 from the field, 1 of 4 from 3-point range and 5 of 9 from the free-throw line. Jrue Holiday scored 19 points and Bobby Portis and Pat Connaughton finished with 13 apiece.

The series will shift to Milwaukee for the next two games, starting with Game 3 on Saturday.

The Celtics connected on 20 of 43 (46.5 percent) of their 3-point attempts. By contrast, Milwaukee made only 3 of 18 (16.7 percent) from long distance.

The Bucks, who spent nearly the entire game trying to play catchup, trailed by 18 points early in the fourth quarter. But Milwaukee trimmed the deficit to 12 with 4:30 remaining after Antetokounmpo made two free throws following a foul by Al Horford.

Boston quickly squashed Milwaukee’s comeback attempt. Tatum made a 3-pointer to start a 13-4 run that put the Celtics on top by 21 points with 1:58 left.

Boston sprinted to a 65-40 lead by halftime. Brown led all scorers with 25 points at the break.

The Celtics wasted no time in grabbing a double-digit lead. They seized an 18-3 advantage in the first 6:08 behind a jump shot, two free throws and two 3-pointers by Brown, one 3-pointer apiece by Tatum and Grant Williams, and a jump shot by Horford.

Milwaukee fell behind 27-12 before cutting the deficit to 11 at the end of the first quarter.

The Celtics took command again in the second quarter. Tatum sank two free throws to give Boston a 49-29 lead with 4:38 left in the half, and Brown’s 3-pointer in the final minute increased the advantage to 25 points at the break.

–Field Level Media

Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson is playing a significant role in the Los Angeles Lakers’ coaching search, ESPN reported Tuesday.

The Lakers fired Frank Vogel on April 11 after three seasons.

Jackson, who was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007, coached the Lakers to five NBA titles in 11 seasons and won another six titles with the Chicago Bulls before that. Jackson also helped the Lakers land Vogel, per the report.

One candidate who interviewed with Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka during the previous coaching cycle, fellow Michigan man Juwan Howard, is reportedly interested in the job. Howard led the Wolverines to the Sweet 16 in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. Pelinka played at Michigan.

The Athletic reported that Toronto head coach Nick Nurse is also among Lakers’ targets to replace Vogel.

Milwaukee assistant Darvin Ham and former Warriors coach and ESPN analyst Mark Jackson have also been linked to the job.

–Field Level Media