Tyus Jones scored 22 points in Ja Morant’s starting spot, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane chipped in 21 apiece and the Memphis Grizzlies overcame the absence of their star to overpower the visiting Golden State Warriors 131-110 on Thursday night.

Playing for the third time since Morant left the team in the aftermath of a gun incident, the Grizzlies continued a year-long excellence on their home floor, beating Golden State for the first time in three tries this season.

Facing the Warriors at home after the first two meetings had been in San Francisco, the Grizzlies exploded for a 48-point first quarter en route to a 20-point lead. Memphis buried eight 3-pointers in the 12 minutes, with Jackson, Jones and Luke Kennard hitting two apiece.

Golden State rallied within four in the second period and five in the third, but in the end couldn’t overcome the hosts’ 53.8 percent shooting, 18 3-pointers in 40 tries and 42-32 edge on the boards.

Jones finished with a double-double for the Grizzlies, complementing his team-high point total with a game-high 11 assists and three steals. He has averaged 21.0 points and 8.7 assists In Morant’s three-game absence.

Jackson had a game-high nine rebounds to go with his 21 points.

Santi Aldama added 15 points, Dillon Brooks 14 and Xavier Tillman 10 with eight rebounds for Memphis, which ended a three-game losing streak and improved to 27-5 at home this season.

Making four of his eight 3-point attempts, Stephen Curry led all scorers with 29 points for Golden State, which completed a winless three-game trip. The Warriors have lost eight straight on the road dating back to Jan. 30 and fell to 7-26 away from home.

Curry and Kevon Looney shared team-high rebounding honors with seven apiece.

Jordan Poole scored 22 points, Draymond Green put up 16 points and a team-high seven assists, Klay Thompson scored 14 points and Ty Jerome 11 for the Warriors, who were missing Andrew Wiggins for the 10th consecutive game.

–Field Level Media

Los Angeles Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell is slated to return to the lineup against the visiting Toronto Raptors on Friday after missing six games due to a sprained right ankle.

Lakers coach Darvin Ham said on Thursday that Russell is “pretty much a full go,” while the team listed the 27-year-old veteran as probable. The game will be the first for Russell since he got hurt on Feb. 23.

Russell has played in just four games for the Lakers since being acquired from the Minnesota Timberwolves at the trade deadline. He indicated he won’t be hampered by the ankle against the Raptors.

“My style of play kind of allows me to not overload any injury like that when it comes to the ankle or knee or things like that because I don’t play that explosive,” Russell said. “So it kind of benefits me in that sense.”

Russell’s return will send Dennis Schroder back to a reserve role.

Russell is averaging 13.5 points and 5.0 assists since beginning for his second tour of duty with Los Angeles. The Lakers made him the No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 draft and he spent two seasons with them before playing for the Brooklyn Nets, the Golden State Warriors and Minnesota over the past five-plus seasons.

Russell averaged 17.9 points and 6.2 assists in 54 games with the Timberwolves this season before the trade. He has career averages of 17.7 points and 5.7 assists in 482 games (418 starts).

Russell’s return comes with the Lakers playing without LeBron James (foot) for at least two more weeks. The team also will be without center Mo Bamba for at least four weeks with a high left ankle sprain.

–Field Level Media

Kris Dunn scored 10 fourth-quarter points, Lauri Markkanen scored two of his game-high 31 points on a contested runner with 10.8 seconds remaining, and the Utah Jazz snapped a four-game skid with a 131-124 defeat of the host Orlando Magic on Thursday.

Markkanen’s big, late basket put a fitting exclamation point on Utah’s 64-50 advantage in the paint. The score extended Utah’s lead to two possessions at the end of what was a closely contested game throughout — though the Jazz led for much of the time.

Utah built its advantage to as many as 15 points in the third quarter before a 29-10 Orlando run gave the Magic a lead at 93-89 with 2:34 left in the period. Though Utah fought back to lead by three at the end of the quarter, the Magic’s efforts to whittle down the gap made for a tight fourth quarter in which the Jazz’s lead never exceeded nine points.

Dunn, who went scoreless in the first half, was key to holding Orlando at arm’s length in the fourth quarter. All of his made attempts in a 4-of-6 final period came in the paint.

Walker Kessler recorded a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds, five and two of which came on critical second-change opportunities down the stretch. The second, a successful and-one conversion, gave Utah a four-point lead with 35.3 seconds remaining.

Paolo Banchero split a pair of free throws on Orlando’s subsequent possession, giving the Jazz the space they needed to put away the win.

Simone Fontecchio scored 17 points for Utah, leading the Jazz to a 40-26 advantage in bench points.

Three Orlando starters scored at least 24 points: Franz Wagner with 24, Markelle Fultz with 25, and Banchero with 26.

Banchero also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds in the loss. Jalen Suggs led the Magic reserves with 17 points, but finished just 1-for-5 from 3-point range. The Magic shot 16 of 34 from deep as a team, led by Wagner’s 4 of 9 and Gary Harris scoring all 12 of his points on 4-of-8 shooting from deep.

–Field Level Media

Tyrese Haliburton followed his first 3-pointer of the game with a driving dunk on the ensuing possession to carry the Indiana Pacers to a 134-125 overtime victory over the visiting Houston Rockets on Thursday.

Haliburton scored 12 of his 29 points in the extra period. He added a career-high 19 assists and took over down the stretch after Myles Turner fouled out after posting 21 points and a season-high seven blocks for the Pacers.

Haliburton delivered a layup with 3:23 left in regulation that followed an Andrew Nembhard 3-pointer that gave the Pacers a 111-110 lead after the Rockets claimed their first lead with a 15-2 rally capped by a Jalen Green three-point play with 4:10 left.

Haliburton later sank two free throws that provided Indiana a 115-112 lead with 15 seconds left, but Rockets rookie Jabari Smith Jr. nailed a catch-and-shoot 3 with four seconds on the clock before Haliburton failed to get off a shot just prior to the buzzer, with that sequence forcing overtime. Smith finished with a career-high 30 points and added a dozen rebounds while Green scored 24 for Houston.

Jordan Nwora scored 18 off the Indiana bench, while Buddy Hield scored 17 points. Nembhard added 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting, T.J. McConnell scored 13 and Aaron Nesmith had 10 points and seven rebounds.

The Rockets amassed 82 points in the paint, surpassing 80 for the first time since 2014. Kenyon Martin Jr. chipped in 23 points for Houston. Alperen Sengun had 14 points and eight rebounds while Jae’Sean Tate added 13 and eight, respectively.

Indiana turned an 11-2 run midway through the first quarter into its first double-digit lead at 28-17, part of an extended surge that saw the Pacers push to a 17-point advantage on a McConnell corner 3 at the 3:19 mark at 34-17. Behind Turner (10 points) and Haliburton (seven assists), the Pacers shot 58.3 percent in the first period and drilled six 3-pointers to take a 38-27 lead into the second.

When Turner scored with 5:16 left in the first half, Indiana led 56-38. But the Rockets came roaring back with a 20-6 run that came courtesy of their aggressive defense and attacks on the rim as Martin produced a layup and two dunks during that stretch. The Pacers needed a driving layup from Haliburton, just his second field goal of the half, to secure a 64-58 halftime lead.

The Rockets remained close by converting 12 offensive rebounds into 19 second-chance points prior to the intermission. When they made their run in the fourth, their defense made an impact.

–Field Level Media

Kelly Oubre Jr. had 27 points and the Charlotte Hornets handed the host Detroit Pistons their 10th consecutive loss, 113-103, on Thursday night.

Terry Rozier filled the stat sheet with 21 points, nine assists, six rebounds, two blocks and two steals. P.J. Washington had 20 points, five rebounds and three blocks, while Dennis Smith Jr. added 14 points.

Nick Richards chipped in 13 points with 10 rebounds for Charlotte, which has won two straight after a three-game losing streak.

The Eastern Conference foes split their season series 2-2.

Cory Joseph’s 17 points off the bench led Detroit. James Wiseman supplied 16 points and 13 rebounds. Jaden Ivey had 16 points and six assists but also committed seven turnovers. Isaiah Livers added 13 points.

Oubre and Rozier had 13 points apiece as the Hornets led 59-50 at halftime. Wiseman led the Pistons with 10 points and eight rebounds.

Detroit committed eight first-quarter turnovers, compared to none by Charlotte, as the Hornets grabbed a 31-23 lead. Charlotte increased the advantage to 12 early in the second quarter. Detroit crept within a point with 1:24 left in the period but Charlotte scored the last eight points of the half, capped by a Rozier 3-pointer with 7.7 seconds left.

The Hornets scored 11 unanswered points early in the third to stretch the lead to 72-55. Washington scored the first five of those points and Rozier had four points and two assists during that stretch.

Detroit answered with an 8-0 spurt, then continued to chip away. A three-point play by Joseph cut Charlotte’s lead to 81-75.

Smith had six points and an assist in the last three minutes of the quarter, allowing the Hornets to carry a 93-83 lead into the fourth.

Charlotte then scored the first eight points of the final quarter, four from Washington, to stretch the advantage to 18 points.

Ivey made two free throws and a layup midway through the quarter to cut the Hornets’ lead to 106-96.

Oubre’s 3-pointer with 1:43 left gave the Hornets a 15-point lead and ended any hopes of a Detroit comeback.

–Field Level Media

The Denver Nuggets look to get back on the winning track and strengthen their stranglehold on first place in the Western Conference when they travel to San Antonio to play the struggling Spurs on Friday.

The Nuggets (46-20) head to the Alamo City after a 117-96 loss at home to Chicago on Wednesday that snapped a four-game winning streak. Nikola Jokic had 18 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists for Denver in the loss but hit just 7 of 16 shots, snapping a 51-game streak in which he made at least half of his attempts from the floor.

Aaron Gordon scored 17 points, with Michael Porter Jr. adding 12 and Jamal Murray posting 11. Denver’s 96 points was its second lowest output of the season.

“One game doesn’t mean we’re a bad team, but I think we have weaknesses like every team has weaknesses,” Jokic said.

Denver led by a point at the half before Chicago took charge early in the third quarter. The Nuggets climbed back to within five late in the third would never seriously challenge the rest of the way.

“Just no defense,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said afterward. “Nothing went right tonight. We didn’t play well.”

Denver, which entered Thursday seven games up on Sacramento and Memphis in the West standings, has won eight of its past 10 games. The Nuggets are a game and a half behind Milwaukee in the race for the best record in the league and can ill afford to lose to San Antonio.

The Nuggets captured the first two games of the season series with San Antonio, with both games in early November.

The Spurs return to play after a rare four-day break and on the heels of back-to-back losses to Houston, the latest a 142-110 setback on the road on Sunday. Keita Bates-Diop paced San Antonio with 17 points while Charles Bassey and Devonte’ Graham scored 14 apiece.

The Spurs were without injured starters Zach Collins (left ankle), Tre Jones (left foot) and Jeremy Sochan (right knee).

Defense was the culprit for San Antonio in Sunday’s loss as Houston shot 61.2 percent from the floor. The Spurs surrendered 74 points in the paint and 34 points in transition in dropping their 18th game in their past 20 outings.

“I feel like transition really killed us,” Bassey said afterward. “We (have) just got to learn to get back on transition. I think as a team we’re going to talk about it. Probably two guys go for an offensive rebound and the other three guys are just getting back or just one guy is going.”

Despite San Antonio’s historic swoon, it’s still a game better in the Western Conference standings than cellar-dwelling Houston heading into the final month of the regular season. As predicted before the season, the Spurs’ need to rebuild and a slew of injuries have all but guaranteed they will get one of the top three picks in the NBA Draft in June.

–Field Level Media

Seattle SuperSonics icon Shawn Kemp was released from jail on Thursday, one day after being arrested in connection with a shooting in a mall parking lot, Pierce County Jail records show.

Kemp, 53, was booked into the jail in Tacoma, Wash., on Wednesday evening on a felony charge.

A spokesperson for the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office told ESPN that no charges were immediately fired against Kemp and that he was released pending further investigation.

Scott Boatman, an attorney for Kemp, said Thursday that the former six-time All-Star expects to be exonerated of all charges.

“Late Tuesday evening, Shawn Kemp’s vehicle was broken into and numerous items were stolen, including an iPhone,” Boatman said in a statement. “On Thursday, Mr. Kemp tracked his iPhone to an occupied vehicle in a shopping mall parking lot in Tacoma.

“When Mr. Kemp approached the vehicle in an attempt to retrieve his stolen property, individuals inside the vehicle shot at Mr. Kemp, who then returned fire in self-defense. This was not a drive by shooting as previously reported and Mr. Kemp’s actions were reasonable and legally justified.”

Boatman said Kemp met with law enforcement at the scene. Nobody was injured.

Drafted by Seattle out of Trinity Valley Community College in Texas with the 17th overall pick in 1989, Kemp played the first eight of his 14 career NBA seasons for the SuperSonics. He was an All-Star six straight seasons from 1992-98 — the last of those with the Cleveland Cavaliers — and three times made the All-NBA second team.

Known for his ability to fly high above the rim and throw down thunderous dunks, Kemp averaged 14.6 points over his career (16.2 with Seattle). He also averaged 8.4 rebounds, 9.6 with the Sonics, and finished among the NBA’s top 10 rebounders on three occasions.

After playing in Seattle, Kemp spent three seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers, two with the Portland Trail Blazers and one with the Orlando Magic, in his final season in 2002-03.

–Field Level Media

The surging Cleveland Cavaliers will look for a two-game sweep of the host Miami Heat when the teams meet Friday for the second time in three nights.

On Wednesday, all five Cleveland starters scored in double-figures and the Cavaliers held off a late Miami rally in a 104-100 win in South Florida.

After 18 lead changes in the first half, Cleveland jumped to an early third-quarter lead, taking a 12-point lead before Miami came back in the fourth. Miami closed to within one with 2:44 to play but was never able to overtake the visitors.

“The grit and the resilience that we showed,” Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “It was an ugly fourth quarter for both teams. These are two really good defenses that put you in difficult situations, forced a ton of turnovers both ways, but I thought our guys did a great job of maintaining their poise.”

Darius Garland scored 25 points and Donovan Mitchell added 18 to lead the Cavaliers, who have won 11 of 15 since the beginning of February.

If Miami is going to gain a split in the two-game series, they must take better care of the ball. The Heat committed a season-high 24 turnovers, leading to 29 Cleveland points.

“It is extremely tough to win in this league when you have 24 turnovers,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. “You have to credit them. The last six weeks, they’ve really turned up that disruptiveness.”

Jimmy Butler led Miami with 28 points while Tyler Herro added 22 and big man Bam Adebayo chipped in with 17.

Cleveland’s Jarrett Allen posted a double-double with 15 points and 12 boards, going 7 of 10 from the floor, with two assists, a steal and a block. Allen also dominated the boards on Wednesday, holding Adebayo to just one rebound.

The Cavaliers have won three straight and four of five to remain within striking distance of the Philadelphia 76ers for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference.

“It’s where we want to be. We want to be in tight competition, we want to be playing against the best — finishing games the right way against the best,” Allen said. “I think a game like (Wednesday) is a big step forward to where we want to be heading into the postseason.”

Evan Mobley added 15 points, six rebounds, six assists and a pair of blocks.

Isaac Okoro scored 13 points, enjoying his best offensive night in over a month thanks to a 5 of 7 performance from the floor, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range.

Cleveland is playing the second of four straight on the road. The second half of its four-game road swing will also be a two-game set with one team, as they play Sunday and Tuesday in Charlotte.

The Heat are trying to hold off No. 8 Atlanta and catch the Brooklyn Nets for the sixth seed in the East, a spot that would qualify them automatically for the playoffs and avoid the play-in tournament round.

Miami is closing out a five-game homestand that began with a loss to the New York Knicks and continued with two wins over Atlanta before Wednesday’s loss to Cleveland.

–Field Level Media

On Friday, for the second time in as many games, the Washington Wizards host the Atlanta Hawks in a matchup with significant NBA play-in round implications.

Atlanta and Washington locked up on Wednesday in a showdown between teams currently sitting at eighth and 10th in the Eastern Conference standings. The No. 8 Hawks scored a 122-120 win over the Wizards, who are No. 10 entering Thursday’s play.

Atlanta went on a 6-1 run during the final 1:38 to break a 114-114 tie. The late-game cushion preserved the win in a game that the Hawks rallied from a 15-point third-quarter deficit.

Trae Young, the Hawks’ leading scorer on the season at 26.7 points per game, went for 28 in Wednesday’s win and added 10 assists.

“It’s obviously just one game, but I knew it was gonna work for me eventually,” Young told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Obviously, you’re playing really hard on one end and just trying to do the same on the other. So I’m glad my offensive game matched my defense tonight.”

At 11-of-14 from the floor, Young delivered his best shooting performance of the season and had his second consecutive game connecting on better than 50 percent of his attempts after seven straight outings in which he made less than 47 percent.

Wednesday’s victory improved Atlanta to .500 on the season and 1 1/2 games behind Miami for the top spot among the four play-in berths in the East. The Hawks opened a four-game road swing that concludes with Friday’s contest by playing the Heat twice in Miami — both Atlanta losses.

Young scored just eight points in the first of the two defeats against the Heat.

Washington now heads into Friday’s contest trailing the Hawks by two games and ninth-place Toronto by a half-game through Wednesday’s action. The Wizards split back-to-back contests with the Raptors last week but have lost three of four overall.

“It means double, almost,” said Kristaps Porzingis of playing Atlanta in back-to-back games. “We want to get the job done … but we didn’t. So we have to live with this and bounce back next game, at least even the series 1-1.”

Porzingis scored a career-high 43 points in Wednesday’s contest.

A win Friday would give Washington a 2-1 advantage in the season series with one more to play on April 5. The Wizards claimed a 119-116 victory in Atlanta on Feb. 28 without Porzingis in the lineup.

Bradley Beal went for 37 points in that one, the first of three games over the last six in which Beal posted at least 32 points.

Beal scored 24 points in Wednesday’s loss, while Kyle Kuzma added 25 points and 10 rebounds to complement Porzingis’ career-high night. No other Wizard scored more than Corey Kispert’s 10 points off the bench.

Atlanta, meanwhile, had six more players in double figures along with Young. Dejounte Murray scored 17 points, while John Collins knocked down 4 of 7 3-point attempts en route to 14 points.

Murray is averaging 21 points per game and is a week removed from posting a career-best 41 points in a win over Portland.

–Field Level Media