Santi Aldama scored a career-high-tying 37 points, Jaren Jackson Jr. added 21 and GG Jackson scored 18 with nine boards to lead the visiting Memphis Grizzlies to a 137-128 victory Tuesday over the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City.
Aldama’s total included a career-best seven 3-pointers to go with seven assists and five rebounds. He was 13 of 21 from the field. Memphis also got a double-double of 11 points and a career-high 13 assists from Cam Spencer.
Memphis shot 55.7% overall and 42.2% from long range (19 of 45).
Kyle Filipowski led the Jazz with 25 points and 13 rebounds. Keyonte George contributed 24 points and Taylor Hendricks scored 21. Rookie Ace Bailey added 17 points for Utah, which lost its fourth straight.
Both teams were missing key players. Grizzlies All-Star guard Ja Morant sat out his fourth straight game with a left ankle sprain. Starting center Zach Edey has been out since Dec. 12 with a left ankle stress reaction.
The Jazz were without leading scorer Lauri Markkanen (27.8 points per game) because of a right groin injury and big man Jusuf Nurkic because of rest. Utah is 0-4 this season when Markkanen is sidelined.
Utah trailed by 15 in the first half, but rallied with a 21-4 run bridging the second and third quarters to grab a 71-69 lead in the opening minutes of the second half. Filipowski’s fastbreak dunk closed the run and gave the Jazz their first lead.
The Grizzlies withstood the charge and, behind Aldama, recovered to take a 109-101 lead into the final quarter. Aldama had 16 points in the third quarter, including three 3-pointers.
The Jazz made several runs in the final quarter but could get no closer than six on two occasions, the last coming with 48 seconds remaining following a tip-in by Bailey. Spencer followed with a driving layup for the Grizzlies and a free throw 20 seconds later to seal the win.
Memphis built a 65-50 lead midway through the second quarter, but was unable to maintain it. Utah closed on a 17-4 run to trim its deficit to 69-67 at the half.
Aldama had 17 points at the half. The Grizzlies shot 54.2% in the first half and had 25 assists on 26 made field goals.
–Field Level Media
