Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 33 points, and Ja Morant added 25 before injuring his right shoulder as the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 132-124 on Friday night.
Morant left the game for good with 4:13 remaining in the third quarter after a collision with Pelicans center Daniel Theis. Desmond Bane contributed 18 points, Zach Edey added 14 points and nine rebounds, Scotty Pippen Jr. scored 13 points, and Jaylen Wells chipped in 10 for the Grizzlies, who have won eight of their last 10 games.
Trey Murphy III led the Pelicans with a season-high 35 points, CJ McCollum added 32, and Dejounte Murray scored 15. The Pelicans have now lost nine straight games and 18 of their last 19. Theis recorded 11 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists.
New Orleans cut Memphis’ lead to 11 points three times early in the third quarter before the Grizzlies went on a 6-0 run to extend their lead to 86-69.
Murphy responded with a 3-pointer, but Edey and Jackson each made two free throws, and Jackson added a three-point play to push the lead to 93-72.
The Pelicans made a 16-3 run to cut the deficit to eight, but Memphis finished the quarter strong, scoring the final eight points to take a 104-88 lead into the fourth.
The closest New Orleans got after that was six points in the final seconds.
The Grizzlies started strong, scoring the first six points of the game and quickly jumping to a 12-4 lead. Murphy scored five points to help the Pelicans close the gap to four before Jay Huff scored five points during an 8-0 run, giving Memphis a 29-17 lead.
New Orleans scored the last six points of the first quarter, trimming Memphis’ lead to 32-25.
McCollum started the second quarter with a three-point play, but Morant hit back-to-back 3-pointers, and Jackson followed with two more to extend Memphis’ lead to 48-32.
McCollum responded with a 3-pointer, Murphy added three more 3-pointers, and Theis completed a three-point play to bring New Orleans within 59-56.
Bane made two 3-pointers, and Pippen added one more as the Grizzlies closed the half with a 15-5 run to take a 74-61 lead.
