Ja Morant shrugged off a sprained right ankle to score 22 points and add nine assists, and the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Dallas Mavericks 120-106 on Friday night to advance to the NBA playoffs.
Memphis secured the Western Conference’s eighth seed and will open against top-seeded Oklahoma City in a best-of-seven series beginning Sunday on the Thunder‘s home court.
Morant did more than just play. He delivered a thrilling start that included a high-flying, one-handed slam of a dunk that had teammate Desmond Bane yelling “Showtime!” at him in celebration as Morant elevated so much his eyes were level with the rim.
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Morant was injured Tuesday night at Golden State in the Grizzlies’ play-in opener and was questionable to play Friday.
“I couldn’t feel it … so I was out there,” Morant said with a laugh.
Jaren Jackson Jr. led Memphis with 24 points, and Bane had 22.
Anthony Davis led Dallas with 40 points and nine rebounds. Klay Thompson had 18 points.
Davis limped off in the fourth quarter with what appeared to be a right calf injury. He returned briefly, but didn’t finish the game.
Memphis saw a 25-point first-half lead melting away in the third quarter as the Mavericks crafted a 27-12 run spanning halftime. That brought the Mavericks’ deficit to single digits midway through the third.
The Grizzlies stretched the lead back to 96-80 heading into the final quarter and Dallas never threatened the rest of the way.
The Mavericks closed the first half with eight straight points to cut it to 66-49.
Davis had 22 in the half, while Morant had 16 points for Memphis.
Dallas, which beat Sacramento 120-106 on Wednesday night to earn a spot against the Grizzlies, didn’t seem to have the same spark to start the game, never leading against Memphis.
Davis did his part to punch up the Dallas offensive attack, but Memphis countered with balanced scoring.
Zach Edey had 15 points and 11 rebounds for Memphis, and Scotty Pippen Jr. scored 13 points.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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