Basketball is a game of runs. In a battle between two Western Conference playoff teams, the Memphis Grizzlies came up with a few more timely buckets and stops to secure a 122-118 victory over the Denver Nuggets. Despite a fourth consecutive triple-double from Nikola Jokić, Ja Morant’s 38-point outburst fueled a Grizzlies victory.
Each of Denver’s first three buckets came from beyond the arc, but Memphis was more than up to the occasion early on Friday night, as the game was tied at 15 after the first five minutes. The Grizzlies aggressively attacked the paint throughout the opening frame, which helped build a seven-point lead late in the quarter. 14 points the paint were supported by seven made 3-pointers for Memphis in the opening quarter, as Denver found itself down 37-28 after the first 12 minutes. Bryn Forbes didn’t take long to introduce himself to the Ball Arena crowd, as the new Nugget scored seven points in the first quarter.
Denver quickly got back into the game with an 8-0 run in the opening 90 seconds of the second frame. The Grizzlies were able to halt Denver’s momentum, using a 17-6 run to build a 12-point lead near the midway point of the quarter. Free throws were the name of the game in the first half, with the two teams combining for 33 attempts from the charity stripe by the halftime break. A late flurry to end the half cut the deficit down to five for the Nuggets at 68-63.
A quick 10-4 run from the Mile High squad gave Denver the lead again at 73-72. The Nuggets extended the lead to six with seven minutes remaining in the third quarter as effective ball movement fueled their offense. The two teams went back and forth in the ensuing minutes, with neither team gaining a significant edge in the quarter. Morant continued to dominate the game in the third frame and ultimately guided Memphis to a 98-92 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The Grizzlies quickly built the lead back up to 12 within the first two minutes of the final frame as Denver’s offense went cold. Unfortunately for the Nuggets, things didn’t get much better after the starters checked back in, as Memphis’ lead grew to 108-94 with eight minutes remaining. Although Denver was able to get within single digits at 110-101 at the midway point of the frame, Memphis continued to have a response for each comeback attempt. Despite back-to-back threes from Aaron Gordon to cut the deficit to four points with one minute remaining, Memphis knocked down its 11th 3-pointer of the night to put the game to bed.
Here are three takeaways from Friday’s loss.
No stopping Morant
It was clear early on in Friday’s contest that Ja Morant was ready to put on a show. The blossoming young star couldn’t be stopped all night, as his handles and athleticism allowed him to get inside the paint at will, which resulted in plenty of layups or kick-outs to open 3-point shooters.
Morant scored 23 in the first half and had 36 points by the end of the third quarter as Denver scrambled for any answers defensively. In the end, Morant finished with 38 points on 15-of-26 shooting from the field, six rebounds, and six assists.
Jokić did it all (like usual)
To no one’s surprise, the reigning MVP was in full control throughout Friday’s contest. After a relatively slow start to the game (Jokić had 10 points and five assists in the first half), the Serbian big man turned it up in the third quarter for the second straight game.
Jokić had a near triple-double (22 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists) after three quarters of action, and the Nuggets needed everything their All-Star big man could offer to remain in the game.
Jokić ultimately finished with 26 points, 12 assists, and 11 rebounds in his 40 minutes of action in Friday’s loss.
Second unit struggles hurt Denver
Bryn Forbes’ Nuggets debut didn’t go according to plan, from both an individual and team perspective. After knocking down two of his first three shots, the newest addition to the Mile High squad struggled in the ensuing three quarters and finished Friday’s contest with nine points on 4-of-13 shooting from the field.
Zeke Nnaji chipped in with eight points, but the two combined for all 15 of Denver’s second-unit points as Bones Hyland and Facundo Campazzo struggled to get it going Friday night.
Meanwhile, Memphis got timely contributions off the bench, led by 21 points and nine rebounds from De’Anthony Melton. The Grizzlies finished with a 35-15 advantage in bench points by the end of the night.
Denver is back in action Sunday against the Detroit Pistons (6 p.m. MT).