04/25/25 01:09:00
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04/25 01:07 CDT Thunder rally from 29 points down after Morant leaves with
injury, top Grizzlies for 3-0 series lead
Thunder rally from 29 points down after Morant leaves with injury, top
Grizzlies for 3-0 series lead
By CLAY BAILEY
Associated Press
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) --- Chet Holmgren scored all but one of his 24 points in
the second half and the Oklahoma City Thunder overcame a 29-point deficit after
Ja Morant left the game with a hip injury and beat the Memphis Grizzlies
114-108 on Thursday night for a 3-0 series lead.
Morant was hurt with just over three minutes left in the first half and Memphis
leading 67-40. The Grizzlies led by 26 at halftime.
The 29-point comeback was the second-largest in an NBA postseason game since
play-by-play data began being recorded in the 1996-97 season.
The only one bigger: A comeback from 31 points down by the Los Angeles Clippers
against Golden State on April 15, 2019.
The top-seeded Thunder, who won Game 1 131-80 in the fifth-biggest margin of
victory in NBA postseason history, didn't even have a lead in this one until
the fourth quarter. Now, they can close out the series Saturday.
"I just through out of halftime, we kind of reconnected to who we are. We were
very out of character in the first half," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points for Oklahoma City and Jalen Williams
added 26, splitting a pair of free throws with 1:20 left to give the Thunder
their first lead.
Scotty Pippen scored 28 points, two short of his career high, to lead Memphis.
Jaren Jackson Jr. added 22 points as Memphis saw its substantial lead evaporate
in the second half.
"Understanding leads," Williams said. "You're never too far ahead, and you're
never too far behind."
"They built a 29-point lead in a half, so we felt like all we had to do was
build our own 29-point lead," GIlgeous-Alexander said.
Morant went down hard under the basket with just over three minutes remaining
in the first half and was ruled out for the remainder of the game early in the
second half with a left hip contusion.
Memphis was on a fast break after a Thunder turnover. Pippen was driving to the
basket when he dropped the ball off to Morant at the rim. Luguentz Dort, who
was stumbling at the time, fell into Morant while he was in the air, sending
the Morant crashing to the floor. The play was reviewed for a flagrant foul,
but was ruled a common foul.
Morant had 15 points and five assists.
Memphis carried a 77-51 lead into the break. But the Thunder used a 36-18
scoring edge in the third quarter to claw back,
"I think it is very hard to describe to anyone who hasn't been in that
situation," Grizzlies interim coach Tuomas Iisalo said.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
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