LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida – Dillon Brooks scored 22 points, and the Memphis Grizzlies scored their first win since the restart with a 121-92 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday.
Jonas Valanciunas had 19 points and 11 rebounds and Ja Morant had 19 points and nine assists for the Grizzlies.
Memphis lost its first four reboot games and would have fallen in a draw with Portland for eighth place in the Western Conference rankings with one defeat.
“Overall, we have never doubted ourselves, doubted what we can achieve as a team,” said Morant. “But how, we were all very confident in our team and we feel like tonight, we went out and played freely and we were able to come out with a win.”
Chris Paul scored 17 points and Luguentz Dort added 16 for the Thunder. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City’s top scorer this season, finished with 10 points out of 3 out of 13 shots.
The Thunder looked nothing like the team that overtook the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday. Oklahoma City missed an opportunity to enter a draw with the Houston Rockets for fourth place in the West.
Oklahoma City led 18 in the first quarter, but the Grizzlies bounced back to take the lead in the second. The Thunder scored 7 of 13 from 3 points in the first quarter, but 6 of 30 the rest.
“I thought it was a little gold for the fools in the first quarter,” said Thunder manager Billy Donovan.
Memphis was leading by nine in the closing seconds of the first half. Danilo Gallinari scored a 3 for the Thunder with 4.6 seconds left, then Paul made a steal and hit a corner 3 to cut the Grizzlies’ 63-60 first-half lead.
The Grizzlies overtook the Thunder 32-18 in the third quarter to climb 95-78 at the end of the period.
“They started making shots,” Paul said. “We never really made them feel the whole game. They were so comfortable. They took a little bit of everything. They took the floaters, they got the three, they got to the free throw line. Our defense today it was bad. “.
TIP-INS
Thunder: C Steven Adams was out with a left leg injury. … He only made one turnover in the first quarter and finished with 10. … Dort scored 11 points in the first quarter. … F / C Mike Muscala is in concussion protocol and hasn’t played.
Grizzlies: Valanciunas suffered a technical foul in the second quarter. … Brooks received a Flagrant 1 in the second quarter after checking Dort’s body. … You passed the Thunder 18-11 from the free throw line.
STATISTICAL LINES
The Thunder came in second in defense scoring with 100.3 points per game since the restart, but the Grizzlies shot 55%.
BIRTHDAY BLUES
Morant missed his daughter Kaari’s first birthday party. He bore his name on his shoes.
“This morning I woke up, I was not in a good mood,” Morant said. “I talked to my parents, I told them it was probably one of the hardest days of my life not being able to be at my daughter’s first birthday party. It’s a little hard but I think … today is It was a win. So I hope she is grateful for that and for all the gifts she received at home. “
REINFORCEMENT
Anthony Tolliver joined the Memphis starting lineup as a forward for Jaren Jackson Jr., who is out for the season due to a knee injury he sustained on Monday. Tolliver finished with eight points and five rebounds in just under 26 minutes.
“The AT brought so much juice to the line-up,” said Grizzlies manager Taylor Jenkins. “I just felt it was time to change just to look different out there. It also helped our bench. I thought we got a great production off our bench.”
NEXT
Thunder: Play Washington Wizards on Sunday.
Grizzlies: Play for the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.
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