DILLON Brooks scored 31 and Ja Morant added 26 points to lead the No. 8 seed Memphis Grizzlies to a huge 112-109 road upset win over the No. 1 Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City on Sunday night in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.
The young Grizzlies fell behind by 14 points in the first half, rallied to jump ahead by 15 points early in the fourth quarter and then held on to win on the top-seeded team’s home court just two days after earning a spot in the playoffs. While Utah rested, the Grizzlies had to beat San Antonio and Golden State in the NBA’s new play-in tournament to qualify.
The Jazz were short-handed after All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell was ruled out of the game in the afternoon. Mitchell, who missed the last month of the regular season, had said on Sunday morning at shootaround that his sprained ankle was feeling better and that he was ready to play.
Former Grizzlies guard Mike Conley played well for the Jazz with 22 points and 11 assists, and Bojan Bogdanović lit up to score 29 points in the second half to lead Utah.
After finishing with the NBA’s best record at 52-20, however, the Jazz no longer own home court advantage in this round.
Rudy Gobert, the favorite to be named Defensive Player of the Year, had 11 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks, fouled out with over four minutes remaining, the Jazz made a strong push in the final portion of the game.
They were trailing 97-82 with 8:22 minutes left and, led by Bogdanović, got within one point at 110-109 after he hit a 3-pointer and then was fouled on purpose for two more points on the ensuing possession. Game 2 will be on Wednesday night in Salt Lake City. — Reuters