NEW YORK – – Ja Morant was barely able to stand, needing a wheelchair to remove him from the court after spraining his left ankle.
Having already lost their first two games, the Memphis Grizzlies had now lost the NBA Rookie of the Year and their best player.
“A moment like that can really test you, but our guys kept fighting,” Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins.
And Morant was there to watch them.
The Grizzlies won their first win of the season, beating the short-handed Brooklyn Nets 116-111 in Monday night’s overtime.
Morant was injured at the end of the first half when he jumped to block a shot from Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot and hit the Nets forward. Morant immediately jumped off the floor, then lay on the floor in pain before being taken to the back of the arena.
He returned to the bench in the second half with his foot in a boot, offering energy and support to take them into a tense finish.
“He is a team player. He loves his team, ”said teammate Dillon Brooks.
Morant watched Brandon Clarke score the green basket in a next shot, with 41 seconds to go before extra time before the Grizzlies set the goal with free throws.
Morant averaged 36 points in both defeats, setting a career record of 44 at the start of the season, but the Grizzlies found enough offense without him on Monday.
“Our group’s unbelievable display of resilience,” said Jenkins.
Kyle Anderson scored 28 points, the best of his career, and Brooks added 24 for the Grizzlies. Clarke had 16 points and Jonas Valanciunas finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds.
“We kind of knew that this was a game that we had to win anyway,” said Clarke.
Caris LeVert had 28 points and 11 assists for the Nets, who rested Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving while losing for the second night in a row. Brooklyn is also without Spencer Dinwiddie, who will have surgery to repair a partially broken right ACL he suffered on Sunday.
With the two stars returning this season with injuries, the Nets decided on Sunday night that they would rest Durant after he played a season record 36 minutes in the loss to Charlotte. They listed it on the injury report Monday morning. Irving was added a few hours later.
Players forced to take on bigger roles may have run out of gas in overtime when the Nets got five LeVert points, but nothing more, scoring 2 out of 10.
“At the start of the season, I think the boys are still getting used to a consecutive streak, let alone a consecutive overtime,” said Nets coach Steve Nash.
Neither team was ahead for more than seven in the second half, when there were 16 advantage changes, so it was no surprise when they needed another five minutes after LeVert lost a 3-point basket in the last possession.
TIP-INS
Grizzlies: Memphis started a three game trip. … Anderson’s previous career record came in the last game, when he scored 20 points against Atlanta.
Nets: Luwawu-Cabarrot scored 21 points, but only two after the break. … The Nets opened a six-game homestand, the longest since playing six consecutive games at the Barclays Center during the 2015-16 season.
SPENCER SURGERY
The Nets said Dinwiddie would have surgery scheduled for next week and more updates would be provided later. In an Instagram post, Dinwiddie recalled returning from a more serious knee injury in college seven months later. “Next question: will I lose my way to a (at) brooklynnets 2021 championship? My answer: as we saw before. Crazy things happened, ”he wrote.
BACK TO BROOKLYN
The Grizzlies were the last visiting team to win in Brooklyn – nine months ago. They crushed the Nets 118-79 on March 4, a week before the season was halted because of the coronavirus.
NEXT
Grizzlies: try to break a straight nine-game losing streak to Boston on Wednesday.
Nets: Play the first of two consecutive home games against Atlanta on Wednesday.
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