Ja Morant, the leader of the Memphis Grizzlies, who had been away from the NBA courts for three weeks because of a painful right knee, finally played again on Saturday during the penultimate day of the regular season. He scored 21 points and delivered nine assists in 27 minutes, and the Grizzlies corrected the New Orleans Pelicans (141-114).
55 points in one quarter for Memphis
The Tennessee franchise was already guaranteed to finish second in the Western Conference, far behind the Phoenix Suns (eight wins between the two teams) and four wins ahead of the Golden State Warriors. The suspense was quickly folded against New Orleans. Author of a good start (30-18, 12th), Memphis had a 17-point lead at the break (64-47) and then scored 55 points in the third quarter (119-80, 36th).
Besides Morant, the Grizzlies were able to count on Dillon Brooks (23 points). Brandon Clarke, Ziaire Williams and Desmond Bane each played around 20 minutes, but scored 20, 19 and 18 points respectively. Yves Pons, the French rear of Memphis, had a playing time of eight minutes. He did not score a point (0/3 to shoot), but took two rebounds and managed a counter.
Golden State and the Clippers victorious
Three other matches were scheduled for Saturday. Early in the evening, the Philadelphia Sixers dominated the Indiana Pacers (133-120) and can still hope to finish third in the Eastern Conference (in the fight with Milwaukee and Boston). The Golden State Warriors won at the San Antonio Spurs (100-94), with 18 points from Jordan Poole and Jonathan Kuminga. They are third in the Western Conference and will keep that rank if they win at New Orleans on Sunday for their last regular season game.
Finally the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Sacramento Kings (117-98), carried by Paul George (23 points) and Norman Powell (20 pts). Nicolas Batum scored five points, took as many rebounds, delivered three assists and managed two interceptions in 26 minutes spent on the floor. The Clippers are already guaranteed to finish eighth in the Western Conference and challenge Minnesota in the play-in.