LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Ja Morant scored the go ahead basket with 22 seconds left in the fourth quarter to lift the Memphis Grizzlies to a 110-106 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday.
Morant scored six of his 26 points in the final minute as the Grizzlies won their six straight game in front of a crowd of 18,100 at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
“I don’t fear nobody,” said Morant. “If you are 7-foot-7 I don’t care, I am coming straight at you.”
Morant hit a short jump shot to give the Grizzlies a 106-104 lead, then stole the ball from Cavs Brandon Goodwin for another score with 22 seconds remaining.
Morant then sealed the win by hitting a pair of free throws as the Grizzlies won for the 10th time in the last 11 games on the road.
The Grizzlies were coming off a 118-104 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday.
“We came in knowing we had back-to-back games. We just had to lock in defensively and find a way. We came up with some key stops at the end of the game to get the win.”
Morant also added six assists, but his franchise-record run of 30-point games was halted at five.
Darius Garland had 27 points and 10 assists in his return to Cleveland’s lineup after missing four games due to Covid-19 measures.
Jaren Jackson scored 22 points and Desmond Bane had 11 points and a career-best seven assists for Memphis.
In Toronto, Fred VanVleet scored 24 of his 33 points in the first half as the Toronto Raptors won their third straight game with a 129-104 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.
VanVleet also had seven assists and was seven of 14 in three-point attempts at Scotiabank Arena.
Van Vleet has scored at least 30 points in the past three games as the Raptors improved to 17-17 to reach .500 on the season.
Pascal Siakam added 18 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, Gary Trent tallied 21 points, OG Anunoby and Justin Champagnie each scored 14 points in the win.
Scottie Barnes had 11 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, and Precious Achiuwa had 10 points.
© Agence France-Presse
