Ja Morant, Steven Adams post big numbers to power Memphis Grizzlies past Sacramento Kings
The Kings still had a chance to win with just under three minutes remaining against the Memphis Grizzlies, but Ja Morant and Steven Adams made sure that didn’t happen.
Morant had 35 points, eight rebounds and five assists to lead the Grizzlies to a 118-108 victory over the Kings in a New Year’s Day affair Sunday at FedExForum.
Tyus Jones came off the bench to score 18 points for the Grizzlies (23-13), who are second in the Western Conference, just a half-game behind the Denver Nuggets.
No one made a bigger impact than Adams, a 6-foot-11, 265-pound behemoth who had 11 points, a career-high-tying 23 rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots. Adams grabbed a career-high 13 offensive rebounds for Memphis, giving the Grizzlies second- and third-chance scoring opportunities throughout the game.
“He’s a load down there,” Kings coach Mike Brown said. “He’s a grown man, and I felt there were too many times when we didn’t gang rebound. Not many people in the league — I can’t even think of anybody right now — can box him out one-on-one. So, you have to have a guy in front of him, and you have to have a guy behind him to gang rebound and try to keep them off the glass and hope your teammates come up with the ball. Again, I thought too many times we didn’t go box out our guy, nor did we go try to help Domas (Domantas Sabonis) with Steven Adams, and he came up with big rebounds for them.”
De’Aaron Fox had 19 points and six assists for the Kings (19-16), who will visit the Utah Jazz on Tuesday before returning to Sacramento for a five-game homestand.
Sabonis, playing with an avulsion fracture in his right thumb, posted 18 points, 14 rebounds and four assists. Sabonis recorded his 13th consecutive double-double, becoming just the third player in franchise history with a 13-game double-double streak. He moved ahead of two-time reigning MVP Nikola Jokic for the league lead with 26 double-doubles on the season.
Sacramento and Memphis met for the third time this season. The Grizzlies beat the Kings 125-110 on Oct. 27 in Sacramento. The Kings beat the Grizzlies 113-109 on Nov. 22 in Memphis.
“This team is playing extremely well this year,” Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said when asked about the Kings before the game. “We faced them something like the fourth or fifth game this season. They have just progressively gotten better. They found an identity on offense. They play great team basketball. Guys are playing their roles extremely well. They play well with each other. (League) leader in assists, transition paint points, free throws — that’s why they are a top offense in the league.”
Malik Monk came off the bench to score 18 points, Harrison Barnes added 16 and Kevin Huerter had 14, but the Kings shot just 40.6% and went 15 of 43 (.349) from 3-point range. The Grizzlies outrebounded the Kings 57-47. They had a 64-44 advantage on points in the paint and a 24-7 advantage in points off turnovers.
Both teams struggled to find their rhythm early with the Kings going 3 of 12 to start the game and the Grizzlies going 1 of 7. Sabonis had four points and three rebounds in the first 2:11, but he went to the bench after picking up his second foul less than four minutes into the opening period.
The Kings trailed 27-26 after shooting 28.1% in the first quarter. Sacramento’s shooting woes continued into the second quarter as a string of 14 consecutive missed field goals allowed Memphis to open up a 34-26 lead. The Kings staged a 9-0 run to go up 35-34, but they trailed 59-58 at the break.
The Kings went up 79-74 on a 3-pointer by Keegan Murray midway through the third quarter, but they missed their next nine shots, going scoreless for 4:47. The Grizzlies took advantage, staging a 12-0 run to take an 86-79 lead.
Memphis carried a 91-86 lead into the fourth quarter. The Grizzlies went up by 13 on an emphatic putback dunk by Adams. They took their largest lead of the game when Morant hit a floater to put them up 111-97 with 4:41 remaining. The Kings made one last charge, mounting a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to seven on a 3-pointer by Huerter, but the ensuing possession was a backbreaker.
Morant missed a shot, but Adams grabbed an offensive rebound. Dillon Brooks then missed a 3-pointer, but Adams grabbed another offensive rebound. Morant then missed again, but, again, Adams grabbed an offensive rebound. Finally, on their fourth try, the Grizzlies scored on a floater by Morant to go up 115-106 with 1:54 to play, dashing Sacramento’s comeback hopes.
Morant went 13 of 23 from the field and got to the free-throw line 10 times.
“Yeah, I’ll take responsibility for that because we probably should have turned up the heat on Ja a little bit more,” Brown said. “Domantas is in a tough spot because he’s not really stopping the ball because he’s worried about going back to Steven Adams to keep them off the glass. But on the backside, we should have somebody there early, meeting Steven Adams rolling.
“So, five guys are on a string, and because of Steven’s offensive rebounding ability, we didn’t do a good job with our team defense and the pick-and-roll situation. We should have changed our coverage sooner to try to impact the ball a little bit better with Ja so it wouldn’t get to the floater.”
Jenkins tried to explain what makes Adams, who had 21 rebounds in Saturday’s win over the New Orleans Pelicans, the best offensive rebounder in the NBA.
“He’s amazing,” Jenkins said. “Back-to-back games, 20-plus rebounds. ... He’s amazing. He’s special in that department. You have to ask him, and he’ll probably give you a good, funny answer, but he’s just got an IQ in that department. He’s got tricks. He’s been a master at that for so many years. He’s found ways to get better.”
This story was originally published January 1, 2023 at 7:56 PM.
