Ja Morant #12 of the Memphis Grizzlies walks onto the court after a timeout during the game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on November 27, 2022 in New York City. Jamie Squire/Getty Images/AFP
Ja Morant had 33 points and 10 assists and the Memphis Grizzlies never trailed while dispatching the host Detroit Pistons 122-112 on Sunday night.
Morant’s 21 third-quarter points were a career high for a single quarter as the Grizzlies cruised to their fourth victory in their last five games.
Dillon Brooks had 22 points, five rebounds and five assists and Jaren Jackson Jr. also scored 22 points. Brandon Clarke supplied 14 points and 14 rebounds and John Konchar added 11 points and four steals.
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Saddiq Bey’s 24 points, seven assists and six rebounds off the bench led the Pistons, who have lost four of their last five. Bojan Bogdanovic contributed 18 points and Killian Hayes added 13. Hamidou Diallo and Jaden Ivey chipped in 10 points apiece.
Memphis rolled to a 40-26 lead in the first quarter, including an 11-0 run. A 17-5 Pistons run, which included six points from Bey, got Detroit back in the game and sliced the Grizzlies’ advantage to four points.
Brooks drained a 3-pointer with five minutes left in the half to give Memphis a 59-49 lead.
Morant set up Konchar for a 3-pointer in the closing seconds for a 69-57 halftime advantage. Brooks and Jackson combined for 34 points, while Bey led his club with 12 points.
Memphis opened the second half with an 11-5 spurt to extend its advantage to 18 points. Morant started it with a layup and finished it off with a dunk.
Detroit scored the next seven points and soon had a four-point play from Bogdanovic to make it 86-75.
Morant buried a long pull-up 3-pointer and made a layup in the final minute of the quarter as the Grizzlies carried a 101-83 lead into the fourth.
Alec Burks hit a 3-pointer two minutes into the quarter to cut Memphis’ advantage to 14 but the Grizzlies then reeled off eight unanswered points. Brooks made a pair of layups during that stretch.
The 22-point spread was the largest of the contest.