Morant signs 49-point night against Rockets

HOUSTON– Ja Morant scored 49 points and hit five 3-pointers to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 129-122 victory over the Houston Rockets on Friday night.

Morant led the team on a night when Desmond Bane Y Tyus Jones They failed a lot. Bane shot just 3-for-16 for 14 points and Jones was 4-for-13 with 11 points.

The Rockets were leading by 16 in the first half before the Grizzlies had a big run to start the third quarter and take the lead.

a basket of Brandon Clark put Memphis up by two points before Garrison Mathews Y Jabari Smith Jr.. made back-to-back 3-pointers to put Houston up 108-104 with about nine minutes left.

Morant scored five points on a 10-0 run that gave Memphis a 118-110 lead with six minutes left.

Houston scored five points on a 3-pointer Eric Gordon to approach the five units with two minutes to go. But Morant made a jump shot a few seconds later to extend the lead to 125-118.

Jalen Green, the second pick in the 2021 draft, led the Rockets with 33 points. But he struggled after halftime and scored just 13 points in the second half. Alperen Sengun added 23 for the Rockets, who fell to 0-2 this season.

Morant had another big game after scoring 34 points in Game 1 to lead Memphis to a 115-112 overtime victory over the Knicks.

He made his first five 3-point attempts and didn’t miss until he took a shot late in the fourth quarter to avoid a shot clock violation.

Houston led by eight at halftime before the Grizzlies opened the second half on an 18-9 run and took an 80-79 lead with about eight minutes left in the third quarter.

Morant scored nine points in that span and Bane capped it off with a 3-pointer.

The Grizzlies stayed up by one a couple of minutes after a Morant dunk before Green hit a 3-pointer to put Houston up 87-85.

Houston trailed by 3 later in the third before scoring the last eight points of the fourth on a 3-point play from Tari Easonto take a 100-95 lead into the fourth.