Ja Morant returned hungry, but one Jazz youngster turned Memphis’ big night into a bitter defeat

When it looked as if Memphis were climbing back toward the top of the West – especially with the return of their most emblematic player – reality hit hard. They had won seven of their previous nine games. What better moment to roll out the red carpet for Ja Morant, sidelined for 10 games with a right calf strain and absent throughout the team’s best stretch. It wasn’t enough. Memphis fell at the FedExForum, making the disappointment sharper as a home loss, against a confident Utah Jazz side whose resistance was fierce.

The explosive point guard – the No. 2 pick in his draft class six years ago – posted a double-double in his return: 21 points and 10 assists. The downside? His shooting efficiency (7-for-20) and four turnovers. Still, he looked eager and flashed some of his trademark brilliance. Morant logged just 25 minutes, a cautious plan devised by Tuomas Iisalo and the medical staff to avoid pushing him too hard too soon. Alongside him, Spain’s Santi Aldama once again stood out for the Grizzlies – and it’s starting to feel routine. Starting this time, the power forward scored 22 points, also ultimately wasted in a 130-126 defeat.

Memphis suffered a paralysis late in the third quarter that left them chasing the game in a tense final period, trailing on the scoreboard as Will Hardy’s Jazz grew in confidence. Despite still sitting two wins behind Memphis in the standings, Utah delivered a remarkable response to win there. Kevin Love, who scored 20 points and hit the three-pointer that opened the decisive gap, proved crucial in shaping the final outcome.

Keyonte George was, however, the standout of the night. He produced the best game of his NBA career so far. Along with eight assists and six rebounds, he poured in a huge 39 points – perfect from the line (10-for-10) and 12-for-20 on field goals. In the final minute, with the score tied at 126, he made a basket and then sank two free throws that tipped the balance.

The Jazz claimed their ninth win of the season thanks to one of their most promising young players and another who remains in the league despite an age and résumé that once seemed to leave no room at elite teams. In between stands Lauri Markkanen, perpetually the subject of trade speculation since his arrival, who was the other player to top 20 points on Friday night.

All of this seemed unlikely given the start of the game, when a fresh-legged, hungry Morant chased down George for a spectacular block from behind. How quickly things changed. Ja guided his team as best he could, clawing back what they lost in the first quarter during the second – with credit also due to Coward, Wells, Spencer and Aldama, who produced a couple of fine plays. Everything appeared on track until the end of the third, when the Grizzlies suffered a collapse they never truly recovered from: a 9-0 Jazz run to close the quarter, fueled by three Love three-pointers, and 42 points conceded in the period.

In a moment of madness, Morant tried to posterize Kevin Love – still hanging in there at 37 – in what would have broken the internet. He missed, and the attempt accidentally turned into a pass for Jock Landale to drain a three. Chaos basketball, with Love having the last laugh. Iisalo tried to rally Memphis by using two ball-handlers on the perimeter. A Wells three tied the game with 1:35 remaining, but George kept his nerve – something the Grizzlies could not match – and sealed it.

Other results from the day in the NBA:

• Warriors 120 - Timberwolves 127
• Mavericks 119 - Nets 111
• Wizards 126 - Cavaliers 130
• Hornets 126 - Bulls 129
• Pistons 142 - Hawks 115
• Sixers 115 - Pacers 105

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Memphis Grizzlies

Stats

8 Jaren Jackson Jr.
0 Jaylen Wells
7 Santi Aldama
23 Cedric Coward
12 Ja Morant
3 Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
31 Jock Landale
21 Jahmai Mashack
18 Olivier-Maxence Prosper
24 Cam Spencer
5 Vince Williams Jr.
45 GG Jackson II

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF	Val
8 Jaren Jackson Jr.	26	12	5	2	3	3	1	0	1	0/2	6/10	0/3	0	4	0
0 Jaylen Wells	32	19	5	1	4	1	2	1	0	5/5	4/9	2/4	0	2	0
7 Santi Aldama	35	22	7	1	6	2	0	1	1	2/4	4/7	4/8	0	3	0
23 Cedric Coward	29	17	12	3	9	6	1	0	0	1/1	5/7	2/4	0	4	0
12 Ja Morant	25	21	4	0	4	10	4	0	1	5/7	5/15	2/5	0	1	0
3 Kentavious Caldwell-Pope	22	7	2	0	2	5	1	2	0	0/0	2/5	1/5	0	0	0
31 Jock Landale	27	8	9	2	7	1	0	0	1	0/0	1/3	2/4	0	2	0
21 Jahmai Mashack	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
18 Olivier-Maxence Prosper	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
24 Cam Spencer	25	20	2	0	2	4	0	0	0	2/2	0/0	6/6	0	4	0
5 Vince Williams Jr.	15	0	3	0	3	0	1	0	1	0/0	0/2	0/2	0	1	0
45 GG Jackson II	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0

Utah Jazz

Stats

23 Lauri Markkanen
10 Svi Mykhailiuk
30 Jusuf Nurkić
19 Ace Bailey
3 Keyonte George
2 Kyle Anderson
13 Walter Clayton Jr.
8 Isaiah Collier
22 Kyle Filipowski
42 Kevin Love
28 Brice Sensabaugh
16 Elijah Harkless
0 Taylor Hendricks
17 John Tonje
34 Oscar Tshiebwe
5 Cody Williams

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF	Val
23 Lauri Markkanen	35	26	9	1	8	2	5	1	1	5/7	6/12	3/10	0	3	0
10 Svi Mykhailiuk	23	6	3	1	2	3	1	0	0	0/0	0/0	2/5	0	2	0
30 Jusuf Nurkić	27	13	17	5	12	7	1	1	1	1/3	6/7	0/2	0	2	0
19 Ace Bailey	31	8	4	1	3	0	1	0	2	0/0	4/9	0/3	0	2	0
3 Keyonte George	33	39	6	1	5	8	3	2	0	10/10	7/11	5/9	0	5	0
2 Kyle Anderson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
13 Walter Clayton Jr.	7	0	2	1	1	1	0	0	0	0/0	0/1	0/1	0	3	0
8 Isaiah Collier	23	5	2	0	2	8	2	0	0	1/5	2/5	0/1	0	1	0
22 Kyle Filipowski	18	2	4	0	4	1	0	0	0	0/0	1/4	0/1	0	1	0
42 Kevin Love	20	20	8	3	5	1	0	1	0	0/0	4/5	4/10	0	3	0
28 Brice Sensabaugh	17	11	3	1	2	2	0	1	0	0/0	1/3	3/5	0	1	0
16 Elijah Harkless	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
0 Taylor Hendricks	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
17 John Tonje	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
34 Oscar Tshiebwe	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
5 Cody Williams	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0