Oklahoma City Thunder overturn 29-point deficit to take a 3-0 series lead over Grizzlies after Ja Morant leaves game injured
Ja Morant was pictured on crutches after leaving the game.
By Matias Grez, CNN
(CNN) — The Oklahoma City Thunder fought back from a 29-point deficit in the second quarter to earn a 114-108 win over the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 3 and open up a 3-0 lead in their first-round series.
The Grizzlies’ capitulation was sparked by an injury to star guard Ja Morant, who suffered a hard fall after a foul by Oklahoma’s Luguentz Dort as he tried to finish a fast break.
Morant missed both of his free throws before immediately exiting the game with 3:14 remaining in the second and heading to the locker room. The Grizzlies later announced he had suffered a hip contusion.
The No. 2 pick in the 2019 NBA draft was later pictured on crutches when he returned to the Memphis bench.
Grizzlies interim head coach Tuomas Iisalo was unsure of Morant’s status for Game 4 on Saturday and said the guard is “going through further evaluations tomorrow (Friday).”
The Grizzlies extended their lead to 29 points on their next possession after Morant’s departure, but it was only downhill from there.
Oklahoma trailed by 26 points at halftime before going on to produce the biggest second-half comeback in NBA playoff history.
“I just thought out of halftime, we kind of reconnected to who we are,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault told reporters. “We were very out of character in the first half.”
Leading MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 31 points for the Thunder to go with four rebounds, eight assists, a steal and a block.
“They built a 29-point lead in a half, so we felt like all we had to do was build our own 29-point lead,” Gilgeous-Alexander said, per AP.
Jalen Williams, one of the breakout stars of this season, had 26 points, six rebounds, five assists a steal and a block, while Chet Holmgren scored 23 of his 24 points in the second half to help power the Thunder comeback.
“Mark changed the trajectory of the game,” Holmgren said about his coach, per ESPN. “Trusted me in calling a play for me to bomb one at the half after the s***storm I put up in the first half.
“Credit to him for that. Once I saw one go in, I felt good.”
Morant had 15 points and five assists in 15 minutes of action before his injury. In his absence, Scotty Pippin Jr. put up a team-high 28 points for the Grizzlies, while Jaren Jackson Jr. added 22.
Morant endured another injury-plagued regular season and managed to play in just 50 of his team’s 82 games.
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