SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Lauri Markkanen and Kelly Olynyk each scored 23 points, including a pair of late 3-pointers, to lift the Utah Jazz to a 124-123 win over the Memphis Grizzlies, who were playing without Ja Morant.
On their final possession, the Jazz were leading 124-123 and nearly lost the ball twice but it bounced to Markkanen near the basket and he missed a contested layup.
“When I missed that, I realized I should have just held onto it,” Markkanen said since the shot clock was off.
Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins was disappointed that it even came to that last-second play.
“You got to give the Jazz credit. They outcompeted us for 48 minutes,” Jenkins said.
Jordan Clarkson scored 21 points and Colin Sexton had 19 points in his first start of the season for Utah (5-2).
Both teams shot better than 50% and the final minutes saw big baskets back and forth, one after another.
“We’re playing well, sharing the ball, getting out and running. But we’re going to have to guard better if we want to win like we want to (win),” Bane said.
After Bane pushed the Memphis lead to 118-113, Markkannen hit a 3, Olynyk made a layup and a 3, and then Beasley sank a three-pointer that brought the entire bench across the court to mob him.
Bane had 32 points and Dillon Brooks had 30 points in his third game of the season to help make up for Morant’s 32.6 scoring average. He missed the game with a non-COVID illness.