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Grizzlies star Ja Morant calls game with floater over Suns
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- Grizzlies star Ja Morant calls game with floater over Suns
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The post Grizzlies star Ja Morant calls game with floater over Suns appeared first on ClutchPoints .
On Wednesday night, the Memphis Grizzlies found themselves in a barnburner, with the plucky Phoenix Suns pushing Ja Morant and company to the brink. It looked like the Suns were going to take control of the game, what with Devin Booker nailing a triple to cut the Grizzlies ' lead to one and then Mark Williams giving them the lead with a wide-open dunk. But the Grizzlies managed to do whatever was necessary to grab the win — with Morant starring in the process.
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With around 17 seconds remaining, the Grizzlies forced a miss from Booker, setting up an opportunity for a potential game-winner. They did not take a timeout even though they had one remaining. Instead, they handed the ball over to Morant and let him go to work. With the Suns looking lost on defense in semi-transition, Santi Aldama found an open Morant, who took the ball to the hole and drilled an open floater right over the outstretched arms of Grayson Allen , giving them a 114-113 lead.
The Suns had no timeouts left, so they had to rush the ball up the court with around eight seconds remaining on the clock. They inbounded the ball to Williams, who pitched the ball to Booker. Booker then had a chance to win the game for the Suns, launching a heavily-contested three from above the break right over the smothering defense of Jaren Jackson Jr. Booker's shot ended up bouncing off the hoop — sealing a 114-113 win for Memphis.
Morant finished with 28 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists on the night while shooting 10-19 from the field and 3-8 from beyond the arc. The Grizzlies recorded their third win of the season in five tries, and this was the second time this year that they outlasted a team in crunch time.
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Grizzlies win back and forth affair against the Suns
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The Grizzlies and Suns were evenly matched all night long, and it seemed inevitable that this game would go down to the final shot. But it boiled down to which team had the better defense when it mattered the most, and the Suns could not come up with a defensive stop at the most crucial juncture of the game. Meanwhile, Jackson had Booker on lock, which was so important considering how Booker already had 32 points on the night.
This win marks the Grizzlies' sixth consecutive win over the Suns spanning the past three seasons. The next matchup between these two teams will come on the seventh of January.
Related: Ja Morant explains why he never wanted to be the face of the NBA
