The Jazz Fought Off A 47-Point Night From Ja Morant To Even The Series 1-1

The Memphis Grizzlies were able to steal Game 1 in Utah, putting the top-seed in the West under some pressure coming into Game 2 as they looked to avoid matching the Clippers in losing two games at home to open the first round. The good news for Utah was they were getting Donovan Mitchell back from his ankle injury after he somewhat controversially got held out from Game 1, and he didn’t show any rust after a 17-game absence, leading the Jazz with 25 points on 8-of-19 shooting, including a 5-of-10 night from three.

Alongside a strong Mitchell performance, the Jazz had seven players in double figures, five of whom scored 16 or more. Mike Conley was terrific with 20 points and 14 assists, while Bojan Bogdanovic had 18 points and 6MOY Jordan Clarkson had 16 off the bench. Rudy Gobert was also massive in Game 2 after earning rightful ridicule in Game 1 for flopping while on the bench, putting up 21 points, 13 rebounds, and four blocks, including the highlight of the game in stuffing a Ja Morant dunk attempt.

That was one of the few stops the Jazz were able to get on Morant, who almost single-handedly kept the Jazz from running away from Memphis. That the Grizzlies were able to make it a six-point game going into the fourth quarter was nothing short of miraculous, and it was on the backs of an outrageous 47-point, 7-assist effort from Morant.

He did a bit of everything, going 15-of-26 from the field and 15-of-20 from the free throw line, a truly special performance to have the highest scoring game in Grizzlies franchise history. Morant sliced through the Utah defense, getting to the rim seemingly at will which is no small task against the Jazz, and he even exacted a bit of revenge on Gobert late getting by him for a dunk.

Unfortunately for Morant and the Grizzlies, they just couldn’t keep up with the Jazz’s much-improved shooting in Game 2, as Utah rained 19 threes on Memphis at a 48.7 percent clip — the Grizzlies, meanwhile, were just 8-of-23 from deep. That is likely going to be the story of the series, as Utah just has more firepower when Mitchell is on the court that Memphis, but the Grizzlies continue to show incredible heart in how they refuse to roll over no matter how big the deficit. It looked for all the world like it would be a blowout for the Jazz, but the Grizzlies and Morant wouldn’t have that be the case, keeping it to a 141-129 final.

The series now shifts back to Memphis where the Grizzlies will hope the Jazz cool off a touch from three and they can continue making life uncomfortable for Utah. The Jazz, on the other hand, looked far more confident offensively with Mitchell on the floor, and the amount of shooters and scorers they can throw at Memphis is going to make their upset bid incredibly difficult to pull off.