Grizzlies win after trailing by 26
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Memphis Grizzlies have reclaimed home-court advantage in their NBA first-round series with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Grizzlies stormed back from a 26-point deficit to beat the Wolves, 104-95. Desmond Bane made seven 3-pointers and had 26 points, guiding Memphis to a 2-1 series lead. Brandon Clarke scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half for the Grizzlies, who also received a triple-double from Ja (jah) Morant. The All-Star finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
D’Angelo Russell had 22 points and eight assists for the Wolves, but Karl-Anthony Towns chipped in just eight points.
Game 4 is on Saturday night in Minneapolis.
The Mavericks are up 2-1 in their first-round series after Jalen Brunson scored 31 points in a 126-118 win over the Jazz. Spencer Dinwiddie scored 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter for Dallas, which has regained control of the series despite playing the three games without Luka Doncic (DAHN’-chihch).
The Mavs led just 103-102 until Dinwiddie and Brunson led a 10-2 run. Dinwiddie made two baskets and Brunson scored six points on three straight possessions to make it 113-104.
Donovan Mitchell scored 28 of his 32 points in the second half for Utah. Bojan (BOY’-ahn) Bogdanovic added 24 and Mike Conley had 21 for the Jazz, who will host Game 4 on Saturday.
The final game last night had the Warriors taking a three-games-to-none lead with a 118-113 victory at Denver. Klay Thompson made six 3-pointers on his way to 26 points for Golden State, which closed on a 9-2 run. Stephen Curry and Jordan Poole scored 27 points each to help the Warriors get in position to close out the series on Saturday.
The Nuggets lost despite Nikola Jokic (nih-KOH’-lah YOH’-kihch), who had 37 points and 18 boards.
Denver was in control for much of the second half but Golden State tightened up on defense after Jokic’s finger roll layup put the Nuggets ahead, 111-109 with 3:20 left.
NBA-NEWS
Middleton to miss at least 2 weeks
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton will miss at least two weeks with a sprained MCL after getting hurt in the fourth quarter of their Game 2 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday.
The defending NBA champs initially said after Wednesday’s game that they could be missing Middleton for a significant time.
The Bucks’ injury report for the game Friday doesn’t include forward Bobby Portis, an indication he should be available to play after missing most of Game 2 with a right eye abrasion.