Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant, right, sits on the sideline after suffering an ankle injury during the Grizzlies’ game against Brooklyn on Monday in New York. Kathy Willens/Associated Press

NEW YORK — Ja Morant exited with a sprained ankle but the Memphis Grizzlies earned their first victory of the season without him, outlasting the short-handed Brooklyn Nets 116-111 in overtime Monday night.

The NBA Rookie of the Year was wheeled to the back of the arena late in the first half after hurting his left ankle when he leaped to block a shot by Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot and landed on the Nets forward’s foot. Morant rejoined his teammates on the bench in the second half with his foot in a walking boot.

He watched Brandon Clarke score the go-ahead basket on a follow shot with 41 seconds left in overtime before the Grizzlies put it away with free throws.

Kyle Anderson scored a career-high 28 points and Dillon Brooks added 24 for the Grizzlies, who had dropped their first two games. Clarke had 16 points and Jonas Valanciunas finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds.

HAWKS 128, PISTONS 120: Trae Young scored 29 points, Bogdan Bogdanovic added 17 and Atlanta won its home opener, beating Detroit.

John Collins finished with 15 points for the Hawks, who are 3-0 for the first time since 2016-17 and hit 20 3-pointers while shooting 47.6% beyond the arc. Young’s 3 from the right wing put Atlanta up 122-112 with 1:47 remaining before Jerami Grant’s 3 trimmed the lead to five with 1:05 left. Collins hit two free throws and Young sealed it with four free throws in the final minute.

Advertisement

JAZZ 110, THUNDER 109: Donovan Mitchell hit a go-ahead layup with 7 seconds left and finished with 20 points, lifting Utah over host Oklahoma City.

Bogan Bogdanovich scored 23 points and Mike Conley added 20 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for the Jazz, who ended a 17-game losing streak in regular season road games against the Thunder, including games in the NBA’s Orlando bubble last season. Utah’s last win in Oklahoma City came on Oct. 31, 2010.

NOTES

76ERS:  The NBA fined Philadelphia president of basketball operations Daryl Morey $50,000 on Monday for a since-deleted tweet about Houston’s James Harden that violated the league’s anti-tampering rule.

A tweet was posted to Morey’s account Dec. 20 in commemoration of the anniversary of another tweet he had sent commemorating Harden breaking Calvin Murphy’s record for most assists as a member of the Rockets. Morey was with the Rockets at that time.

The tweet from this year was deleted. Typically, teams are prohibited from discussing players under contract to other teams and the NBA has warned clubs that it can be considered tampering.

Advertisement

Harden has been mentioned in trade talks for several weeks.

A tweet by Morey in 2019 led to major problems for the NBA and its relationship with China. He posted support for anti-government protesters in Hong Kong. NBA games were not shown on CCTV, China’s state broadcaster, for one year after that since-deleted tweet.

NETS: Spencer Dinwiddie will have surgery to repair a partially torn ACL in his right knee, an early blow to a Brooklyn Nets team that hoped it had left its injury troubles behind.

Dinwiddie was hurt Sunday in Charlotte during the third quarter of the Nets’ first loss of the season. The Nets said Monday the guard’s surgery was scheduled for next week and further updates would be provided afterward.

Dinwiddie excelled in a reserve role for the the Nets in the past but had been in the starting lineup for the first three games under Steve Nash, averaging 6.7 points.

Though his numbers are down this season with more firepower around him, Dinwiddie remains valued for the numerous roles he has played on the Nets since arriving in 2016.

Copy the Story Link

Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.