The Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday made a stunning 29-point comeback after the Memphis Grizzlies lost star guard Ja Morant to a hip injury as the Thunder beat the Grizzlies 114-108 to reach the brink of an NBA Western Conference playoff sweep.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points, Jalen Williams added 26 and Chet Holmgren scored 23 of his 24 points in the second half to spark the second-largest NBA playoff victory fightback since 1997.
“It wasn’t pretty. They hit us first, but we did what we had to do and came away with a win,” Holmgren said. “It was a team mentality. Everybody was saying something when we went into that locker room. Then we came out and we cleaned it up.”
Photo: Petre Thomas, Imagn Images
Oklahoma City seized a 3-0 lead first round best-of-seven series with a chance to complete the sweep in Game 4 in Memphis, Tennessee, today.
Morant sustained a bruised left hip late in the second quarter when he drove to the hoop and leaped high into the Thunder’s Luguentz Dort and fell face-first onto the court, writhing in pain for several minutes and eventually leaving the game for good.
The Grizzlies took their largest lead at 69-40 seconds after Morant’s departure with 3 minutes, 15 seconds to play in the second quarter and Memphis led 77-51 at halftime, but Oklahoma City outscored the hosts 63-31 in the second half.
Photo: Rick Osentoski, Imagn Images
Memphis interim coach Tuomas Iisalo said the injury to Morant, the Grizzlies’ points and assist leader this season, sapped his team’s energy and ability to execute plays.
“I would say quite drastically from the result, not only the energy, but the execution,” Iisalo said.
“We did a great job fighting for 48 minutes, but against this team it’s not enough to fight. You also have to be able to execute,” he said.
Photo: AP
As for Morant, he added: “He’s going through further evaluations tomorrow and then we’ll know more.”
The only greater NBA playoff collapse in the past 25 years came in 2019, when the Los Angeles Clippers rallied from 31 points down to defeat the Golden State Warriors.
“Our response, in a game that doesn’t feel attainable in certain parts of it, was great,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.
The Morant injury play evoked memories of Golden State’s Jimmy Butler falling awkwardly on Wednesday, with an MRI on Thursday reportedly showing a deeply bruised gluteus muscle that left him uncertain for Game 3 against the Houston Rockets.
In Detroit, Michigan, the New York Knicks beat the Detroit Pistons 118-116. The Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns scored 31 points and Jalen Brunson added 30, including 12 in the fourth quarter, to give visiting New York a victory over Detroit in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.
Cade Cunningham and Tim Hardaway Jr. led Detroit with 24 points apiece, and Cunningham dished out a game-high 11 assists. Dennis Schroder scored 18 points for the Pistons. The loss extended a stinging futility run for the Pistons, who have not won a playoff series in 17 years and have not won a home playoff game since May 2008.
In Inglewood, California, the Clippers routed the visiting Denver Nuggets 117-83.
Kawhi Leonard recorded 21 points, 11 rebounds and six assists and Los Angeles took a 2-1 series lead with the convincing victory over Denver.
James Harden had 20 points — all in the first half — to go with nine assists and six rebounds, while Norman Powell also scored 20 for the fifth-seeded Clippers. Ivica Zubac registered 19 points and nine rebounds as Los Angeles won its second straight in the best-of-seven, first-round series.
Denver star Nikola Jokic recorded 23 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists for his 20th career postseason triple-double. Jamal Murray also scored 23 points and Aaron Gordon added 15 points and seven rebounds for the fourth-seeded Nuggets.
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
SSC Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after on Sunday being held to a goalless draw at Parma, while closest rivals Inter drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with SS Lazio. Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar. The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Shohei Ohtani on Thursday delivered his first two-homer game of the season and had six RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers poured it on with five long balls in a 19-2 victory over the visiting Athletics. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who left no doubt by taking a 13-2 lead following a seven-run third inning. Muncy and Kim Hye-seong each had three hits for Los Angeles. Dodgers right-hander Matt Sauer led off a bullpen game by allowing two runs in four innings. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski (1-1) finished with four scoreless innings after he