Thunder storm back, stop crippled Grizzlies

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Oklahoma City made a stunning 29-point comeback after Memphis lost star guard Ja Morant to a hip injury as the Thunder beat the Grizzlies, 114-108, on Thursday to reach the brink of a 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 National Basketball Association (NBA) playoff victory fightback since 1997.

Other playoff results Thursday saw New York win, 118-116, at Detroit and the Clippers rout visiting Denver, 117-83.

“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.”

Oklahoma City seized a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference first round best-of-seven series with a chance to complete the sweep in game four at Memphis on Saturday.

Morant suffered a bruised left hip late in the second quarter when he drove to the hoop and leapt 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 3:15 to play in the second quarter and Memphis led 77-51 at half-time, but Oklahoma City outscored the hosts 63-31 in the second half.

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.