**Ja Morant scored the game’s final seven points and the Memphis Grizzlies rallied from an 11-point deficit and proceeded to beat the Dallas Mavericks, 122-111, Friday night before a sellout crowd of 20,010 at American Airlines Center.**
With the loss, the Mavs fell to 32-32 going into Sunday afternoon’s home game against the Phoenix Suns, while the Grizzlies padded their record to 39-24.
Brandon Williams came off the bench and poured in a career-high 31 points and added five rebounds and six assists in 34 minutes for the Mavs. Also, Naji Marshall collected career highs in points (29) and rebounds (17) for Dallas.
In addition, the Mavs got 15 points from Klay Thompson, 13 points and two steals from Kessler Edwards, and 10 points from Spencer Dinwiddie.
Morant led the Grizzlies with 31 points and eight assists, and TCU-ex Desmond Bane finished with 27 points, a career-high 16 rebounds, six assists and three steals. Also for Memphis, Brandon Clarke had 17 points and eight boards.
After Williams split a pair of free throws with 2:06 remaining in the game, the Mavs only trailed, 115-111. But Morant went on a rampage as he zipped to the rim for a layup, followed that up with a short jumper, then buried a three-pointer for the game’s final points with 29 seconds left.
“He was Ja,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “He got to the paint and finished.
“He took 29 shots. We tried to make it tough on him, but he made the ones that counted.”
The Mavs only dressed nine players due to injuries. The injured players who missed the game for Dallas include Kyrie Irving (torn left ACL), Anthony Davis (left adductor strain), Dereck Lively II (right ankle stress fracture), Daniel Gafford (right knee sprain), PJ Washington (right ankle sprain), Daniel Gafford (right knee sprain), Jaden Hardy (right ankle sprain), Olivier-Maxence Prosper (right wrist sprain) and Kai Jones (left quad strain).
Despite those absences, the Mavs showed a lot of grit and determination and actually led for the majority of the game. But in the end, Morant took over and showed why he is one of the best players in the world.
“We fought, we fought,” Kidd said. “The team played great. We might have ran out of a little gas there.
“We had some great looks. I thought Klay and Naji had great looks there at threes – they just didn’t fall for us. But the group fought and played hard.”
The Mavs were nursing a 49-38 lead late in the second quarter, only to see the Grizzlies end the quarter on a 12-4 run and trimming Dallas’ lead to 53-50 at the half.
Thanks to eight points, five rebounds and two assists from William — and six points from Dinwiddie — the Mavs hustled their way to a 31-22 lead after the first quarter. In the first quarter, the Mavs had eight assists and were 13-of-24 from the field, including 4-of-10 from beyond the three-point arc.
A key sequence occurred in the third quarter when Marshall drove down the lane, but missed a dunk when he landed the ball on the front of the rim. On the ensuing trip up the court, Williams stole the ball, then tossed it to Marshall, who finished that play with a dunk, which thrilled his teammates and the crowd.
Marshall, who said he missed the dunk because he was tired, then tossed in a three-pointer to put the Mavs ahead, 86-81.
A short time later, Caleb Martin snapped an 89-89 tie with a reserve layup. It was Martin’s first appearance since Jan. 10 when he was a member of the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Mavs acquired Martin in a trade last month when they shipped Quentin Grimes to the Sixers. But it was Martin’s first game with the Mavs as he was out nursing a right hip strain.
Dante Exum then banked in a 35-footer at the third-quarter buzzer as the Mavs toted a 94-89 lead into the final quarter. It was a quarter that saw the Grizzlies outscore the Mavs, 33-17.
**X: @DwainPrice**