Jazz, Grizzlies are back for more after thrilling first meeting | WGN 720 Radio

After Saturday’s entertaining back-and-forth contest that wasn’t decided until the final buzzer, NBA schedulers may be feeling pretty good about the upcoming meeting between the Memphis Grizzlies and Utah Jazz.

Fresh off a wild 124-123 win, the surprise Jazz will host the Grizzlies for the second time in three nights on Monday in Salt Lake City.

Viewers can only hope it’s as fun to watch as the previous meeting, in which Lauri Markkanen and Kelly Olynyk each scored 23 points and hit a series of key shots late in the fourth quarter for a narrow victory.

“You have to give the Jazz credit,” Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said. “They beat us by 48 minutes.”

​​​​​​​Despite playing without Ja Morant, who was sidelined with an illness unrelated to COVID-19 and questionable on Monday, the Grizzlies had a chance to win after Markkanen dropped a pass in the final seconds when he didn’t have to throw since the shot clock was off.

Memphis got the ball with three seconds left, but couldn’t convert the game-winning field goal.

“When I missed it, I realized I just had to hang on to it,” Markkanen said.

Still, the Jazz survived and were able to win, thanks in part to Markkanen’s timely goal to keep Utah within striking distance of an 8-0 run in the final two minutes.

Utah trailed 120-116 with less than two minutes remaining when Olynyk made a layup and then hit a clutch 3-pointer, followed by Malik Beasley’s triple to take a 124-120 lead.

Dylan Brooks, one of two Memphis players to score at least 30 points, made things interesting with a 3-pointer that pulled the Grizzlies within one. But the Grizzlies were unable to capitalize on their late opportunity after Brooks grabbed the rebound off Markkanen’s missed layup attempt.

“Really proud of the boys. … Tough win against a good team,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “I am very pleased that they are staying the course. We had a messy ending. … Again, just really, really proud of our team for putting in the work.”

It was another impressive win for this new Jazz team, who also beat Denver and Minnesota en route to five wins in seven games. That’s despite Utah trading stars Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell in the offseason, as well as reliable shooter Bojan Bogdanovic and starter Royce O’Neal.

Jordan Clarkson added 21 points and Collin Sexton had 19 while starting in place of the rested Mike Conley.

Desmond Bain scored a game-high 32 points for Memphis, marking his third straight 30-point game. Brooks had 30 points and Tyus Jones had 23 points and 10 assists.

Memphis shot 56.8 percent, but Utah countered by shooting 51.7 percent.

“We’re playing well, sharing the ball, getting out and running,” Bane said. “But we’re going to have to guard better if we want to win like we want to (win).”

After that rematch, the Grizzlies wrap up a four-game road trip Wednesday in Portland, while the Jazz begin a three-game road trip in Dallas.

– Field level media