Ja Morant scored 49 points and hit five 3-pointers to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 129-122 win over the Houston Rockets on Friday night.
Morant carried the team on a night when Desmond Bane and Tyus Jones were struggling. Bane made only 3 of 16 shots for 14 points and Jones was 4 for 13 with 11 points.
Morant had another great game after scoring 34 points in the opener to lead Memphis to a 115-112 win over the Knicks.
Ja Morant scored 49 points and hit five 3-pointers to lead Memphis Grizzlies to a 129-122 win
Morant had another great game on Friday night after scoring 34 points in the opener
The Rockets led 16 in the first half before the Grizzlies used a big run to start the third quarter and take the lead.
Jalen Green, the second pick in the 2021 draft, led the Rockets with 33 points. But he struggled after halftime, scoring just 13 points in the second half. Alperen Sengun added 23 points for the Rockets, who fell back to 0-2.
The Boston Celtics defeated the Miami Heat 111-104 in a rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference Finals, with Jayson Tatum scoring 29 points and Jaylen Brown 28 points.
Jayson Tatum scored 29 points as the Boston Celtics defeated the Miami Heat 111-104 on Friday night
The Celtics — whose most recent trip to Miami was a Game 7 win in that playoff series — beat Miami 42-24 from a 3-point range and improved to 2-0 under interim coach Joe Mazzulla.
Tyler Herro scored 25 points for Miami, which got 19 from Bam Adebayo, 18 from Jimmy Butler and 17 from Kyle Lowry.
Miami narrowed a 14-point deficit to five late, before the back-to-back paint baskets of Tatum and the Celtics would hold.
It is Miami’s first 0-2 start since 2007-08 – meaning it is the first in Erik Spoelstra’s 15-year career as a Heat coach. Miami was one of only two teams without a 0-2 start in the past 15 seasons; now Portland is the only team on that list.
While Kevin Durant broke a tie with a 3-pointer with 56 seconds left and had 27 points to help Brooklyn beat Toronto 109-105.
Durant’s 3 gave Brooklyn a 105-102 lead. Kyrie Irving led the Nets by 30 points.
Kevin Durant broke a three-pointer tie with 56 seconds left when he helped Brooklyn Nets win
Pascal Siakam led the Raptors with 37 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists. Fred VanVleet added 18 points and Scottie Barnes had 17.
VanVleet’s jumper with 38 seconds to go brought the Raptors within one. But Royce O’Neale’s three-pointer with 15 seconds to go completed the win.
Jalen Brunson scored 17 points in his first home game at Madison Square Garden, Immanuel Quickley came back from a rough opener with 20 points as New York defeated Detroit 130-106 for the first win of the season.
RJ Barrett, who also struggled with his shot in an overtime loss in Memphis in the season opener, recovered by 18 points. Obi Toppin scored 16 points and Julius Randle had 15.
Saddiq Bey scored 26 points for the Pistons, who defeated Orlando in their opener.
Jordan Clarkson scored 29 points on 7-for-12 shooting from a 3-point range to lead the Utah rally, while the Jazz outlasted former teammate Rudy Gobert and Minnesota 132-126 in overtime.
Durant’s 3 gave Brooklyn a 105-102 lead. Kyrie Irving (center) led the Nets by 30 points
Lauri Markkanen had 24 points and 13 rebounds and got slimmer in the lane to fall with 12 seconds left in extra period to put the Jazz ahead by four.
Mike Conley put the Jazz in the lead for good with a three-pointer with 1:01 left. Gobert had thwarted a dunk by fouling Conley with 34 seconds left, and he missed both free throws to finish with nine points and 23 rebounds.
Anthony Edwards scored 30 points for Minnesota. Karl-Anthony Towns had 27 points and D’Angelo Russell added 23 points, including the equalizer with 4.4 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Jonas Valanciunas had 30 points and 17 rebounds and New Orleans spoiled Charlotte’s home opener with a wire-to-wire 124-112 win.
Brandon Ingram added 28 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Pelicans and CJ McCollum had 21 points. Zion Williamson had a quiet night in his first game at the Spectrum Center since leading Duke to the 2019 ACC Championship, finishing with 16 points on 7-of-19 shots.
Bradley Beal’s lopsided bench shot with 7.4 seconds left took Washington past Chicago
The Pelicans opened Wednesday night with a 130-108 win over Brooklyn.
Terry Rozier flirted with a triple-double for the Hornets with 23 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds. Gordon Hayward had 26 points on 12-of-19 shooting and added seven assists.
Bradley Beal’s lopsided bench shot with 7.4 seconds left brought Washington 102-100 past Chicago in his first home game since the star guard signed his huge new contract.
Washington lost a 17-point lead in the third quarter in its home opener, but with a 100 draw and the shot clock ticking down, Beal’s shot fell off the glass and gave the Wizards the lead. After a time-out, DeMar DeRozan’s three-pointer was just wide for Chicago.
DeRozan had 32 points to lead all scorers, and the Bulls nearly won their second straight game to start the season without Zach LaVine. Instead, it was Washington that improved to 2-0. Kyle Kuzma scored 26 points and Beal added 19.
Josh Richardson scored 27 points as San Antonio survived a frantic last minute to win
Josh Richardson scored 27 points as San Antonio survived a frenetic last minute of the day, beating Indiana 137-134.
Tyrese Haliburton led Indiana with 27 points and 12 assists. Rookie Bennedict Mathurin scored 26 points and his attempt to force overtime with a 3-point shot at the buzzer was an air ball.
The Pacers have not led in any of their games this season after finishing with 10 consecutive defeats last season. Their last win came on March 20.
Trae Young overcame a scoreless first half to finish with 25 points and 13 assists, John Collins added 23 points and 13 rebounds as Atlanta defeated Orlando 108-98.
Dejounte Murray added 20 points and nine assists to help Atlanta improve to 2-0.
Steph Curry hit a game-high 34 points for Warriors, but Denver Nuggets came out on top
Cole Anthony, who missed Orlando’s season-opening loss to Detroit two nights ago due to illness, scored 17 of his 25 first-half points.
Later in the day, Nikola Jokic scored 26 points as part of a triple-double as the Denver Nuggets recovered from an opening game embarrassment with a 128-123 win over the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco.
Jokic also had game highlights with 12 rebounds and 10 assists, giving the Nuggets some measure of revenge against a Warriors team that knocked Denver out of the Western Conference playoffs in the first round last April.
Steph Curry put in 34 points for the Warriors, who had beaten the Los Angeles Lakers on Opening Night before being stunned three nights later with a 70-point nuggets in the first half.