Jaren Jackson Jr.’s 21 points led seven Memphis scorers in double figures and his four blocked shots contributed to a stifling defensive effort as the Grizzlies cruised to their ninth win in their last 10 games with a 140-112 rout of the host Washington Wizards on Sunday in Washington, D.C.
Memphis, playing without Ja Morant — who was a late scratch from the lineup with back soreness — showed no hangover one night removed from a hotly contested win on Saturday at Boston. The Grizzlies jumped out to a double-digit-point lead in the first quarter and never looked back against the Wizards, picking up their third straight win.
Memphis successfully pushed the tempo, scoring 18 fast-break points to Washington’s eight. The Grizzlies capitalized on opportunities, both from forcing 21 Wizards turnovers and from holding the hosts to just 43-of-100 shooting from the floor, including a 6-for-32 effort from 3-point range.
Washington, coming in off a Saturday win over Denver that snapped the Wizards’ franchise record-tying 16-game losing streak, briefly pulled to within single digits early in the third quarter during a mini run ignited by Jordan Poole’s first points of the game.
Coming off a 39-point performance on Saturday in which he hit a career-high nine 3-pointers, Poole went scoreless in the first half en route to nine points overall. His first basket came at the 9:50 mark of the third quarter, part of a 6-0 Wizards run that cut the deficit to nine points.
Memphis responded with a 16-0 eruption to blow the game open.
Scotty Pippen Jr. capped the run with a pair of assists to Brandon Clarke and Santi Aldama — two of Pippen’s 12 assists for the game. Pippen added 14 points for his fifth double-double of the season.
Aldama’s 19 points led a 76-point effort from the Memphis bench, more than half of the Grizzlies’ output in their second-highest game of the season. That production also included 17 points from Jay Huff and 14 from Cam Spencer, with Spencer also registering five assists and four rebounds.
Washington’s reserves managed just 41 points despite 20 points from Marvin Bagley III. Bagley also grabbed seven rebounds, while fellow Wizards backup Jared Butler scored 14 points and passed for seven assists.
Jonas Valanciunas led the Wizards with 20 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Bilal Coulibaly finished with 17 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Justin Champagnie, coming off a career-high 23 points in Saturday’s win, swiped a career-best five steals to go with 14 points and eight rebounds.
–Field Level Media