Desmond Bane scored 18 of his 30 points in the first half to fuel the visiting Memphis Grizzlies to a 108-94 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday.
Bane made 11 of 20 shots from the floor — including 4 of 6 from 3-point range — for the Grizzlies, who benefited from the absence of Dallas star Luka Doncic (personal reasons) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (back spasms) to record their second win in a row for the first time this season.
Bane also scored 30 points on 12-of-17 shooting from the floor in Memphis’ 125-110 setback to Dallas on Oct. 30.
Jaylen Nowell scored 19 points off the bench on 8-of-14 shooting Friday. Santi Aldama added 17 points and 12 rebounds and Vince Williams Jr. added 15 and nine, respectively.
The Grizzlies shot 48.9 percent from the floor (44-of-90) and benefited from 12 blocks on Friday.
Doncic missed his first game of the season after he joined his fiancee Anamaria Goltes in announcing the birth of their first child, a daughter named Gabriela.
Dallas’ Grant Williams collected 16 points and eight rebounds and Derrick Jones Jr. added 16 points. Seth Curry scored 12 points off the bench and Kyrie Irving added just 10, making just 3 of 15 shots from the floor and misfiring on all five attempts from 3-point range.
Markieff Morris drained a 3-pointer to trim Memphis’ lead to 81-75 early in the fourth quarter before Nowell ignited a 12-0 run with a jumper and a 3-pointer. Bane connected from beyond the arc to extend the Grizzlies’ lead to 102-82 with 4:55 to play in the fourth quarter.
Memphis was not threatened the rest of the way.
The Grizzlies seized a 59-44 lead at halftime before Dallas cut away at its deficit by scoring 24 of the first 39 points of the third quarter. Irving scored seven points in that sequence for the Mavericks.
–Field Level Media
