Luke Kennard scored a season-high 25 points as the Memphis Grizzlies held on in the final minute and snapped a five-game losing streak with a 106-102 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night in New York.
A week after absorbing a 111-86 loss to the Nets in Memphis, the Grizzlies won for just the third time in 17 games thanks to Kennard. He was one of six Memphis players who scored in double figures.
Kennard made a season-high six 3-pointers, including one from top of the key that gave the Grizzlies a 99-90 lead with three minutes left. He shot 8-for-11 overall, 6-for-9 from long range, handed out seven assists and scored at least 20 points for the first time this season.
After Kennard’s final triple, the Nets pulled within 103-99 on two free throws by Cameron Johnson with 30 seconds left. Following a five-second violation by Memphis, Dennis Schroder split two free throws with 20.9 seconds to go to make it 103-100.
Two free throws by Mikal Bridges got Brooklyn within 105-102 with 6.7 seconds left before Kennard hit a free throw on the next possession to ice it.
Jake LaRavia added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who dominated the glass throughout the game and finished with a commanding 50-33 rebounding edge. Lamar Stevens added 13 points, Santi Aldama finished with 12, Vince Williams Jr. contributed 11 and Trey Jemison had 10 for the Grizzlies, who shot 46.3 percent overall.
Nic Claxton scored 21 points, but Brooklyn fell 2 1/2 games behind the 10th-place Atlanta Hawks for the Eastern Conference’s final play-in spot. Johnson added 18 points as the Nets dropped to 3-4 under interim coach Kevin Ollie, shot 44.3 percent from the field and were a dreadful 17-for-30 (56.7 percent) at the foul line.
Bridges was held to 14 points and shot 4-for-14 after getting 38 points in Brooklyn’s win over Atlanta on Saturday. Schroder and Lonnie Walker IV added 13 points apiece for the Nets, who were denied their first three-game winning streak since early December.
After the Grizzlies took a 53-52 lead into halftime following a basket by Stevens with 15.6 seconds remaining in the second quarter, Kennard’s triple put the Grizzlies ahead 71-63 with 5:53 remaining in the third quarter.
Claxton’s baseline dunk snapped a 75-75 tie with 2:07 left in the third, but a 12-footer by Stevens with 73 seconds left put Memphis ahead 80-77 entering the fourth.
–Field Level Media
