Ja Morant made history in only his second postseason game, scoring a Memphis Grizzlies record 47 points, also a career high.
But it wasn’t enough as the Utah Jazz welcomed back Donovan Mitchell and secured the 141-129 win in Game 2 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series on Wednesday in Salt Lake City. The series is tied at 1-1.
Morant scored 73 points in his first two playoff games, the most by any player since the Minneapolis Lakers’ George Mikan had 75 in the 1949 season in the Basketball Association of America.
Mitchell made his presence known early in his first game back since he suffered an ankle injury on April 16. The Jazz’s two-time All-Star dropped 12 points in the first quarter en route to 25 points.
The Jazz built a 20-point lead at halftime, but the Grizzlies chipped away in the third quarter and got the lead down to two points. But Utah wasn’t going away and ripped off a 10-0 run highlighted by two monster dunks by Rudy Gobert.
Gobert had his second straight playoff double-double, 21 points and 13 boards, and a highlight-worthy block on Morant.
