Ja Morant, Grizzlies stave off elimination, beat Lakers 116-99

MEMPHIS,Tenn. (AP) — Desmond Bane had 33 points and 10 rebounds, Ja Morantadded 31 points and 10 boards, and the Memphis Grizzlies staved offelimination Wednesday night, beating the Lakers 116-99 to forcetheirfirst-round Western Conferenceseriesback to Los Angeles.

Jaren JacksonJr., theNBADefensive Player of the Year, had 18 points and 10 rebounds forthe Grizzlies, who improved to 5-0 in Game 5s played in Memphis andcut the seventh-seeded Lakers’ series lead to 3-2. Memphis earned asecond straight No. 2 seed by posting the NBA’s best home record at35-6.

Game 6 isFriday night in Los Angeles.

LeBron Jamesstarted 1 of 7 from the field but finished with 15 points and 10rebounds, a modest follow-up after the 38-year-old played 45minutes inMondaynight’s overtime win in Los Angelesand became the oldestplayer in NBA history to post at least 20 points and 20 rebounds inhis 270th playoff game.

Anthony Davisled the Lakers with 31 points and 19 rebounds. Austin Reaves had 17points and D’Angelo Russell scored 11. Davis stayed on the courtfor a few seconds after a layup with 6:01 left that pulled theLakers within 106-91. When he got up, Davis grabbed at his back ashe walked down the court.

The Lakerstried to rally, going on a 20-7 run in the fourth. They couldn’tget closer than 12, the last on a putback by Davis with 2:52 left.Memphis answered with eight straight to get fans chanting “WhoopThat Trick” with about 90 seconds left.

Memphis ledonly 23-20 when coach Taylor Jenkins took out DillonBrooks,knownmore for calling James old and missing shots than his defense inthis series. The Grizzlies seized control, finishing on a 15-4run capped by Bane’s 3 just before the quarter expired for a 38-24lead.

The Grizzliesled by as much as 17 in the second with Morant scoring 10,includingdrawing a foul on Jamesfor a three-point play. Memphis led 61-52 at halftime.

Russellscored the first eight of the third for the Lakers to quickly turnit into a tight game. James, who had nine in the third, hit a pairof free throws that pulled Los Angeles within 75-74 with 4:36left.

Memphis tookcontrol with a 26-2 run that lasted until the start of the fourth.Morant had 11 in the third and finished the quarter withback-to-back buckets. His final drive put the Grizzlies up 94-76going into the fourth.

Bane cappedthe spurt with a three-point play for a 101-74 lead.

TIP-INS

Lakers: Theylost for just the fourth time in their past 17 games. ... They camein having outscored Memphis’ bench 119-79 thanks to 72 points fromRui Hachimura. But the forward picked up two quick fouls early andplayed only five minutes of the first half. He finished with ninepoints, and the benches matched each other with 18 apiece.

Grizzlies:They will have to prove they can win in Los Angeles to force thethird Game 7 in franchise history and first since 2014. They losttheir lone game in the regular season at Los Angeles beforedropping both Games 3 and 4, though the Grizzlies lost by six inovertime Monday night. ... Jackson had two blocks.