Doncic, Mavs rout Grizzlies, ending winning streak at 11

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Luka Doncic had 27 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in his 40th career triple-double, and the Dallas Mavericks used a second-half rally to rout Memphis 112-85 on Friday night and end the Grizzlies’ winning streak at 11 games.

Doncic had 18 points in the second half, connecting on 8 of 10 shots. Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 16 points, and Jalen Brunson and Marquese Chriss had 15 points apiece, with Brunson adding nine assists.

“Our defense was amazing,” Doncic said. “(The Grizzlies) have a great offense, and it’s tough to stop them, but I think we did an amazing job in the second half.”

Ja Morant led Memphis with 19 points and eight assists, Desmond Bane had 16 points and Kyle Anderson added 12. The Grizzlies lost for the first time since Dec. 23, getting little help beyond its top three scorers.

The Grizzlies were playing the second night of a back-to-back and their fifth game in a week. Morant said the schedule may have finally caught up with them.

“Pretty much from our legs being heavy and our shots were short,” Morant said, later adding the fatigue contributed to his eight turnovers and other mistakes in the game.

Memphis shot 38% from the field and made only seven of 31 shots from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Mavericks were at almost 52% from the floor.

The Mavericks have been playing well. Before losing 108-85 at New York on Wednesday night, Dallas had clicked off six straight victories.

Dallas gained a bit of a cushion in the second half, starting the third quarter shooting better than the first half. That catapulted the Mavs to an 84-73 lead entering the fourth. Doncic scored 10 points in the third to help the Mavericks build their lead, as they outscored Memphis 34-18 in the period.

When Dallas rattled off the first seven points of the fourth, the lead swelled to 18. Grizzlies interim coach Darko Rajakovic called off his starters with five minutes left and Memphis trailing by 24.

The lead would eventually reach 31 as Memphis managed only 12 points in the fourth quarter and 30 after halftime.

“I thought the team rebounding and the team defense was excellent to go with the tempo and pace offensively,” Dallas interim coach Sean Sweeney said. “I thought it was great all around.”

As for Memphis, the longest regular-season winning streak ended, but the stretch moved the Grizzlies into third place in the Western Conference.

“First thing I told guys was congratulations for an amazing streak and making history for our franchise,” Rajakovic said. “Eleven straight wins. It’s a huge thing. We were playing really good basketball.”

TIP-INS

Mavericks: Willie Cauley-Stein (personal reasons) and Kristaps Porzingis (health and safety protocols) were both out. … Dallas has won seven of the last 10 games in the series. …Maxi Kleber started his 10th game of the season.

Grizzlies: The Grizzlies had swept three back-to-backs in the streak. They beat Minnesota on Thursday night. … C Steven Adams returned after missing four games in health and safety protocols. … F Brandon Clarke started his first game of the season.

UP NEXT:

Mavericks: Host Orlando on Saturday night.

Grizzlies: Host Chicago on Monday night.

SUNS 112, PACERS 94

INDIANAPOLIS — Devin Booker scored 35 points, Deandre Ayton had 27 points and 12 rebounds and NBA-leading Phoenix beat Indiana.

Chris Paul added 12 points and nine assist for Phoenix, and Cam Payne had 11 points and five assists. The Suns finished the first half of the season 32-9, their second-best record in franchise history through the first 41 games.

Justin Holiday scored 25 points for Indiana, Caris LeVert had 20, and Domantas Sabonis added 14 points and 14 rebounds. The Pacers have lost three in a row and nine of 10.

Booker scored 22 points in the third quarter to help the Suns take an 80-76 lead into the fourth. Down 73-76, Phoenix had a 23-2 run to take a 96-78 lead.

WARRIORS 139, BULLS 96

CHICAGO — Andrew Wiggins scored 21 points, Stephen Curry added 19 and the Golden State rolled past Chicago for its most-lopsided victory of the season.

Rookie Jonathan Kuminga finished with 25 points, and Jordan Poole had 22. The Warriors broke out of their rut in a huge way, pulling away early after dropping four of five. It was just the sort of breather they needed coming off a lopsided loss at defending champion Milwaukee the previous night.

The Bulls lost star Zach LaVine to a left knee injury in the opening minutes. They got booed off the court trailing 78-47 at halftime and wound up with their worst loss this season. Nikola Vucevic had 19 points and 14 rebounds for Chicago. The Bulls lost for the third time in four games after winning nine straight.

HEAT 124, HAWKS 118

MIAMI — Tyler Herro scored 24 points, Jimmy Butler returned from a three-game absence with a sprained ankle to add 23 and Miami rallied to beat Atlanta.

Omer Yurtseven had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and P.J. Tucker also had 17 points to help Miami move within a game of Chicago for first place in the Eastern Conference. The Heat have won seven in a row at home.

Trae Young had 24 points for Atlanta, which rallied from 17 down early and led by 10 in the second half before letting it get away.

76ERS 111, CELTICS 99

PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid had 25 points and 13 rebounds and Philadelphia used a 28-2 first-quarter run to rout Boston.

Embiid finished five points shy of setting a franchise record with 30 or more points in nine straight games. He remains tied with Allen Iverson and Wilt Chamberlain for the club mark with eight in a row.

Tyrese Maxey scored 23 points, and Tobias Harris and Seth Curry each added 17 to help the 76ers win for the eighth time in nine games. Jaylen Brown scored 21 points for Boston.

MAGIC 116, HORNETS 109

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Moritz Wagner scored a season-high 26 points, younger brother Franz added 19 points and seven assists and Orlando beat Charlotte to snap a 10-game losing streak.

Gary Harris added 18 points to help the NBA-worst Magic improve to 8-35.

LaMelo Ball had 23 points and eight assists for the Hornets.

CAVALIERS 114, SPURS 109

SAN ANTONIO — Darius Garland scored 28 points and Cleveland handed San Antonio its fifth straight.

Jarrett Allen added with 17 points and 16 rebounds to help Cleveland win its third straight and fourth in five games.

Dejounte Murray had 30 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists for San Antonio.

KINGS 126, ROCKETS 114

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Marvin Bagley III had season highs of 26 points and 13 rebounds to help Sacramento beat Houston in the opener of a two-game set.

De’Aaron Fox added 27 points and eight assists, Buddy Hield scored 19 points and Harrison Barnes had 16 points and nine rebounds.

Christian Wood had 26 points for Houston.

The teams will meet again Sunday in Sacramento.

PISTONS 103, RAPTORS 87

DETROIT — Trey Lyles scored 21 points, Cade Cunningham and Hamidou Diallo each added 18 and Detroit beat Toronto.

The Pistons are 5-3 in 2022 after finishing 2021 with 18 losses in their last 19 games.

Fred VanVleet had 24 points and 10 assists for Toronto.