MEMPHIS – Jonas Valanciunas had 27 points and 17 rebounds, and rookie teammate Ja Morant added 24 points as the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Atlanta Hawks 118-101 on Saturday night to keep their hold on the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Josh Jackson had 17 points, and Dillon Brooks and De’Anthony Melton added 13 each for Memphis, which won for the fourth time in five games. Valanciunas was 10-of-13 from the field and blocked three shots.
The Grizzlies’ win left them solidly in eighth place in the West. Asked if they were tracking the playoff race, Valanciunas replied: “Yeah. It’s that time of year, right? We’re watching the standings. You want to climb higher and higher, so wins (are) really important.”
John Collins led the Hawks with 27 points on 9-of-16 shooting, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range. All-Star point guard Trae Young, the team’s leading scorer with an average of 29.6 points per game, was held to 16 points. He shot 4-for-16, missing all but one of his 10 attempts from 3-point range. Young, who missed Friday’s loss to the Washington Wizards with flu-like symptoms, said there were still some lingering effects.
“I definitely tried to fight back,” said Young, adding that the training staff ran tests on him Saturday to make sure he could play. “I know everybody was kind of banged up with the back-to-back (games), so I wanted to come back and play.”
Memphis dominated the matchup, leading by 26 points at one point and holding the Hawks to 33.7% shooting.
Atlanta’s shooting woes were evident early, with the Hawks making only three of their first 18 shots and shooting 23.8% in the first quarter as Memphis pushed its lead to 20 points.
“We were out there getting stops and trying to get out and run and get good shots out of it,” said Morant, who made all four of his 3-point attempts.
Young did not get his first field goal until a goaltending call with 8:22 left in the half as the Grizzlies continually switched defenders on the second-year pro.
“To be honest with you, we just missed some wide-open shots,” Young said. “Shots just weren’t going in that we usually hit.”
Memphis stretched the lead to 26 before halftime, heading into the locker room ahead 66-45.
The Hawks never got closer than 16 in the second half, losing their third straight game and for the fifth time in their past seven.
Atlanta’s Cam Reddish, whose playing status was probable before the game due to lower back pain, played but left in the first half having lower limb cramping. He did not return.
The Hawks’ Vince Carter, who played three years with the Grizzlies, was given a standing ovation in his last visit to Memphis as a player. Carter, 43, plans to retire after this season, his record 22nd in the NBA.
“The ultimate respect for an ultimate pro,” Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said. “You hear so many guys talking about they want to leave the NBA in a better place than when they came in. This guy’s a prime example of it.”
Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce was an assistant coach for the Grizzlies during the heyday of “Grit and Grind,” when Memphis made it to the Western Conference title series, and still remembers his time fondly.
“I still remember ‘Whoop that Trick’ all the time,” Pierce said. “I remember being behind the bench in a timeout, and everything is shaking. Your body’s shaking as you’re sitting there. And you look up, and everybody’s got a towel. That was just a great feeling. I think the city really adopted the Grit and Grind, and ‘We Don’t Bluff.'”