MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Grizzlies put together a huge fourth quarter run to win their third straight game, beating the Mavericks 112-108.
The Grizzlies were down 13 heading into the fourth quarter before they made a 21-7 run to take the lead. The run was sparked by the bench unit, featuring Santi Aldama, who was huge in that stretch. Aldama scored seven in the fourth and finished the night with a career-high 22 points. Aldama also finished with five offensive rebounds which helped the Grizzlies score 22 second chance points.
"That group that came in to the fourth quarter stirred things up a bunch," Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins said postgame. "I think (we had) six or seven offensive rebounds in that quarter and we were able to score on the back end of it which was big."
While Irving was able to get loose for 28 points in the first three quarters, he was held scoreless by the Grizzlies' defense in the fourth. Jenkins said a big part of that was Memphis deciding to switch screens more in the fourth.
Jackson finished the game against the Mavericks with 28 points, 4 rebounds and 1 block and came out aggressive, scoring 11 points in the first six minutes of play. Jackson was limited by foul trouble early in the fourth but came in halfway through the quarter to make some key plays, including the bucket that put them up by five with 17 seconds left to play.
Tyus Jones and Desmond Bane each had impressive games, scoring 16 and 17 respectively.
The Grizzlies are also hoping to have Ja Morant back in the fold for their next game against the Rockets. Tyus Jones said the team is looking forward to having Morant back and move forward.
"It was good to see him ... we're excited to have him back," Jones said. "We want to learn from the past and continue to improve moving forward, for him, for this team and we're excited to lock in on that."
