NBA

Denver Nuggets at Memphis Grizzlies

· National Basketball Association
7-5, 2-3 Away
Final
90 - 105

8-6, 5-2 Home

Grizzlies beat short-handed Nuggets 105-90 in opener of a 2-game set in Memphis

Denver Nuggets vs. Memphis Grizzlies: Game Highlights

The teams will meet again Tuesday night in Memphis in an NBA Cup game.

Nuggets star center Nikola Jokic missed the game for personal reasons, while forward Aaron Gordon is recovering from a strained right calf. Denver has lost two straight. Coach Michael Malone returned after missing the last game to attend his daughter's high school volleyball playoff match.

Rookie Jaylen Wells added 15 points to help Memphis win its fourth straight home game. Desmond Bane had 11 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.

Julian Strawther led Denver with 19 points. Christian Braun and Jamal Murray scored 13 points each, going a combined 11 of 26 from the field and 1 of 8 on 3s.

Takeaways Nuggets: Denver missed the all-around play of Jokic, and poor shooting made for a long evening. Murray and his teammates couldn't make up the difference of the Denver center's almost 30 points and 13.7 rebounds.

Grizzlies: The fast pace that Memphis plays now led to 20 fast-break points, and had Denver scrambling back on defense.

Key moment Midway though the second quarter, Memphis went on 14-1 run that turned a slim lead into a double-digit advantage, part of Memphis outscoring Denver 27-18 in the period. Memphis then opened the second half with 10 straight points.

Key stat Memphis, which struggle from outside the arc in its previous game against Golden State, made nine 3-points in the first half to build a double-digit lead. The Grizzlies would finish the night 13 of 39 from 3-point range.

Up next The two teams meet again Tuesday night.

Regular Season Series

MEM leads series 1-0

Matchup Prediction

Grizzlies: 80.4%
Nuggets: 19.6%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Recent Plays

4th 0.0 End of Game 90 - 105
4th 0.0 End of the 4th Quarter 90 - 105
4th 6.0 John Konchar defensive rebound 90 - 105
4th 9.1 Hunter Tyson misses 23-foot three point jumper 90 - 105
4th 23.2 Colin Castleton enters the game for Desmond Bane 90 - 105

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/den.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originDEN https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/mem.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originMEM
35-84 FG 41-91
41.7 Field Goal % 45.1
10-31 3PT 13-39
32.3 Three Point % 33.3
10-14 FT 10-12
71.4 Free Throw % 83.3
39 Rebounds 45
6 Offensive Rebounds 10
33 Defensive Rebounds 35
23 Assists 31
9 Steals 10
5 Blocks 10
14 Turnovers 12
1 Team Turnovers 1
15 Total Turnovers 13
1 Technical Fouls 0
1 Total Technical Fouls 0
0 Flagrant Fouls 0
14 Points Conceded Off Turnovers 21
22 Fast Break Points 20
48 Points in Paint 52
12 Fouls 15
8 Largest Lead 24

Game Information

FedExForum

Location: Memphis, TN
Attendance: 16,351 · Capacity:

2024-25 Northwest Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Oklahoma City 23 5 .821 - W8
Denver 16 11 .593 6.5 W2
Minnesota 14 14 .500 9 L3
Portland 9 20 .310 14.5 L2
Utah 7 21 .250 16 L1

2024-25 Southwest Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Houston 20 9 .690 - W3
Memphis 20 10 .667 0.5 L1
Dallas 19 10 .655 1 W2
San Antonio 15 14 .517 5 L1
New Orleans 5 25 .167 15.5 L7
Full Standings

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